The Result Has A Second Meaning
TORONTO — Luke Wileman compares the pressure of calling a home World Cup to sitting for a school exam. He prepares like one too, stacking research and notes he knows he'll barely touch.
"I feel I have to over-prepare," said the TSN play-by-play broadcaster. "To then have the confidence to perform at my best when the game kicks off, knowing I've done the work."
The scale is the story here; with 48 teams involved, the calendar starts doing some of the reporting.
Wileman and analyst Steven Caldwell will handle Canada's matches at the June 11-July 19 tournament — the first men's World Cup held in Canada, co-hosted with the United States and Mexico. They'll call Canada's group opener Friday against Bosnia-Herzegovina at Toronto Stadium, then travel to Vancouver for games against Qatar (June 18) and Switzerland (June 24).
The duo has called big games together for a decade, including Canada's 2018 World Cup appearance in Russia — their first qualification since 1986. Canada has never won a World Cup match, going 0-3 in its two previous appearances. This time, they're eager to change that.
The Part Worth Keeping
"It's going to be our pinnacle," Caldwell said. "Who knows what's ahead, but it'll be the biggest games we've called."
Veteran anchor James Duthie hosts tournament coverage. TSN's broadcast team includes six hosts, six reporters and 13 analysts — many former national team players.
For Wileman, raised in Sheffield, England and now based in Canada since 2006, calling a home World Cup stirs memories of 2015. He was on the mic when Christine Sinclair scored a stoppage-time penalty to beat China 1-0 at Edmonton's Commonwealth Stadium.
"Just seeing 50,000 Canadians there, what that moment meant," he recalled. "There's nothing better than calling a home team in its own country."