Panama world cup fans met in Trinity-Bellwoods Park in Toronto on Wednesday and started their walk toward Toronto Stadium before Ghana played Panama at 7 p.m. ET. The gathering turned part of the city into a staging point for match day, with supporters moving in a line toward Exhibition Place.
That matchup was the second of six World Cup matches to be held in Toronto. For fans in the park, the move from meeting point to stadium was the day’s main event, and it set up a street march that rolled through the city before kickoff.
Trinity-Bellwoods Park
In Trinity-Bellwoods Park, Panama supporters gathered before heading out in a group. Some stood with cameras out while others jumped into the crowd to join the celebration, and drums and whistles carried the march as fans stopped in the middle of the street to dance.
The route ended outside the gates of Exhibition Place, where the walk toward Toronto Stadium closed with a lively finish. That gave the Panama side a clear base for the trip to the match rather than a loose drift toward the venue.
King Street West
Ghana fans made a separate march down King Street West with a police escort before the game. One fan with a trumpet took over the scene at Stanley Park shortly before the march began, while songs of the gospel were chanted to bring Ghana good luck.
Cars on Strachan Avenue stopped and watched as the crowd passed. The scene showed how the match day spilled beyond the stadium itself and into the streets around it.
Alexander Kissi-Appiah
Alexander Kissi-Appiah, a 20-year-old Ghana fan from Halifax, Nova Scotia, arrived in Toronto earlier on Wednesday for the World Cup. He said, “They’re going to use God as their pillar,” as the city filled with supporters heading toward the game.
For fans like Kissi-Appiah, the day centered on getting into Toronto early, joining the build-up, and then following the march to the stadium. Panama’s walk from Trinity-Bellwoods Park and Ghana’s procession down King Street West framed the same match from two sides, with the city streets carrying the buildup to kickoff.
