Meet the Journalism alumni and instructors covering the World Cup

For the past few weeks, fans from all over Canada have been eagerly consuming coverage of the 2026 FIFA World Cup. 

This year’s games mark a historic moment for Canadian soccer, as it is the first time the country is co-hosting a men’s World Cup alongside the United States and Mexico and the first time the Canadian men's team won a knockout stage victory. 

Journalism alumni and instructors are working behind the scenes and in front of the camera to bring Canadian audiences all the updates about this year's tournament.

We caught up with them to ask about their experiences reporting on the landmark event. 

Camila Gonzalez is no stranger to soccer, having spent much of her journalism and television hosting career at TSN covering the sport. 

Her past reporting also includes producing the documentary Heart of the Goal for TLN TV in 2022, which explored the Canada men’s national soccer team’s journey to the 2022 World Cup and the immigrant stories of many of the players. 

Still, Gonzalez says covering this year’s World Cup is a new experience for her. 

“It’s been really interesting because I’m usually someone who reports indoors, in-studio, and so being out in the field and talking to journalists from around the world, to players, to coaches, to everyone has been a really unique experience,” said Gonzalez. 

Speaking to us while on assignment for TSN in California, Gonzalez said she had just finished covering the match between Switzerland and Qatar in San Francisco, where the “energy” from the crowds of fans was “absolutely crazy.” 

As a soccer fan herself, Gonzalez also stressed her desire to get back home and celebrate with her fellow Canadians. 

“I think also just having [the World Cup] be at home, there’s a lot more eyeballs. So when it comes to like Toronto, Vancouver, brands, everything, there’s just a lot more attention on the sport…so that has been very special for sure, and I can only hope that this will grow the sport more beyond just this tournament and show Canadians how big the sport is, because I think that people don’t realize the amount of influence globally soccer has, and I’m hoping this will change that,” said Gonzalez. 

For students at TMU interested in a career in sports broadcasting, Gonzalez has the following advice: “Say yes to every opportunity that comes your way…and I would also just suggest start creating content, which I know is so cheesy. I was resistant to it for so many years, but just start creating as much content as possible if you want to be in the sports world, because that is where our industry is going. As much as you want to be just a journalist, you also have to know how to film, how to edit, how to make things that are punchy for digital.” 

Shireen Ahmed, an instructor with Journalism since 2021, said that being a Toronto-based sports reporter during the 2026 World Cup has been very “meaningful.” 

“[Being in Toronto] gives me an opportunity to follow up later…I can tangibly say: I've asked the questions, I've written on what it means for the women's game, what it means for fans in these communities, and I can follow up on that work. That's something that I haven't been able to do before, which is really cool,” said Ahmed. 

As a reporter who focuses on the intersection of race, gender and politics in sport, Ahmed said it is important for her to cover the tournament's broader impact on a multicultural city like Toronto, home to many diasporic communities. 

“I think the guiding light for me has always been being able to tell stories that might have been overlooked and particularly reframe what we think of as sports and how that it is connected to politics and culture and faith and humans. It's not always about the X’s and O's of the mechanics of the sport, it's about people,” said Ahmed. 

Ahead of Canada’s first match against Bosnia Herzegovina on Jun. 12, Ahmed did a piece for CBC’s The National about how Bosnian Canadians see the team’s success as a symbol of “resilience” after the lasting impact of the Yugoslav Wars of the 1990s. 

“I had a lot of people that I spoke to from Bosnia tell me that they had never seen their country be shown in such a light,” said Ahmed. 

Ahmed advised students who want to be sports journalists to be actively involved in their communities. 

“The greatest story I've told so far was based in a Bosnian grocery store. You don't need to be in the media tribune to tell good stories about soccer. You can go to a local pitch, you can find someone with a really cool history…grow your networks, grow your communities, talk to humans, talk to people,” said Ahmed. 

Matthew Scianitti previously covered Canada at the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar, but said that being able to experience this year’s tournament at home with soccer fans and TSN colleagues feels different.

“That first game of the men’s World Cup in Canada, to be there in that stadium, to be a part of the whole production, there are no words to describe the pleasure I get from being a part of all that…because the greatest pleasure I have is interacting with Canadians and I take a lot pride knowing that we’re building Canadian content for a Canadian audience” said Scianitti. 

Part of the feeling Scianitti has picked up on while reporting is the joy Canadians feel having their country represented on the world stage. 

“You can point back to the 2010 Olympics, you can look at the 2015 Women’s World Cup in Canada, but those instances and moments when we stand on the world stage, there’s a different pride. It’s true of every country, but I think it’s particularly true of our country because we are so diverse,” said Scianitti. 

Scianitti said that back when he was at TMU, he never imagined himself on camera, but he has come to enjoy the collaborative effort that goes into putting on a live broadcast on a deadline. 

“I went to TMU and focused primarily on written journalism in the Master of Journalism program, and to have, through unforeseen circumstances, found myself on television and having to learn to be a part of live broadcasts and what that entails and the pressure and embracing that pressure, that's become the part of my career I enjoy the most,” said Scianitti. 

Scianitti’s advice for journalism students at TMU is to be willing to try things outside their comfort zone. 

“If you come to TMU, if you're willing to broaden your perspective and understand that when you come to a university like this with the program that we have at the university, that it's really a tremendous opportunity that, especially in journalism, you don't get in a lot of places in our country,” said Scianitti.