TORONTO - The B.C. Lions and Toronto Argonauts will spend the first half of the 2026 CFL season as road warriors.

Both the Lions and Argos will play home games away from their respective venues during FIFA's World Cup. Soccer's men's world championship will be held from June 11 to July 19 with contests in Canada, Mexico and the United States.

Vancouver and Toronto will combine to host 13 matches. Toronto's BMO Field will stage six, including Canada’s first-ever World Cup game on home soil June 12.

Seven games will be played at Vancouver's B.C. Place Stadium, including Canada’s group matches June 18 and 24. The first contest at the venue is slated for July 13 with Vancouver also hosting knockout stage games July 2 (round of 32) and July 7 (round of 16).

What's more, the World Cup takes over the venues for its games 30 days before the first match at that stadium.

On Friday, the CFL announced the Argos will play home games at Hamilton Stadium, Mosaic Stadium in Regina and Winnipeg's Princess Auto Stadium against the host teams during the World Cup.

The Lions will relocate for two home games, with the club planning to announce those details at a later time. The Argos will also unveil further details in the future.

The full '26 CFL schedule is scheduled to be released in the off-season. The 2025 campaign ends with the Grey Cup on Nov. 16 at Princess Auto Stadium.

“The World Cup is a cultural event, uniting entire countries and communities under a single flag,” CFL commissioner Stewart Johnston said in a statement. “As Toronto and Vancouver welcome the world, we’re grateful to other cities and their tremendous fans for so generously making a home away from home for the Argonauts and the Lions.”

Construction at BMO Field in preparation for the World Cup began after the '24 CFL season and most noticeable has been the installation of four LED scoreboards, one in each corner of the stadium.

As well, a new temporary playing surface has been installed with another planned specifically for the World Cup in 2026.

BMO Field's seating capacity will be increased to 45,736 for the World Cup from 28,180. There will also be enhancements made to the audio systems, an expansion of the wifi throughout and a new north-end pavilion that's currently under construction.

Following the World Cup, BMO Field will require time to be retrofitted back to CFL standards.

“To our incredible fans in Toronto: your passion and loyalty mean the world to us," said Argos GM Mike (Pinball) Clemons. "This temporary move is about showcasing our city and stadium to the world — and when we return, it’ll be with even more energy, excitement and noise!”

Last season, Toronto had an average attendance of 15,127 as it marched to a second Grey Cup title in three seasons. That figure has dipped to 13,838 as the Argos (2-7) have struggled thus far and there's history to suggest the prospect of having to play home games out of town next year won't help the franchise's fortunes.

In 2015, the Pan American Games and Toronto Blue Jays' playoff run forced Toronto to play three home games on the road (one in Ottawa, two in Hamilton). That was after opening that season in Fort McMurray, Alta., as the home team versus the then Edmonton Eskimos.

A total of 4,900 spectators watched Toronto defeat Edmonton 26-11 in Fort McMurray on June 27. And 15,011 fans took in the Argos' 38-35 "home" win over the Redblacks on Oct. 6, a Tuesday night.

But only 3,401 attended Toronto's 27-15 loss to Calgary in Hamilton on Oct. 17 (Saturday afternoon) and 3,741 were on hand for the club's 34-2 defeat to Montreal on Oct. 23 (a Friday night).

Despite only playing five times at Rogers Centre — Toronto's home venue at the time — the Argos finished third in the East with a 10-8 record before suffering a 25-22 setback to Hamilton in the division semifinal before a Tim Hortons Field gathering of 24,029.

The big difference in 2026, though, will be Toronto playing its road home games against the local teams, which should be a more attractive draw for fans in those cities.

The CFL added that both the Argos' and Lions' schedules next season will be made to re-establish home-field advantage for the second half of the 2026 campaign.

This will mark the first time the World Cup will be hosted by three countries as 48 teams from six confederations are slated to participate in the global event. Games will be played in a total of 16 cities (11 in the U.S., three in Mexico and the two in Canada).

Vancouver will be in the West Region along with Los Angeles, the San Francisco Bay area and Seattle. Toronto is in the East Region along with Atlanta, Boston, Miami, Philadelphia and New York/New Jersey.

The World Cup begins June 11 in Mexico City and will conclude with the tournament final July 19 in New York/New Jersey.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Aug. 15, 2025.