How Vancouver’s street soccer culture is booming before the WC

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As Vancouver prepares for the 2026 World Cup, Sunset Beach FC is helping fuel a rising street soccer culture rooted in community and identity.

VANCOUVER, British Columbia -- Players spill over the boards of a concrete rink on the edge of English Bay, voices bouncing between languages, with kits pulled from every corner of the soccer world. Yet, as the sun glints off the chain-link fence, the space begins to feel too small.

It’s a summer night in Vancouver, Canada, and the asphalt rink near the downtown waterfront is split between roller hockey and street soccer, with the sports dividing the space down the middle.

Yet the soccer side is continuing to grow. Soon, these nights, known as Sunset Beach FC, will attract upward of 100 players. For now, though, it is about 30.

And so, the bickering begins. Soccer needs more space. Simply, there is more demand, sparking frustration from the hockey side: “It’s Canada, of course, we’re playing hockey,” one of the players says, only for the soccer side, backed by dozens, to push back.

In that tension lies a snapshot of Canada’s evolving identity and soccer’s ability to reshape what a summer night can look like in the country’s largest city west of Toronto, a place with beaches and swaying palm trees that often feels closer to California than a Canadian stereotype.

“That's the thing with soccer in this country, you always kind of have to fight, to show what it deserves, how it's liked, how it's perceived,” said Alexandre Gangué-Ruzic, one of the group’s founders and the man often orchestrating the endless winner-stays-on matches and team rotations.

“Over time, organically, there's been a good relationship developed, and we all share that space. Some days it’s hockey, some days it's soccer. Sport unifies people. It shouldn't split people, even if soccer in Canada has sometimes come from such an adversarial place, and maybe that has illustrated the struggle it has faced to pierce the mainstream.”

While the group began as a collection of friends looking for another soccer outlet, the goal was to create a fun summer soccer activity at the tail end of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2021.

It wasn’t pay-to-play. It wasn’t formal. It was simply pickup on the rink, offering a competitive edge while emphasizing skill and quick play, and anyone could join. It’s a common scene worldwide, but rarer in Vancouver, which has a less diverse multicultural makeup than a city like Toronto. That is where DARBY Magazine co-founder and photographer Tagwa Moyo, the creative force behind Sunset Beach FC, is from, a city widely considered one of the most multicultural in the world.

“When I came from Toronto, football wasn’t everywhere like it was there,” Moyo said. “I think it can be attested to kind of Toronto being a melting pot, as far as all of the different cultures, but in Vancouver, you couldn't just pull up to certain spots that would have pickup, and it would be there... In Toronto, there was just more football, more pickup and a little bit more culture.

“We wanted to create that space where people can come and play, and play for free is the most important thing, no matter the skill level. A lot has changed... I think the most important thing people can learn from Sunset Beach FC is that it's more than just a game.”

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The Football Mosaic

For Rintaro Yamanaka, Sunset Beach FC offered a sense of belonging, a feeling shared by many throughout the player pool. An international student from Japan, Yamanaka knew little English upon arrival and immediately gravitated toward other Japanese speakers.

At one point, he felt as though he were still living in Japan. He had not yet been introduced to what Canada could offer or how he might settle in. That changed when he stumbled upon Sunset Beach FC while walking along Vancouver’s famed Seawall, sparking a shift in his perception of what the country could become for him.

“When you hear about street soccer, you think of Brazilians, it wasn't really something I thought about Canada, because I never thought the country was very advanced in football,” Yamanaka said. “I was surprised such a community existed...I think that's really unique to Canadian culture, and it became very important to me; everyone was welcome and nice. I think it kind of symbolized Canadians in a good way.”

Yamanaka, a deft dribbler who often wears an oversized kit or T-shirt that flows with the summer breeze as he slips past flailing defenders, is one of several technically gifted Japanese players who have made their way out.

At the same time, he embraced the challenge of learning English through the various accents that emerged on Monday nights.

It did not take him long to learn the Canadian accent. The Irish accent, however, took more time, even after he moved in with one of the Sunset Beach FC regulars, who spoke with a thick Irish accent.

His experience, though rooted in his perspective as a student, is just one of many stories that come together on Vancouver’s summer nights.

The group has welcomed players fleeing war-torn Ukraine, Iran and Israel, as well as members of a strong African diaspora, all embracing the game alongside those who have called Vancouver home their entire lives.

In that sense, it is not far removed from the Canadian men’s national team, which is bound for the 2026 World Cup just kilometers away from Sunset’s rink at BC Place. That roster, led by American manager Jesse Marsch, includes first- and second-generation immigrants as well as those whose families have lived in Canada for generations.

“In this country, we already speak French and English...They speak different languages, eat different kinds of food and have a distinctly different experience from just being Canadian,” said Marsch of Canadian soccer in 2025. “Being Canadian isn't just about living in Canada. It’s this idea of multiculturalism and in teams, what that can mean for the potential of athleticism, of the identity, of everything.”

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Off-Court Culture

Sunset Beach FC’s influence has spread far beyond the asphalt. For Dez Smee, a local barber, the Monday sessions sparked European soccer viewing parties at his shop while also opening his eyes to a strong community in the city where he grew up.

It has become intertwined with his work. His shop is filled with vintage soccer gear and magazines, and his client list includes several Vancouver Whitecaps and Canadian players, along with Sunset Beach FC regulars.

Yet he sees Sunset Beach as one of the few authentic communities surrounding the sport, and the youth presence has stood out most, with players ranging from roughly 14 to 60 years old and an increasing number of younger participants in recent years.

“You’re seeing all these kids wearing kits and coming out, whereas maybe it used to be something that you’d be in the smaller minority if it was your main sport in high school,” he said. “It’s so important to have these opportunities at a casual level, especially with street soccer.”

And while soccer often takes center stage, the real competition is for Kit of the Week. Nearly every player arrives in a different shirt each week, ranging from local MLS and Canadian Premier League clubs to South Africa’s Kaizer Chiefs, vintage Croatian kits and more.

“There are so many stories in the kits themselves,” Gangué-Ruzic says. “Some people wear one that means something to them, maybe the country they have ancestry, or it's their favorite club, or it's a place they went on vacation, or it's a club they've connected with. It's a great way to express yourself.”

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World Cup, Professional Sights

Backed by a stunning backdrop and a variety of kits, Sunset Beach FC has developed a prominent social media following, led by Moyo, that has helped spread the session’s popularity across Canada and throughout local communities.

Because of that growth, not only has the community turned out in droves, but professional players have as well. Cristián Gutiérrez was part of Canada’s men’s national team in 2022 when they clinched the nation’s first World Cup berth in 36 years, and later that year he appeared at Sunset Beach FC.

This summer, likely World Cup-bound Canadian star Ali Ahmed and Ecuador’s Pedro Vite could become the first players to showcase their talents at both Sunset Beach and the World Cup.

“At Sunset, you don't even have to like playing footy, one thing I really want to promote, especially this year with the World Cup in town, is just coming for the vibes, coming to entertain,” Moyo added. “We’ll have DJs, we have kit collectors, for the fashion people. We have been trying to have something for everybody, and we’re trying to create it as a space for community beyond just playing football.”

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What comes next?

Backed by the tournament, there is hope that Sunset Beach could serve as an early step toward expanding the sport at a more casual level, even as many within the group have formed a competitive local men’s team built around the same ideals as the Monday night sessions.

Yet even as that competitive team grows and the sport rises at the professional level, the real impact will be felt in places like Sunset Beach, a place where the game is shared before it is formalized and where soccer reflects the core of Canadian identity.

So as the sun dips beyond English Bay’s horizon, soaking the court in a golden haze, Canada’s soccer culture continues to rise. And for a country still defining its identity in the sport, nobody is waiting for permission. Instead, they’re spilling over the boards.