Local soccer legend De Rosario excited to be FIFA World Cup ambassador. Former TFC star hopes World Cup in Toronto will inspire a new generation.
Local Scarborough soccer legend Dwayne De Rosario is looking forward to “everything the World Cup brings” as he counts down the days to 2026 and Toronto’s turn in the soccer spotlight.
The FIFA Legend and FIFA World Cup Host City Ambassador to Toronto told Mpulse Scarborough all about his hopes for Scarborough soccer, the impact soccer has had on his life, and watching his son win a game against Messi.
De Rosario was born and raised in Scarborough and grew up playing for local clubs before moving on to play for Team Canada and professionally for the MLS, including Toronto FC.
He was named one of the top 25 MLS players of all time, was a four-time Canadian Player of the Year, a Seven-time MLS All-Star and was inducted into the Ontario and Canada Sports Halls of Fame.
De Rosario said he’s excited to see “the sport I’ve worked so hard to push to the forefront” finally take centre stage in the city. He says he’s proud of his work “to grow the game” and fight for “standards, facilities and development of the sport for the country.”
That said, he’s disappointed that soccer in Scarborough currently is “not in a great place.” Once full of many thriving clubs, the youth soccer scene in Scarborough is not what it was when De Rosario was growing up. He hopes hosting the World Cup will help inspire a new generation to love the game and want to play.
He’s also deeply involved himself in helping to bring programming and facilities to support youth accessing the game. For example, he said he was “super excited” to partner with his old elementary school to build a new turf field.
He’s also a strong supporter of girls and women’s soccer and was inspired to see the Northern Super League, Canada’s professional women’s soccer league, get off to a great start this spring.
De Rosario also believes soccer offers many life lessons and a sense of community that would benefit youth and which have helped him in his own life. Soccer teaches “discipline, respect, teamwork, punctuality” and involves coaches, parents, players all working together for the benefit of the team, he said.
De Rosario spoke about his father and how he was a volunteer coach, putting in many hours to develop young players and how parents would help each other out, driving kids around to games and practices and supporting their communities.
He also says soccer is excellent for health, keeping fit, and an “amazing outlet” for releasing stress, so long as kids are enjoying the game and parents don’t put too much pressure on them.
As a parent himself, De Rosario now has the great joy of watching his sons play professionally – Osaze De Rosario plays for Seattle and Adisa De Rosario plays for Toronto FC. He said he was “extremely proud” to see Osaze score the winning goal for Seattle recently in a big game against Lionel Messi’s Inter Miami team.
The World Cup runs June 11- July 19. Toronto will host six games.
