What hosting the World Cup means for Canadian soccer: ‘The stakes are absolutely massive’

Of the trio of World Cup hosts, only Canada is hosting the tournament for the first time – local soccer officials hope it can be transformativeToronto’s Front Street, which loosely tethers the city’s central station and some of its landmarks to the part of the waterfront that hosts the fan fest and Toronto Stadium to the west, thrummed all week with a pleasant energy.Hours ahead of Croatia-Panama on Tuesday, there were scores of jerseys out for those countries, of course, but plenty for Brazil and Scotland and other sides as…