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<rss version="2.0" xmlns:atom="http://www.w3.org/2005/Atom"><channel><title>blogTO</title><link>https://www.blogto.com</link><description></description><atom:link href="https://www.blogto.com/rss/articles.xml" rel="self"></atom:link><language>en-us</language><lastBuildDate>Fri, 03 Jul 2026 15:23:38 -0400</lastBuildDate><item><title>Traded Toronto Raptor Gradey Dick shares heartfelt goodbye to the city</title><link>https://www.blogto.com/sports_play/2026/07/traded-toronto-raptor-dick-shares-heartfelt-goodbye/</link><description>&lt;img class="webfeedsFeaturedVisual" src="https://blogto-production2-baselayer-display.blogto.com/articles/20260703-gradey-dick-toronto-raptors.jpg?w=1200&amp;amp;cmd=resize_then_crop&amp;amp;height=630&amp;amp;format=auto" width="100%"&gt;&lt;p&gt;When the Toronto Raptors selected Gradey Dick in the first round of the 2023 NBA Draft, it didn&amp;#39;t take long for him to become a fan favourite around the city.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Whether it was his&lt;a href="https://www.blogto.com/sports_play/2023/06/toronto-raptors-draft-pick-dick-outrageous-red-suit/"&gt; memorable red sequined suit&lt;/a&gt; on draft night, his post-game flexes, embracing Caribana, or appearing alongside Drake in his son&amp;#39;s music video, the Raptors fan base loved Dick.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Now, the 22-year-old&amp;#39;s time in Toronto has come to an end after being&amp;nbsp;shipped to the Los Angeles Clippers with Brandon Ingram &lt;a href="https://www.blogto.com/sports_play/2026/06/kawhi-leonard-trade-toronto-raptors/"&gt;in exchange for Kawhi Leonard&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Despite seeing his role diminish last season, Dick had nothing but gratitude for the city and the organization, sharing a heartfelt farewell on Instagram.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&amp;quot;TORONTO! It was a blessing, and I am forever grateful to have been a Raptor,&amp;quot; Dick wrote.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&amp;quot;I genuinely appreciate all the love and support over the years. Memories in the 6ix that&amp;rsquo;ll last a lifetime!! I&amp;rsquo;ll always have love for the North. Thank you for everything, Toronto. On to the next chapter!&amp;quot;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;blockquote class="instagram-media" data-instgrm-captioned="" data-instgrm-permalink="https://www.instagram.com/p/DaVwL-ciTiv/?utm_source=ig_embed&amp;amp;utm_campaign=loading" data-instgrm-version="14" style=" background:#FFF; border:0; border-radius:3px; box-shadow:0 0 1px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.5),0 1px 10px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.15); margin: 1px; max-width:540px; min-width:326px; padding:0; width:99.375%; width:-webkit-calc(100% - 2px); width:calc(100% - 2px);"&gt;&lt;div style="padding:16px;"&gt;&lt;div style=" display: flex; flex-direction: row; align-items: center;"&gt;&lt;div style="background-color: #F4F4F4; border-radius: 50%; flex-grow: 0; height: 40px; margin-right: 14px; width: 40px;"&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style="display: flex; flex-direction: column; flex-grow: 1; justify-content: center;"&gt;&lt;div style=" background-color: #F4F4F4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; margin-bottom: 6px; width: 100px;"&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style=" background-color: #F4F4F4; 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font-family:Arial,sans-serif; font-size:14px; font-style:normal; font-weight:550; line-height:18px;"&gt;&lt;a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/DaVwL-ciTiv/?utm_source=ig_embed&amp;amp;utm_campaign=loading" style=" background:#FFFFFF; line-height:0; padding:0 0; text-align:center; text-decoration:none; width:100%;" target="_blank"&gt;View this post on Instagram&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style="padding: 12.5% 0;"&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style="display: flex; flex-direction: row; margin-bottom: 14px; align-items: center;"&gt;&lt;div&gt;&lt;div style="background-color: #F4F4F4; border-radius: 50%; height: 12.5px; width: 12.5px; transform: translateX(0px) translateY(7px);"&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style="background-color: #F4F4F4; height: 12.5px; transform: rotate(-45deg) translateX(3px) translateY(1px); width: 12.5px; flex-grow: 0; margin-right: 14px; margin-left: 2px;"&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style="background-color: #F4F4F4; border-radius: 50%; height: 12.5px; width: 12.5px; transform: translateX(9px) translateY(-18px);"&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style="margin-left: 8px;"&gt;&lt;div style=" background-color: #F4F4F4; border-radius: 50%; flex-grow: 0; height: 20px; width: 20px;"&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style=" width: 0; height: 0; border-top: 2px solid transparent; border-left: 6px solid #f4f4f4; border-bottom: 2px solid transparent; transform: translateX(16px) translateY(-4px) rotate(30deg)"&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style="margin-left: auto;"&gt;&lt;div style=" width: 0px; border-top: 8px solid #F4F4F4; border-right: 8px solid transparent; transform: translateY(16px);"&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style=" background-color: #F4F4F4; flex-grow: 0; height: 12px; width: 16px; transform: translateY(-4px);"&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style=" width: 0; height: 0; border-top: 8px solid #F4F4F4; border-left: 8px solid transparent; transform: translateY(-4px) translateX(8px);"&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style="display: flex; flex-direction: column; flex-grow: 1; justify-content: center; margin-bottom: 24px;"&gt;&lt;div style=" background-color: #F4F4F4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; margin-bottom: 6px; width: 224px;"&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style=" background-color: #F4F4F4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; width: 144px;"&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;p style=" color:#c9c8cd; font-family:Arial,sans-serif; font-size:14px; line-height:17px; margin-bottom:0; margin-top:8px; overflow:hidden; padding:8px 0 7px; text-align:center; text-overflow:ellipsis; white-space:nowrap;"&gt;&lt;a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/DaVwL-ciTiv/?utm_source=ig_embed&amp;amp;utm_campaign=loading" style=" color:#c9c8cd; font-family:Arial,sans-serif; font-size:14px; font-style:normal; font-weight:normal; line-height:17px; text-decoration:none;" target="_blank"&gt;A post shared by Gradey Dick (@gradey)&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&lt;script async src="//www.instagram.com/embed.js"&gt;&lt;/script&gt;&lt;p&gt;Dick is now entering the final year of a four-year $21.4 million deal and will be eligible to become a restricted free agent following the 2026-27 season.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;After starting 54 games and averaging 29 minutes per contest in 2024-25, Dick&amp;#39;s role as the team&amp;#39;s wing scorer shrank last season. His playing time was cut roughly in half, and his three-point shooting percentage dropped by more than five per cent.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;With other players on the Raptors shooting better than Dick, he pretty much lost his job.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;While his time with the Raptors tenure didn&amp;#39;t end the way many fans had hoped, fans seem optimistic that the fresh start in Los Angeles could help him find his on-court game again.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Off-court, remember &lt;a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WR-bQTQNU_E"&gt;his game face never takes days off&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;</description><dc:creator xmlns:dc="http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/">Marley Dickinson, Offside</dc:creator><pubDate>Fri, 03 Jul 2026 15:23:38 -0400</pubDate><guid>https://www.blogto.com/sports_play/2026/07/traded-toronto-raptor-dick-shares-heartfelt-goodbye/</guid><media:content height="630" medium="image" type="image/jpeg" url="https://blogto-production2-baselayer-display.blogto.com/articles/20260703-gradey-dick-toronto-raptors.jpg?w=1200&amp;cmd=resize_then_crop&amp;height=630&amp;format=auto" width="1200"></media:content><media:content height="630" medium="image" type="image/jpeg" url="https://blogto-production2-baselayer-display.blogto.com/articles/20260703-gradey-dick-toronto-raptors.jpg?w=1200&amp;cmd=resize_then_crop&amp;height=630&amp;format=auto" width="1200"><media:title>Traded Toronto Raptor Gradey Dick shares heartfelt goodbye to the city</media:title></media:content></item><item><title>Toronto Stadium additions already being torn down after FIFA World Cup matches</title><link>https://www.blogto.com/sports_play/2026/07/toronto-stadium-additions-torn-down-fifa-world-cup/</link><description>&lt;img class="webfeedsFeaturedVisual" src="https://blogto-production2-baselayer-display.blogto.com/articles/20260703-toronto-stadium-fifa-world-cup.jpg?w=1200&amp;amp;cmd=resize_then_crop&amp;amp;height=630&amp;amp;format=auto" width="100%"&gt;&lt;p&gt;After three incredible weeks and six FIFA World Cup matches, Toronto Stadium is already&amp;nbsp;being torn down.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Despite there still being two weeks left in the tournament, with no games left in Toronto, the clock&amp;nbsp;has&amp;nbsp;started to tick down to the&amp;nbsp;venue&amp;#39;s reintroduction as BMO Field in time for August.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Just a few hours after the Portugal-Croatia match ended, the local organizing committee already started&amp;nbsp;dismantling the 43,000-seat&amp;nbsp;temporary stadium.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;blockquote class="twitter-tweet"&gt;&lt;p dir="ltr" lang="en"&gt;And with that, an hour after the final World Cup match in Toronto, the stadium wrappings begin to disappear. &lt;a href="https://t.co/b5bMnO7kM6"&gt;pic.twitter.com/b5bMnO7kM6&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&amp;mdash; Charlie O&amp;#39;Connor-Clarke (@charliejclarke) &lt;a href="https://x.com/charliejclarke/status/2072866965492797590?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw"&gt;July 3, 2026&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&lt;script async src="https://platform.x.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"&gt;&lt;/script&gt;&lt;p&gt;The FIFA Toronto-branded wrapping was the first thing to be removed, along with &lt;a href="https://x.com/EstadioDxts/status/2072892082943914080"&gt;signage around the grounds&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Over the next few weeks, the 17,000 added seats at the north and south ends of the stadium will be disassembled, and the field will return to its regular capacity of&amp;nbsp;28,180.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;The City of Toronto added the temporary seating&amp;nbsp;to meet FIFA&amp;#39;s minimum stadium capacity requirement of 40,000 in order to be a host city for this tournament.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img alt="" id="content-image-129664" src="https://blogto-production2-baselayer-display.blogto.com/uploads/2026/07/03/1783096020-20260703-toronto-stadium-fifa-world-cup.jpg?w=1400&amp;cmd=resize&amp;format=auto" /&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p class="caption"&gt;Toronto Stadium (BMO Field) hosted five FIFA World Cup&amp;nbsp;group-stage matches and one knockout game between Croatia and Portugal. (Fareen Karim)&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Though it was the smallest, Toronto Stadium was only one of five purpose-built soccer stadiums among the tournament&amp;#39;s 16 host venues.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Maple Leaf Sports &amp;amp; Entertainment (MLSE) are&lt;a href="https://www.blogto.com/sports_play/2026/06/torontos-bmo-field-change-fifa-world-cup/"&gt; planning to make several permanent upgrades&lt;/a&gt; to the stadium now that the FIFA World Cup is over.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;The six BMO Field signs removed for the tournament will be replaced with illuminated, overhanging signs. An additional electronic sign will also reportedly be installed along the upper roof edge above the north scoreboard.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;The local organizing committee will hand over the stadium on July 22, and&amp;nbsp;MLSE will work on getting BMO Field ready before its two tenants, Toronto Argonauts and Toronto FC, return&amp;nbsp;home in August.&lt;/p&gt;</description><dc:creator xmlns:dc="http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/">Marley Dickinson, Offside</dc:creator><pubDate>Fri, 03 Jul 2026 15:00:00 -0400</pubDate><guid>https://www.blogto.com/sports_play/2026/07/toronto-stadium-additions-torn-down-fifa-world-cup/</guid><media:content height="630" medium="image" type="image/jpeg" url="https://blogto-production2-baselayer-display.blogto.com/articles/20260703-toronto-stadium-fifa-world-cup.jpg?w=1200&amp;cmd=resize_then_crop&amp;height=630&amp;format=auto" width="1200"></media:content><media:content height="630" medium="image" type="image/jpeg" url="https://blogto-production2-baselayer-display.blogto.com/articles/20260703-toronto-stadium-fifa-world-cup.jpg?w=1200&amp;cmd=resize_then_crop&amp;height=630&amp;format=auto" width="1200"><media:title>Toronto Stadium additions already being torn down after FIFA World Cup matches</media:title></media:content></item><item><title>Ronaldo's family dined at this Toronto restaurant before the Portugal-Croatia match</title><link>https://www.blogto.com/eat_drink/2026/07/ronaldo-family-toronto-restaurant/</link><description>&lt;img class="webfeedsFeaturedVisual" src="https://blogto-production2-baselayer-display.blogto.com/articles/20260703-ronaldo-family-toronto.jpeg?w=1200&amp;amp;cmd=resize_then_crop&amp;amp;height=630&amp;amp;format=auto" width="100%"&gt;&lt;p&gt;Soccer star Cristiano Ronaldo&amp;#39;s family has been making the most of their time in Toronto by&lt;a href="https://www.blogto.com/eat_drink/2026/07/ronaldos-family-dined-toronto-portuguese-spot/" target="_blank"&gt; visiting the city&amp;#39;s swath of impressive Portuguese restaurants&lt;/a&gt;, and the latest to get a surprise visit says it was just like &amp;quot;serving old friends.&amp;quot;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Hindsight is 20/20, so, though we now&amp;nbsp;know&amp;nbsp;that Portugal would go on to win its match &amp;mdash; the last of the 2026 FIFA World Cup to be held in Toronto &amp;mdash; against Croatia,&amp;nbsp;Cristiano Ronaldo&amp;#39;s sister, Katia Aveiro and mother, Maria Dolores dos Santos Aveiro,&amp;nbsp;were almost&amp;nbsp;too nervous to eat before kick-off.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;At least, so says the team at Castlefield Design District Portuguese staple, &lt;a href="https://www.blogto.com/restaurants/mercado-restaurant-toronto/" target="_blank"&gt;Mercado&lt;/a&gt;, who were treated to a visit from Ronaldo&amp;#39;s family before the hotly anticipated Portugal-Croatia match on July 2.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;According to a representative from the restaurant, the visit from the Aveiro family came as a complete surprise, but even more surprising was just how down-to-earth they actually were.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;blockquote class="instagram-media" data-instgrm-permalink="https://www.instagram.com/reel/DaTRqhOONIy/?utm_source=ig_embed&amp;amp;utm_campaign=loading" data-instgrm-version="14" style=" background:#FFF; border:0; border-radius:3px; box-shadow:0 0 1px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.5),0 1px 10px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.15); margin: 1px; max-width:540px; min-width:326px; padding:0; width:99.375%; width:-webkit-calc(100% - 2px); width:calc(100% - 2px);"&gt;&lt;div style="padding:16px;"&gt;&lt;div style=" display: flex; flex-direction: row; align-items: center;"&gt;&lt;div style="background-color: #F4F4F4; border-radius: 50%; flex-grow: 0; height: 40px; margin-right: 14px; width: 40px;"&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style="display: flex; flex-direction: column; flex-grow: 1; justify-content: center;"&gt;&lt;div style=" background-color: #F4F4F4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; margin-bottom: 6px; width: 100px;"&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style=" background-color: #F4F4F4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; width: 60px;"&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style="padding: 19% 0;"&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style="display:block; height:50px; margin:0 auto 12px; width:50px;"&gt;&lt;a href="https://www.instagram.com/reel/DaTRqhOONIy/?utm_source=ig_embed&amp;amp;utm_campaign=loading" style=" background:#FFFFFF; line-height:0; padding:0 0; text-align:center; text-decoration:none; width:100%;" target="_blank"&gt;&lt;svg height="50px" version="1.1" viewbox="0 0 60 60" width="50px" xmlns="https://www.w3.org/2000/svg" xmlns:xlink="https://www.w3.org/1999/xlink"&gt;&lt;g fill="none" fill-rule="evenodd" stroke="none" stroke-width="1"&gt;&lt;g fill="#000000" transform="translate(-511.000000, -20.000000)"&gt;&lt;g&gt;&lt;path d="M556.869,30.41 C554.814,30.41 553.148,32.076 553.148,34.131 C553.148,36.186 554.814,37.852 556.869,37.852 C558.924,37.852 560.59,36.186 560.59,34.131 C560.59,32.076 558.924,30.41 556.869,30.41 M541,60.657 C535.114,60.657 530.342,55.887 530.342,50 C530.342,44.114 535.114,39.342 541,39.342 C546.887,39.342 551.658,44.114 551.658,50 C551.658,55.887 546.887,60.657 541,60.657 M541,33.886 C532.1,33.886 524.886,41.1 524.886,50 C524.886,58.899 532.1,66.113 541,66.113 C549.9,66.113 557.115,58.899 557.115,50 C557.115,41.1 549.9,33.886 541,33.886 M565.378,62.101 C565.244,65.022 564.756,66.606 564.346,67.663 C563.803,69.06 563.154,70.057 562.106,71.106 C561.058,72.155 560.06,72.803 558.662,73.347 C557.607,73.757 556.021,74.244 553.102,74.378 C549.944,74.521 548.997,74.552 541,74.552 C533.003,74.552 532.056,74.521 528.898,74.378 C525.979,74.244 524.393,73.757 523.338,73.347 C521.94,72.803 520.942,72.155 519.894,71.106 C518.846,70.057 518.197,69.06 517.654,67.663 C517.244,66.606 516.755,65.022 516.623,62.101 C516.479,58.943 516.448,57.996 516.448,50 C516.448,42.003 516.479,41.056 516.623,37.899 C516.755,34.978 517.244,33.391 517.654,32.338 C518.197,30.938 518.846,29.942 519.894,28.894 C520.942,27.846 521.94,27.196 523.338,26.654 C524.393,26.244 525.979,25.756 528.898,25.623 C532.057,25.479 533.004,25.448 541,25.448 C548.997,25.448 549.943,25.479 553.102,25.623 C556.021,25.756 557.607,26.244 558.662,26.654 C560.06,27.196 561.058,27.846 562.106,28.894 C563.154,29.942 563.803,30.938 564.346,32.338 C564.756,33.391 565.244,34.978 565.378,37.899 C565.522,41.056 565.552,42.003 565.552,50 C565.552,57.996 565.522,58.943 565.378,62.101 M570.82,37.631 C570.674,34.438 570.167,32.258 569.425,30.349 C568.659,28.377 567.633,26.702 565.965,25.035 C564.297,23.368 562.623,22.342 560.652,21.575 C558.743,20.834 556.562,20.326 553.369,20.18 C550.169,20.033 549.148,20 541,20 C532.853,20 531.831,20.033 528.631,20.18 C525.438,20.326 523.257,20.834 521.349,21.575 C519.376,22.342 517.703,23.368 516.035,25.035 C514.368,26.702 513.342,28.377 512.574,30.349 C511.834,32.258 511.326,34.438 511.181,37.631 C511.035,40.831 511,41.851 511,50 C511,58.147 511.035,59.17 511.181,62.369 C511.326,65.562 511.834,67.743 512.574,69.651 C513.342,71.625 514.368,73.296 516.035,74.965 C517.703,76.634 519.376,77.658 521.349,78.425 C523.257,79.167 525.438,79.673 528.631,79.82 C531.831,79.965 532.853,80.001 541,80.001 C549.148,80.001 550.169,79.965 553.369,79.82 C556.562,79.673 558.743,79.167 560.652,78.425 C562.623,77.658 564.297,76.634 565.965,74.965 C567.633,73.296 568.659,71.625 569.425,69.651 C570.167,67.743 570.674,65.562 570.82,62.369 C570.966,59.17 571,58.147 571,50 C571,41.851 570.966,40.831 570.82,37.631"&gt;&lt;/path&gt;&lt;/g&gt;&lt;/g&gt;&lt;/g&gt;&lt;/svg&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style="padding-top: 8px;"&gt;&lt;div style=" color:#3897f0; font-family:Arial,sans-serif; font-size:14px; font-style:normal; font-weight:550; line-height:18px;"&gt;&lt;a href="https://www.instagram.com/reel/DaTRqhOONIy/?utm_source=ig_embed&amp;amp;utm_campaign=loading" style=" background:#FFFFFF; line-height:0; padding:0 0; text-align:center; text-decoration:none; width:100%;" target="_blank"&gt;View this post on Instagram&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style="padding: 12.5% 0;"&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style="display: flex; flex-direction: row; margin-bottom: 14px; align-items: center;"&gt;&lt;div&gt;&lt;div style="background-color: #F4F4F4; border-radius: 50%; height: 12.5px; width: 12.5px; transform: translateX(0px) translateY(7px);"&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style="background-color: #F4F4F4; height: 12.5px; transform: rotate(-45deg) translateX(3px) translateY(1px); width: 12.5px; flex-grow: 0; margin-right: 14px; margin-left: 2px;"&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style="background-color: #F4F4F4; border-radius: 50%; height: 12.5px; width: 12.5px; transform: translateX(9px) translateY(-18px);"&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style="margin-left: 8px;"&gt;&lt;div style=" background-color: #F4F4F4; border-radius: 50%; flex-grow: 0; height: 20px; width: 20px;"&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style=" width: 0; height: 0; border-top: 2px solid transparent; border-left: 6px solid #f4f4f4; border-bottom: 2px solid transparent; transform: translateX(16px) translateY(-4px) rotate(30deg)"&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style="margin-left: auto;"&gt;&lt;div style=" width: 0px; border-top: 8px solid #F4F4F4; border-right: 8px solid transparent; transform: translateY(16px);"&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style=" background-color: #F4F4F4; flex-grow: 0; height: 12px; width: 16px; transform: translateY(-4px);"&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style=" width: 0; height: 0; border-top: 8px solid #F4F4F4; border-left: 8px solid transparent; transform: translateY(-4px) translateX(8px);"&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style="display: flex; flex-direction: column; flex-grow: 1; justify-content: center; margin-bottom: 24px;"&gt;&lt;div style=" background-color: #F4F4F4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; margin-bottom: 6px; width: 224px;"&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style=" background-color: #F4F4F4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; width: 144px;"&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;p style=" color:#c9c8cd; font-family:Arial,sans-serif; font-size:14px; line-height:17px; margin-bottom:0; margin-top:8px; overflow:hidden; padding:8px 0 7px; text-align:center; text-overflow:ellipsis; white-space:nowrap;"&gt;&lt;a href="https://www.instagram.com/reel/DaTRqhOONIy/?utm_source=ig_embed&amp;amp;utm_campaign=loading" style=" color:#c9c8cd; font-family:Arial,sans-serif; font-size:14px; font-style:normal; font-weight:normal; line-height:17px; text-decoration:none;" target="_blank"&gt;A post shared by Mercado (@mercadorestaurant.to)&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&lt;script async src="//www.instagram.com/embed.js"&gt;&lt;/script&gt;&lt;p&gt;&amp;quot;They are super humble, super simple,&amp;quot; the team member says, &amp;quot;no frills and very comfortable.&amp;quot;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;In the hours leading up to Ronaldo&amp;#39;s biggest game of the World Cup so far, the team member says that both Maria Dolores and Katia were extremely nervous for their son and brother, but still managed to tuck into a selection of the restaurant&amp;#39;s most popular classics and shareable dishes.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&amp;quot;For us, it&amp;#39;s an honour and pleasure, being their first time in Toronto and for such a short time, passing by to visit means a lot,&amp;quot; the restaurant tells blogTO.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&amp;quot;Since we have started out main goal has always been to showcase Portuguese [cuisine] and do it the best we can, so when we get high profile visits, it confirms we&amp;#39;re doing right.&amp;quot;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;And, if any more confirmation was needed, the restaurant received a considerable shout-out on Katia&amp;#39;s &lt;a href="https://www.instagram.com/katiaaveirooficial/" target="_blank"&gt;Instagram story&lt;/a&gt; following the meal.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Whether or not the visit and subsequent publicity end up yielding a surge in business remains to be seen, but to the team at Mercado, it&amp;#39;s ultimately inconsequential.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&amp;quot;I don&amp;#39;t think it&amp;#39;s about a surge in business; it&amp;#39;s more about validation,&amp;quot; the restaurant says. &amp;quot;What I found lovely was the amount of messages we received from our regulars, cheering us on and being truly happy for us. I think that was the best part.&amp;quot;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Mercado is located at 682 Caledonia Rd.&lt;/p&gt;</description><dc:creator xmlns:dc="http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/">Phoebe Knight, Dished</dc:creator><pubDate>Fri, 03 Jul 2026 14:00:00 -0400</pubDate><guid>https://www.blogto.com/eat_drink/2026/07/ronaldo-family-toronto-restaurant/</guid><media:content height="630" medium="image" type="image/jpeg" url="https://blogto-production2-baselayer-display.blogto.com/articles/20260703-ronaldo-family-toronto.jpeg?w=1200&amp;cmd=resize_then_crop&amp;height=630&amp;format=auto" width="1200"></media:content><media:content height="630" medium="image" type="image/jpeg" url="https://blogto-production2-baselayer-display.blogto.com/articles/20260703-ronaldo-family-toronto.jpeg?w=1200&amp;cmd=resize_then_crop&amp;height=630&amp;format=auto" width="1200"><media:title>Ronaldo's family dined at this Toronto restaurant before the Portugal-Croatia match</media:title></media:content></item><item><title>Much-anticipated Toronto food festival cancelled just weeks before event</title><link>https://www.blogto.com/radar/2026/07/taste-of-little-jamaica-cancelled/</link><description>&lt;img class="webfeedsFeaturedVisual" src="https://blogto-production2-baselayer-display.blogto.com/articles/20260703-little-jamaica-toronto.jpg?w=1200&amp;amp;cmd=resize_then_crop&amp;amp;height=630&amp;amp;format=auto" width="100%"&gt;&lt;p&gt;A brand-new food festival, Taste of Little Jamaica, celebrating Toronto&amp;#39;s Caribbean community, has officially been cancelled.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;On July 2, organizers released a statement on&amp;nbsp;Instagram saying the decision to scrap the event, just two weeks before it was set to take over Eglinton Avenue West on July 18, followed months of close work with the City of Toronto and community partners.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&amp;quot;While every effort was made to move the event forward, we were ultimately unable to secure all of the approvals required to proceed this year,&amp;quot; the statement reads.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Expected to showcase the culture, cuisine, and community of Little Jamaica, the inaugural Taste of Little Jamaica was highly anticipated by neighbours and resident from afar.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;blockquote class="instagram-media" data-instgrm-permalink="https://www.instagram.com/p/DaStl5muGv4/?utm_source=ig_embed&amp;amp;utm_campaign=loading" data-instgrm-version="14" style=" background:#FFF; border:0; border-radius:3px; box-shadow:0 0 1px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.5),0 1px 10px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.15); margin: 1px; max-width:540px; min-width:326px; padding:0; width:99.375%; width:-webkit-calc(100% - 2px); width:calc(100% - 2px);"&gt;&lt;div style="padding:16px;"&gt;&lt;div style=" display: flex; flex-direction: row; align-items: center;"&gt;&lt;div style="background-color: #F4F4F4; border-radius: 50%; flex-grow: 0; height: 40px; margin-right: 14px; width: 40px;"&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style="display: flex; flex-direction: column; flex-grow: 1; justify-content: center;"&gt;&lt;div style=" background-color: #F4F4F4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; margin-bottom: 6px; width: 100px;"&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style=" background-color: #F4F4F4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; width: 60px;"&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style="padding: 19% 0;"&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style="display:block; height:50px; margin:0 auto 12px; width:50px;"&gt;&lt;a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/DaStl5muGv4/?utm_source=ig_embed&amp;amp;utm_campaign=loading" style=" background:#FFFFFF; line-height:0; padding:0 0; text-align:center; text-decoration:none; width:100%;" target="_blank"&gt;&lt;svg height="50px" version="1.1" viewbox="0 0 60 60" width="50px" xmlns="https://www.w3.org/2000/svg" xmlns:xlink="https://www.w3.org/1999/xlink"&gt;&lt;g fill="none" fill-rule="evenodd" stroke="none" stroke-width="1"&gt;&lt;g fill="#000000" transform="translate(-511.000000, -20.000000)"&gt;&lt;g&gt;&lt;path d="M556.869,30.41 C554.814,30.41 553.148,32.076 553.148,34.131 C553.148,36.186 554.814,37.852 556.869,37.852 C558.924,37.852 560.59,36.186 560.59,34.131 C560.59,32.076 558.924,30.41 556.869,30.41 M541,60.657 C535.114,60.657 530.342,55.887 530.342,50 C530.342,44.114 535.114,39.342 541,39.342 C546.887,39.342 551.658,44.114 551.658,50 C551.658,55.887 546.887,60.657 541,60.657 M541,33.886 C532.1,33.886 524.886,41.1 524.886,50 C524.886,58.899 532.1,66.113 541,66.113 C549.9,66.113 557.115,58.899 557.115,50 C557.115,41.1 549.9,33.886 541,33.886 M565.378,62.101 C565.244,65.022 564.756,66.606 564.346,67.663 C563.803,69.06 563.154,70.057 562.106,71.106 C561.058,72.155 560.06,72.803 558.662,73.347 C557.607,73.757 556.021,74.244 553.102,74.378 C549.944,74.521 548.997,74.552 541,74.552 C533.003,74.552 532.056,74.521 528.898,74.378 C525.979,74.244 524.393,73.757 523.338,73.347 C521.94,72.803 520.942,72.155 519.894,71.106 C518.846,70.057 518.197,69.06 517.654,67.663 C517.244,66.606 516.755,65.022 516.623,62.101 C516.479,58.943 516.448,57.996 516.448,50 C516.448,42.003 516.479,41.056 516.623,37.899 C516.755,34.978 517.244,33.391 517.654,32.338 C518.197,30.938 518.846,29.942 519.894,28.894 C520.942,27.846 521.94,27.196 523.338,26.654 C524.393,26.244 525.979,25.756 528.898,25.623 C532.057,25.479 533.004,25.448 541,25.448 C548.997,25.448 549.943,25.479 553.102,25.623 C556.021,25.756 557.607,26.244 558.662,26.654 C560.06,27.196 561.058,27.846 562.106,28.894 C563.154,29.942 563.803,30.938 564.346,32.338 C564.756,33.391 565.244,34.978 565.378,37.899 C565.522,41.056 565.552,42.003 565.552,50 C565.552,57.996 565.522,58.943 565.378,62.101 M570.82,37.631 C570.674,34.438 570.167,32.258 569.425,30.349 C568.659,28.377 567.633,26.702 565.965,25.035 C564.297,23.368 562.623,22.342 560.652,21.575 C558.743,20.834 556.562,20.326 553.369,20.18 C550.169,20.033 549.148,20 541,20 C532.853,20 531.831,20.033 528.631,20.18 C525.438,20.326 523.257,20.834 521.349,21.575 C519.376,22.342 517.703,23.368 516.035,25.035 C514.368,26.702 513.342,28.377 512.574,30.349 C511.834,32.258 511.326,34.438 511.181,37.631 C511.035,40.831 511,41.851 511,50 C511,58.147 511.035,59.17 511.181,62.369 C511.326,65.562 511.834,67.743 512.574,69.651 C513.342,71.625 514.368,73.296 516.035,74.965 C517.703,76.634 519.376,77.658 521.349,78.425 C523.257,79.167 525.438,79.673 528.631,79.82 C531.831,79.965 532.853,80.001 541,80.001 C549.148,80.001 550.169,79.965 553.369,79.82 C556.562,79.673 558.743,79.167 560.652,78.425 C562.623,77.658 564.297,76.634 565.965,74.965 C567.633,73.296 568.659,71.625 569.425,69.651 C570.167,67.743 570.674,65.562 570.82,62.369 C570.966,59.17 571,58.147 571,50 C571,41.851 570.966,40.831 570.82,37.631"&gt;&lt;/path&gt;&lt;/g&gt;&lt;/g&gt;&lt;/g&gt;&lt;/svg&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style="padding-top: 8px;"&gt;&lt;div style=" color:#3897f0; font-family:Arial,sans-serif; font-size:14px; font-style:normal; font-weight:550; line-height:18px;"&gt;&lt;a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/DaStl5muGv4/?utm_source=ig_embed&amp;amp;utm_campaign=loading" style=" background:#FFFFFF; line-height:0; padding:0 0; text-align:center; text-decoration:none; width:100%;" target="_blank"&gt;View this post on Instagram&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style="padding: 12.5% 0;"&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style="display: flex; flex-direction: row; margin-bottom: 14px; align-items: center;"&gt;&lt;div&gt;&lt;div style="background-color: #F4F4F4; border-radius: 50%; height: 12.5px; width: 12.5px; transform: translateX(0px) translateY(7px);"&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style="background-color: #F4F4F4; height: 12.5px; transform: rotate(-45deg) translateX(3px) translateY(1px); width: 12.5px; flex-grow: 0; margin-right: 14px; margin-left: 2px;"&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style="background-color: #F4F4F4; border-radius: 50%; height: 12.5px; width: 12.5px; transform: translateX(9px) translateY(-18px);"&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style="margin-left: 8px;"&gt;&lt;div style=" background-color: #F4F4F4; border-radius: 50%; flex-grow: 0; height: 20px; width: 20px;"&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style=" width: 0; height: 0; border-top: 2px solid transparent; border-left: 6px solid #f4f4f4; border-bottom: 2px solid transparent; transform: translateX(16px) translateY(-4px) rotate(30deg)"&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style="margin-left: auto;"&gt;&lt;div style=" width: 0px; border-top: 8px solid #F4F4F4; border-right: 8px solid transparent; transform: translateY(16px);"&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style=" background-color: #F4F4F4; flex-grow: 0; height: 12px; width: 16px; transform: translateY(-4px);"&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style=" width: 0; height: 0; border-top: 8px solid #F4F4F4; border-left: 8px solid transparent; transform: translateY(-4px) translateX(8px);"&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style="display: flex; flex-direction: column; flex-grow: 1; justify-content: center; margin-bottom: 24px;"&gt;&lt;div style=" background-color: #F4F4F4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; margin-bottom: 6px; width: 224px;"&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style=" background-color: #F4F4F4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; width: 144px;"&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;p style=" color:#c9c8cd; font-family:Arial,sans-serif; font-size:14px; line-height:17px; margin-bottom:0; margin-top:8px; overflow:hidden; padding:8px 0 7px; text-align:center; text-overflow:ellipsis; white-space:nowrap;"&gt;&lt;a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/DaStl5muGv4/?utm_source=ig_embed&amp;amp;utm_campaign=loading" style=" color:#c9c8cd; font-family:Arial,sans-serif; font-size:14px; font-style:normal; font-weight:normal; line-height:17px; text-decoration:none;" target="_blank"&gt;A post shared by Toronto&amp;rsquo;s Biggest Caribbean Food + Culture Festival (@tastethecaribbean.ca)&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&lt;script async src="//www.instagram.com/embed.js"&gt;&lt;/script&gt;&lt;p&gt;Back in 2025, &lt;a href="https://www.blogto.com/radar/2025/08/little-jamaica-festival-toronto-suddenly-cancelled/" target="_blank"&gt;Little Jamaica Festival&lt;/a&gt;, a similar two-day event hosted by the Little Jamaica BIA, was one of the many in a&amp;nbsp;string of &lt;a href="https://www.blogto.com/radar/2026/01/events-cancelled-toronto-2025/" target="_blank"&gt;event&amp;nbsp;cancellations&lt;/a&gt;. Organizers cited&amp;nbsp;funding and permit issues as the primary reasons behind the cancellation.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;This year&amp;#39;s Taste of Little Jamaica, an amalgamation of Taste the Caribbean and Toronto Patty Fest,&amp;nbsp;was expected to revive cultural celebrations in the historic neighbourhood,&amp;nbsp;but it&amp;nbsp;unfortunately met a similar fate.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Organizers say they are &amp;quot;deeply disappointed&amp;quot; by the outcome but&amp;nbsp;respect the City&amp;#39;s permitting process and thank&amp;nbsp;everyone involved in trying to bring the event to life.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Comments expressing frustration and support are&amp;nbsp;flooding the organizers&amp;#39;&amp;nbsp;Instagram post, with people calling the cancellation &amp;quot;unfair&amp;quot; and &amp;quot;suspicious.&amp;quot; But community members are promising to support the neighbourhood&amp;#39;s small businesses&amp;nbsp;through other means, with some even suggesting a food crawl.&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Despite this year&amp;#39;s cancellation, the team says Taste of Little Jamaia is not over for good.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&amp;quot;While this year&amp;#39;s event will not move forward as planned, our commitment to celebrating and uplifting the Little Jamaica community remains strong,&amp;quot; the statement continues. &amp;quot;We look forward to bringing this vision to life in 2027.&amp;quot;&lt;/p&gt;</description><dc:creator xmlns:dc="http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/">Sandeep Panesar</dc:creator><pubDate>Fri, 03 Jul 2026 13:00:00 -0400</pubDate><guid>https://www.blogto.com/radar/2026/07/taste-of-little-jamaica-cancelled/</guid><media:content height="630" medium="image" type="image/jpeg" url="https://blogto-production2-baselayer-display.blogto.com/articles/20260703-little-jamaica-toronto.jpg?w=1200&amp;cmd=resize_then_crop&amp;height=630&amp;format=auto" width="1200"></media:content><media:content height="630" medium="image" type="image/jpeg" url="https://blogto-production2-baselayer-display.blogto.com/articles/20260703-little-jamaica-toronto.jpg?w=1200&amp;cmd=resize_then_crop&amp;height=630&amp;format=auto" width="1200"><media:title>Much-anticipated Toronto food festival cancelled just weeks before event</media:title></media:content></item><item><title>Toronto housing market is finally waking up after months of sluggish sales</title><link>https://www.blogto.com/real-estate-toronto/2026/07/toronto-housing-market-sluggish-sales/</link><description>&lt;img class="webfeedsFeaturedVisual" src="https://blogto-production2-baselayer-display.blogto.com/articles/20260522-RealEstate-4.jpg?w=1200&amp;amp;cmd=resize_then_crop&amp;amp;height=630&amp;amp;format=auto" width="100%"&gt;&lt;p&gt;Following &lt;a href="https://www.blogto.com/real-estate-toronto/2026/06/toronto-housing-market-not-completely-dead/" target="_blank"&gt;months of sluggish activity&lt;/a&gt;, Toronto&amp;#39;s housing market is finally gaining some traction, thanks to increased home sales recorded in June, according to a new real estate report.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;The&lt;a href="https://trreb.ca/market-gains-traction-with-strong-home-sales-in-june-and-first-half-of-the-year/" target="_blank"&gt; Toronto Regional Real Estate Board (TRREB)&lt;/a&gt; released its&lt;a href="https://trreb.ca/wp-content/files/market-stats/market-watch/mw2606.pdf" target="_blank"&gt; monthly Market Watch report &lt;/a&gt;for June on Friday, revealing that housing market conditions continued to improve throughout the GTA last month.&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Although new listings declined in June, sales grew year-over-year, edging higher during the first half of 2026 compared to the first six months of 2025.&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&amp;quot;After a slow start in the first quarter, we saw a marked improvement in home sales in the second quarter of this year. This result followed TRREB&amp;#39;s 2026 outlook, which called for a year of two halves,&amp;quot;&amp;nbsp;said TRREB President Daniel Steinfeld.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&amp;quot;We expect accelerating transactions and more competition between buyers in the last six months of the year, helping to satisfy pent-up demand and ultimately resulting in renewed price growth.&amp;quot;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img alt="toronto real estate" id="content-image-129661" src="https://blogto-production2-baselayer-display.blogto.com/uploads/2026/07/03/1783091865-Screen_Shot_2026-07-03_at_11.16.40_AM.jpeg?w=1400&amp;cmd=resize&amp;format=auto" /&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p class="caption"&gt;Source: TRREB.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Although the average selling price was still down year-over-year in June, the annual rate of decline also receded over the past few months, according to&amp;nbsp;TRREB&amp;#39;s Chief Information Officer Jason Mercer.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&amp;quot;If market conditions continue to tighten in the second half of 2026, selling prices could move in line with 2025 and eventually post some increases. This would give an increasing number of households the confidence to move back into the marketplace,&amp;quot; Mercer added.&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Overall, GTA realtors reported 6,770 home sales through TRREB&amp;#39;S MLS System last month, representing an increase of 9.4 per cent compared to June 2025. On the other hand, new listings entered last month amounted to 17,282, which is down by 12.9 per cent year-over-year.&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img alt="toronto real estate" id="content-image-129662" src="https://blogto-production2-baselayer-display.blogto.com/uploads/2026/07/03/1783091884-Screen_Shot_2026-07-03_at_11.16.45_AM.jpeg?w=1400&amp;cmd=resize&amp;format=auto" /&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p class="caption"&gt;Source: TRREB.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&amp;quot;Housing affordability remains a priority for the region. Development charges, while essential to funding local infrastructure, have substantially increased the upfront cost of housing delivery,&amp;quot;&amp;nbsp;TRREB CEO John DiMichele concluded.&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&amp;quot;This, in turn, contributes to higher purchase prices and rental costs as they can amount to up to 20 per cent of a home&amp;#39;s purchase price.&amp;quot;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;The average selling price of&amp;nbsp;$1,058,658 was also down by 3.9 per cent compared to the same month in 2025.&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;</description><dc:creator xmlns:dc="http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/">Kimia Afshar Mehrabi</dc:creator><pubDate>Fri, 03 Jul 2026 11:29:20 -0400</pubDate><guid>https://www.blogto.com/real-estate-toronto/2026/07/toronto-housing-market-sluggish-sales/</guid><media:content height="630" medium="image" type="image/jpeg" url="https://blogto-production2-baselayer-display.blogto.com/articles/20260522-RealEstate-4.jpg?w=1200&amp;cmd=resize_then_crop&amp;height=630&amp;format=auto" width="1200"></media:content><media:content height="630" medium="image" type="image/jpeg" url="https://blogto-production2-baselayer-display.blogto.com/articles/20260522-RealEstate-4.jpg?w=1200&amp;cmd=resize_then_crop&amp;height=630&amp;format=auto" width="1200"><media:title>Toronto housing market is finally waking up after months of sluggish sales</media:title></media:content></item><item><title>These celebrities were spotted at the Portugal-Croatia match in Toronto</title><link>https://www.blogto.com/sports_play/2026/07/celebrities-spotted-portugal-croatia-match-toronto/</link><description>&lt;img class="webfeedsFeaturedVisual" src="https://blogto-production2-baselayer-display.blogto.com/articles/20260703-drake-fifa-world-cup-toronto.jpg?w=1200&amp;amp;cmd=resize_then_crop&amp;amp;height=630&amp;amp;format=auto" width="100%"&gt;&lt;p&gt;It&amp;#39;s not every day you have two of the greatest footballers of this generation playing in a FIFA World Cup knockout stage game, let alone in Toronto. Hence, a single ticket to get into Thursday&amp;#39;s Portugal-Croatia match was &lt;a href="https://www.blogto.com/sports_play/2026/06/ticket-prices-toronto-portugal-croatia-fifa-world-cup-match/" target="_blank"&gt;going for more than $2,500&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;For what was likely the final international meeting between Cristiano Ronaldo and Luka Modrić, the celebrities showed up.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;The match was quite possibly the biggest can&amp;#39;t-miss event in Toronto since Game 7 of the World Series, drawing everyone from international music stars to Toronto sporting legends.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Toronto Maple Leafs star John Tavares was at the game&lt;a href="https://x.com/LeafsPapi_/status/2072853160712925492"&gt; in a Portugal jersey&lt;/a&gt;, along with the&lt;a href="https://www.blogto.com/sports_play/2026/06/toronto-maple-leafs-drafted-player-everybody-expected-first-overall/" target="_blank"&gt; team&amp;#39;s latest&lt;/a&gt; first-overall draft pick&lt;a href="https://x.com/Leafslatest/status/2072863609017741682"&gt; Gavin McKenna&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Even a few NBA All-Stars were in the crowd.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Raptors forward Scottie Barnes showed love to his favourite player, wearing a CR7 jersey to the Toronto game.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;blockquote class="twitter-tweet"&gt;&lt;p dir="ltr" lang="en"&gt;Scottie Barnes is at Toronto Stadium (BMO Field) repping Cristiano Ronaldo and Portugal. 🇵🇹&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Siiiiiiuuuuuu ⚽️ &lt;a href="https://t.co/USCVMVRrBS"&gt;pic.twitter.com/USCVMVRrBS&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&amp;mdash; Omer Osman (@OmerOsman200) &lt;a href="https://x.com/OmerOsman200/status/2072803889213255981?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw"&gt;July 2, 2026&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&lt;script async src="https://platform.x.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"&gt;&lt;/script&gt;&lt;p&gt;Two-time MVP Shai Gilgeous‑Alexander of the Oklahoma City Thunder was spotted at the game, alongside his wife, Hailey Summers, and a very well-known Torontonian&amp;mdash;Drake.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Drake was pictured on the broadcast around the 73rd minute, earning a shoutout from the commentary team: &amp;quot;Drake, the Canadian rapper, among those in the crowd tonight.&amp;quot;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;The &amp;quot;Iceman&amp;quot; and Gilgeous‑Alexander were seen celebrating Ronaldo&amp;#39;s goal from the penalty spot like a couple of fanboys.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Last but not least, Canadian music icon Nelly Furtado was in attendance, showing support for her Portuguese roots.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;blockquote class="twitter-tweet"&gt;&lt;p dir="ltr" lang="en"&gt;Only true 2000s kids will recognize the absolute legend supporting Portugal in Toronto today. 🇵🇹✨ &lt;a href="https://t.co/3ojKcoaPIs"&gt;pic.twitter.com/3ojKcoaPIs&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&amp;mdash; World Cup 2026 (@ofootball__) &lt;a href="https://x.com/ofootball__/status/2072826426953433272?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw"&gt;July 2, 2026&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&lt;script async src="https://platform.x.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"&gt;&lt;/script&gt;&lt;p&gt;Born in Canada to parents from the Azores, Furtado was among many Portuguese-Canadians who made the trip to Toronto. It&amp;#39;s safe to say she left the stadium clearly pleased with the result&amp;mdash;Portugal moving on.&lt;/p&gt;</description><dc:creator xmlns:dc="http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/">Marley Dickinson, Offside</dc:creator><pubDate>Fri, 03 Jul 2026 11:07:00 -0400</pubDate><guid>https://www.blogto.com/sports_play/2026/07/celebrities-spotted-portugal-croatia-match-toronto/</guid><media:content height="630" medium="image" type="image/jpeg" url="https://blogto-production2-baselayer-display.blogto.com/articles/20260703-drake-fifa-world-cup-toronto.jpg?w=1200&amp;cmd=resize_then_crop&amp;height=630&amp;format=auto" width="1200"></media:content><media:content height="630" medium="image" type="image/jpeg" url="https://blogto-production2-baselayer-display.blogto.com/articles/20260703-drake-fifa-world-cup-toronto.jpg?w=1200&amp;cmd=resize_then_crop&amp;height=630&amp;format=auto" width="1200"><media:title>These celebrities were spotted at the Portugal-Croatia match in Toronto</media:title></media:content></item><item><title>Ronaldo celebrates with Portugal fans from balcony of Toronto hotel</title><link>https://www.blogto.com/sports_play/2026/07/ronaldo-celebrates-portugal-fans-balcony-toronto-hotel/</link><description>&lt;img class="webfeedsFeaturedVisual" src="https://blogto-production2-baselayer-display.blogto.com/articles/20260703-ronaldo-toronto-hotel-1.jpg?w=1200&amp;amp;cmd=resize_then_crop&amp;amp;height=630&amp;amp;format=auto" width="100%"&gt;&lt;p&gt;Cristiano Ronaldo and Portugal had plenty to celebrate on Thursday night after a massive win against Croatia at Toronto Stadium, but they saved the party for later.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Hundreds of Portuguese supporters gathered outside the Delta Toronto Hotel, cheering and singing in celebration of the team&amp;#39;s win,&amp;nbsp;only to eventually get a visit from Portugal&amp;#39;s superstar.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Around 11 p.m.,&amp;nbsp;Ronaldo and his Portugal teammates came out on&amp;nbsp;a balcony that overlooked&amp;nbsp;Bremner Blvd. for several minutes to celebrate with the large crowd of supporters.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;blockquote class="twitter-tweet"&gt;&lt;p dir="ltr" lang="es"&gt;Toronto ❤️ &lt;a href="https://t.co/AoxUJ0mZcB"&gt;pic.twitter.com/AoxUJ0mZcB&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&amp;mdash; Cristiano Ronaldo (@Cristiano) &lt;a href="https://x.com/Cristiano/status/2072990343289598190?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw"&gt;July 3, 2026&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&lt;script async src="https://platform.x.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"&gt;&lt;/script&gt;&lt;p&gt;While most Portuguese players are probably familiar with the limelight and pandemonium that surrounds arguably the world&amp;#39;s most famous athlete,&amp;nbsp;a video shared by the team on social media shows&amp;nbsp;several players recording the crowd and taking in the spectacle.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;It was just a wholesome moment that seemed to bring joy to Ronaldo and the Portuguese team.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;The 41-year-old striker shared the video of himself pumping his fists and screaming &amp;quot;Vamos&amp;quot; to the crowd on his social media page on Friday, writing &amp;quot;Toronto (with a heart emoji).&amp;quot;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Thursday&amp;#39;s FIFA World Cup match marked the second time Ronaldo has played in Canada during his 24-year professional career.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;blockquote class="instagram-media" data-instgrm-captioned="" data-instgrm-permalink="https://www.instagram.com/reel/DaVEA-EBf1l/?utm_source=ig_embed&amp;amp;utm_campaign=loading" data-instgrm-version="14" style=" background:#FFF; border:0; border-radius:3px; box-shadow:0 0 1px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.5),0 1px 10px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.15); margin: 1px; max-width:540px; min-width:326px; padding:0; width:99.375%; width:-webkit-calc(100% - 2px); width:calc(100% - 2px);"&gt;&lt;div style="padding:16px;"&gt;&lt;div style=" display: flex; flex-direction: row; align-items: center;"&gt;&lt;div style="background-color: #F4F4F4; border-radius: 50%; flex-grow: 0; height: 40px; margin-right: 14px; width: 40px;"&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style="display: flex; flex-direction: column; flex-grow: 1; justify-content: center;"&gt;&lt;div style=" background-color: #F4F4F4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; margin-bottom: 6px; width: 100px;"&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style=" background-color: #F4F4F4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; width: 60px;"&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style="padding: 19% 0;"&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style="display:block; height:50px; margin:0 auto 12px; 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font-family:Arial,sans-serif; font-size:14px; font-style:normal; font-weight:550; line-height:18px;"&gt;&lt;a href="https://www.instagram.com/reel/DaVEA-EBf1l/?utm_source=ig_embed&amp;amp;utm_campaign=loading" style=" background:#FFFFFF; line-height:0; padding:0 0; text-align:center; text-decoration:none; width:100%;" target="_blank"&gt;View this post on Instagram&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style="padding: 12.5% 0;"&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style="display: flex; flex-direction: row; margin-bottom: 14px; align-items: center;"&gt;&lt;div&gt;&lt;div style="background-color: #F4F4F4; border-radius: 50%; height: 12.5px; width: 12.5px; transform: translateX(0px) translateY(7px);"&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style="background-color: #F4F4F4; height: 12.5px; transform: rotate(-45deg) translateX(3px) translateY(1px); width: 12.5px; flex-grow: 0; margin-right: 14px; margin-left: 2px;"&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style="background-color: #F4F4F4; border-radius: 50%; height: 12.5px; width: 12.5px; transform: translateX(9px) translateY(-18px);"&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style="margin-left: 8px;"&gt;&lt;div style=" background-color: #F4F4F4; border-radius: 50%; flex-grow: 0; height: 20px; width: 20px;"&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style=" width: 0; height: 0; border-top: 2px solid transparent; border-left: 6px solid #f4f4f4; border-bottom: 2px solid transparent; transform: translateX(16px) translateY(-4px) rotate(30deg)"&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style="margin-left: auto;"&gt;&lt;div style=" width: 0px; border-top: 8px solid #F4F4F4; border-right: 8px solid transparent; transform: translateY(16px);"&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style=" background-color: #F4F4F4; flex-grow: 0; height: 12px; width: 16px; transform: translateY(-4px);"&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style=" width: 0; height: 0; border-top: 8px solid #F4F4F4; border-left: 8px solid transparent; transform: translateY(-4px) translateX(8px);"&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style="display: flex; flex-direction: column; flex-grow: 1; justify-content: center; margin-bottom: 24px;"&gt;&lt;div style=" background-color: #F4F4F4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; margin-bottom: 6px; width: 224px;"&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style=" background-color: #F4F4F4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; width: 144px;"&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;p style=" color:#c9c8cd; font-family:Arial,sans-serif; font-size:14px; line-height:17px; margin-bottom:0; margin-top:8px; overflow:hidden; padding:8px 0 7px; text-align:center; text-overflow:ellipsis; white-space:nowrap;"&gt;&lt;a href="https://www.instagram.com/reel/DaVEA-EBf1l/?utm_source=ig_embed&amp;amp;utm_campaign=loading" style=" color:#c9c8cd; font-family:Arial,sans-serif; font-size:14px; font-style:normal; font-weight:normal; line-height:17px; text-decoration:none;" target="_blank"&gt;A post shared by Offside (@offside)&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&lt;script async src="//www.instagram.com/embed.js"&gt;&lt;/script&gt;&lt;p&gt;He first came to Toronto in August&amp;nbsp;2009 while playing for the Spanish club Real Madrid for an international club friendly between his team and Toronto FC. Ronaldo would score a goal in that 5-1 win for Madrid.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Nearly 17 years later, he found the scoresheet again, but this time&amp;nbsp;in a crucial do-or-die match.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Ronaldo&amp;#39;s family has also been making the most of their visit to Canada. His mother and sister have &lt;a href="https://www.blogto.com/eat_drink/2026/07/ronaldos-family-dined-toronto-portuguese-spot/"&gt;been spotted dining at several Toronto restaurants&lt;/a&gt; and even tried out the &lt;a href="https://www.blogto.com/travel/2025/09/niagara-falls-ride-open-reviews/" target="_blank"&gt;new flying theatre attraction at Niagara Falls&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Portugal and Ronaldo will leave town on Friday and head to Dallas to take on Spain in the Round of 16 on July 6.&lt;/p&gt;</description><dc:creator xmlns:dc="http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/">Marley Dickinson, Offside</dc:creator><pubDate>Fri, 03 Jul 2026 09:38:08 -0400</pubDate><guid>https://www.blogto.com/sports_play/2026/07/ronaldo-celebrates-portugal-fans-balcony-toronto-hotel/</guid><media:content height="630" medium="image" type="image/jpeg" url="https://blogto-production2-baselayer-display.blogto.com/articles/20260703-ronaldo-toronto-hotel-1.jpg?w=1200&amp;cmd=resize_then_crop&amp;height=630&amp;format=auto" width="1200"></media:content><media:content height="630" medium="image" type="image/jpeg" url="https://blogto-production2-baselayer-display.blogto.com/articles/20260703-ronaldo-toronto-hotel-1.jpg?w=1200&amp;cmd=resize_then_crop&amp;height=630&amp;format=auto" width="1200"><media:title>Ronaldo celebrates with Portugal fans from balcony of Toronto hotel</media:title></media:content></item><item><title>Portugal coach says it's a shame Toronto won't host another FIFA World Cup match</title><link>https://www.blogto.com/sports_play/2026/07/portugal-coach-toronto-fifa-world-cup-match/</link><description>&lt;img class="webfeedsFeaturedVisual" src="https://blogto-production2-baselayer-display.blogto.com/articles/20260703-portugal-coach-toronto-stadium.jpg?w=1200&amp;amp;cmd=resize_then_crop&amp;amp;height=630&amp;amp;format=auto" width="100%"&gt;&lt;p&gt;Toronto Stadium has received plenty of criticism during this FIFA World Cup for being a temporary build&amp;nbsp;and the smallest of the tournament&amp;#39;s 16 host venues.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;But after Thursday night&amp;#39;s crazy knockout stage game between Portugal and Croatia, the city may have just received the respect it deserved.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;During the post-game press conference, Portugal&amp;#39;s coach Roberto Martinez called&amp;nbsp;his experience in Toronto wonderful&amp;nbsp;and said the stadium&amp;#39;s atmosphere was incredible.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&amp;quot;I must admit, congratulations to everybody&amp;nbsp;who&amp;#39;s involved in football, in soccer in the city,&amp;quot; said Martinez.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&amp;quot;The quality of the grass was fantastic, and everything around it,&amp;quot; he continued. &amp;quot;Beautiful facilities here, even the dressing room, it reminds me a lot of old-fashioned Premier League grounds, a wonderful feel, a wonderful feel.&amp;quot;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;blockquote class="twitter-tweet"&gt;&lt;p dir="ltr" lang="en"&gt;Portugal manager Roberto Martinez spoke very highly of Toronto, saying &amp;ldquo;it&amp;rsquo;s a shame&amp;rdquo; that there are no more games being played in the city. 🇨🇦 &lt;a href="https://x.com/hashtag/FIFAWorldCup?src=hash&amp;amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw"&gt;#FIFAWorldCup&lt;/a&gt; &lt;a href="https://t.co/WsqYRbuCFl"&gt;pic.twitter.com/WsqYRbuCFl&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&amp;mdash; TSN (@TSN_Sports) &lt;a href="https://x.com/TSN_Sports/status/2072910413549666727?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw"&gt;July 3, 2026&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&lt;script async src="https://platform.x.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"&gt;&lt;/script&gt;&lt;p&gt;It&amp;#39;s the first time during the tournament we&amp;#39;ve heard&amp;nbsp;a coach or player compare&amp;nbsp;Toronto Stadium to a Premier League venue.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;On Thursday, it certainly felt the part, with a sold-out crowd of 43,036&amp;nbsp;Portuguese and Croatian supporters on hand to watch two of the greatest players in history battle it out one last time on the global stage.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Martinez went on to say how he thinks &amp;quot;it&amp;#39;s a shame&amp;quot; that there are no more FIFA World Cup games here, as he said his team really enjoyed it.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Toronto Stadium is one of only five purpose-built soccer stadiums among the tournament&amp;#39;s 16 host venues. Every U.S. host stadium was originally built for American football before being adapted for the FIFA World Cup.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;The city hosted five group-stage matches and one knockout-stage game, tying for the fourth-fewest matches among the 16 host cities. By comparison, Dallas will host nine games&amp;mdash;the most of any host venue.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;To meet FIFA&amp;#39;s capacity requirements, Toronto had to add more than 17,000 temporary seats at the north and south ends of the stadium to be selected as a host.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;The seats will be removed following the tournament, but&lt;a href="https://www.blogto.com/sports_play/2026/06/torontos-bmo-field-change-fifa-world-cup/"&gt; there will be improvements made to the stadium&lt;/a&gt; before tenants Toronto FC of MLS and the CFL&amp;#39;s Argonauts return to the city in August.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Martinez&amp;#39;s side advanced to the Round of 16 with goals from Cristiano Ronaldo and&amp;nbsp;Gon&amp;ccedil;alo Ramos, beating Croatia 2-1. Portugal&amp;#39;s coach called the highly anticipated&amp;nbsp;Toronto match&amp;nbsp;&amp;quot;an incredible spectacle for football.&amp;quot;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Portugal will now head to&amp;nbsp;Dallas to&amp;nbsp;play Spain in the next round.&lt;/p&gt;</description><dc:creator xmlns:dc="http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/">Marley Dickinson, Offside</dc:creator><pubDate>Fri, 03 Jul 2026 08:16:22 -0400</pubDate><guid>https://www.blogto.com/sports_play/2026/07/portugal-coach-toronto-fifa-world-cup-match/</guid><media:content height="630" medium="image" type="image/jpeg" url="https://blogto-production2-baselayer-display.blogto.com/articles/20260703-portugal-coach-toronto-stadium.jpg?w=1200&amp;cmd=resize_then_crop&amp;height=630&amp;format=auto" width="1200"></media:content><media:content height="630" medium="image" type="image/jpeg" url="https://blogto-production2-baselayer-display.blogto.com/articles/20260703-portugal-coach-toronto-stadium.jpg?w=1200&amp;cmd=resize_then_crop&amp;height=630&amp;format=auto" width="1200"><media:title>Portugal coach says it's a shame Toronto won't host another FIFA World Cup match</media:title></media:content></item><item><title>50 photos from the epic Portugal-Croatia FIFA World Cup match in Toronto</title><link>https://www.blogto.com/sports_play/2026/07/photos-portugal-croatia-fifa-world-cup-toronto/</link><description>&lt;img class="webfeedsFeaturedVisual" src="https://blogto-production2-baselayer-display.blogto.com/articles/20260703-FIFAPortugalvsCroatia-15.jpg?w=1200&amp;amp;cmd=resize_then_crop&amp;amp;height=630&amp;amp;format=auto" width="100%"&gt;&lt;p&gt;Toronto&amp;#39;s final FIFA World Cup match rocked the city on Thursday evening when two legendary footballers squared off in a do-or-die match between Portugal and Croatia.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;It was billed as the climactic peak of football fever in the 416, and the electrifying match did not let a packed Toronto Stadium down.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;If you didn&amp;#39;t have tickets to one of the most sought-after events of the year, no worries, we&amp;#39;ve got you covered.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p class="rich-content-bold-link"&gt;&lt;a href="https://www.blogto.com/slideshows/portugal-vs-croatia-toronto-stadium/" target="_blank"&gt;See what it was like to be at the pivotal Portugal-Croatia match in Toronto in this photo gallery.&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;</description><dc:creator xmlns:dc="http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/">Jack Landau</dc:creator><pubDate>Fri, 03 Jul 2026 08:11:26 -0400</pubDate><guid>https://www.blogto.com/sports_play/2026/07/photos-portugal-croatia-fifa-world-cup-toronto/</guid><media:content height="630" medium="image" type="image/jpeg" url="https://blogto-production2-baselayer-display.blogto.com/articles/20260703-FIFAPortugalvsCroatia-15.jpg?w=1200&amp;cmd=resize_then_crop&amp;height=630&amp;format=auto" width="1200"></media:content><media:content height="630" medium="image" type="image/jpeg" url="https://blogto-production2-baselayer-display.blogto.com/articles/20260703-FIFAPortugalvsCroatia-15.jpg?w=1200&amp;cmd=resize_then_crop&amp;height=630&amp;format=auto" width="1200"><media:title>50 photos from the epic Portugal-Croatia FIFA World Cup match in Toronto</media:title></media:content></item><item><title>People mourn the death of boarded-up 7-Eleven location in Toronto</title><link>https://www.blogto.com/eat_drink/2026/07/boarded-7-eleven-location-toronto/</link><description>&lt;img class="webfeedsFeaturedVisual" src="https://blogto-production2-baselayer-display.blogto.com/articles/20260702-mourning-7-eleven-toronto.jpg?w=1200&amp;amp;cmd=resize_then_crop&amp;amp;height=630&amp;amp;format=auto" width="100%"&gt;&lt;p&gt;After 30 years of serving Slurpees and taquitos to late-night customers, a popular 7-Eleven location in Toronto has shut down for good, evidently leaving no trace of the global convenience store brand behind.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;When it was &lt;a href="https://www.blogto.com/eat_drink/2026/06/7-eleven-location-toronto-closing-permanently/" target="_blank"&gt;first announced&lt;/a&gt; that the 7-Eleven location at College and Spadina was suddenly closing on June 30, Toronto residents were aghast, saddened to hear that their go-to spot for&amp;nbsp;smokes and energy drinks to get them through exams would be no more.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;People continue to mourn after seeing the store at 260 College St completely boarded up, making the intersection look more like a Scooby Doo ghost town than a lively corner of the city.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&amp;quot;RIP,&amp;quot; reads the original post circulating on&amp;nbsp;X.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;blockquote class="twitter-tweet"&gt;&lt;p dir="ltr" lang="en"&gt;RIP College &amp;amp; Spadina 7/11. You will be missed dearly 💔 &lt;a href="https://t.co/H3NCI1tOu7"&gt;pic.twitter.com/H3NCI1tOu7&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&amp;mdash; greentea 👑💌 (@matcha7th) &lt;a href="https://x.com/matcha7th/status/2072195840844665298?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw"&gt;July 1, 2026&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&lt;script async src="https://platform.x.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"&gt;&lt;/script&gt;&lt;p&gt;One individual jotted down the same thing&amp;nbsp;I feel upon hearing the news.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-conversation="none"&gt;&lt;p dir="ltr" lang="en"&gt;some of my worst and least proud moments took place at 2am in that 7/11, needless to day I mourn its loss but keep its memories.&lt;/p&gt;&amp;mdash; Idoall (@therealidoall) &lt;a href="https://x.com/therealidoall/status/2072232849336389642?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw"&gt;July 1, 2026&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&lt;script async src="https://platform.x.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"&gt;&lt;/script&gt;&lt;p&gt;For many of locals, it wasn&amp;#39;t just a store. It was a landmark.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-conversation="none"&gt;&lt;p dir="ltr" lang="en"&gt;Holy shit. Some epic memories on that corner and that store. RIP&lt;/p&gt;&amp;mdash; Mikelle Virey (@mikellevirey) &lt;a href="https://x.com/mikellevirey/status/2072509060780363805?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw"&gt;July 2, 2026&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&lt;script async src="https://platform.x.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"&gt;&lt;/script&gt;&lt;p&gt;It looks like one Toronto resident will have to find a new spot to help them stay hydrated.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-conversation="none"&gt;&lt;p dir="ltr" lang="en"&gt;Damn man. This place saved me when i was dehydrated.&lt;/p&gt;&amp;mdash; the grind (@_kohamaki) &lt;a href="https://x.com/_kohamaki/status/2072322599321809238?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw"&gt;July 1, 2026&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&lt;script async src="https://platform.x.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"&gt;&lt;/script&gt;&lt;p&gt;Another user on X refers to this location as their favourite place in Toronto to get slushies.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-conversation="none"&gt;&lt;p dir="ltr" lang="en"&gt;My favourite place to get giant slushies when walking around downtown. RIP.&lt;/p&gt;&amp;mdash; Panini (@Panini79611993) &lt;a href="https://x.com/Panini79611993/status/2072280087437758670?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw"&gt;July 1, 2026&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&lt;script async src="https://platform.x.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"&gt;&lt;/script&gt;&lt;p&gt;One reminisces about how ending the night at this spot&amp;nbsp;was&amp;nbsp;basically their &amp;quot;thing.&amp;quot;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-conversation="none"&gt;&lt;p dir="ltr" lang="en"&gt;what wow, i used go here all the time with a friend before going home was like our thing before ending the night&amp;hellip;&lt;/p&gt;&amp;mdash; 🦋 (@natisxn) &lt;a href="https://x.com/natisxn/status/2072301634953400601?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw"&gt;July 1, 2026&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&lt;script async src="https://platform.x.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"&gt;&lt;/script&gt;&lt;p&gt;Words often used to describe this location include &amp;quot;iconic,&amp;quot; &amp;quot;heritage&amp;quot; and &amp;quot;institution.&amp;quot;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-conversation="none"&gt;&lt;p dir="ltr" lang="en"&gt;thats an institution wtf&lt;/p&gt;&amp;mdash; sarah⏳️ (@sarahposting_) &lt;a href="https://x.com/sarahposting_/status/2072321415085191621?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw"&gt;July 1, 2026&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&lt;script async src="https://platform.x.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"&gt;&lt;/script&gt;&lt;p&gt;Another user expresses how this specific 7-Eleven location helped them through tough times.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;blockquote class="twitter-tweet"&gt;&lt;p dir="ltr" lang="en"&gt;this 7/11 got me thru the worst times ever&amp;hellip; how the hell am i supposed to get thru another year without my emotional support taquitos &lt;a href="https://t.co/ptfbRMiPTv"&gt;https://t.co/ptfbRMiPTv&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&amp;mdash; i&amp;rsquo;m too competitive (@tiinevuh) &lt;a href="https://x.com/tiinevuh/status/2072481042959581553?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw"&gt;July 2, 2026&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&lt;script async src="https://platform.x.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"&gt;&lt;/script&gt;&lt;p&gt;We as a community have every right to be sad, but should we be surprised? well, not really.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Back in April, the chain announced its plan to close 645 North American stores this fiscal year. In May, locations at&amp;nbsp;Jane Street and Wilson Avenue and&amp;nbsp;24th Street and Lake Shore Boulevard West shuttered. In June, the 7-Eleven at Bloor and Spadina also served its last taquito.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;All is not lost, though. Locations on Dundas Street and Queen Street West are still standing... for now.&amp;nbsp;So savour every suspiciously inexpensive hot dog, every greasy roller grill sausage, and every brain-freezing Big Gulp like it&amp;#39;s your last.&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;You just never know in an ever-changing city like Toronto.&lt;/p&gt;</description><dc:creator xmlns:dc="http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/">Natalia Buia</dc:creator><pubDate>Fri, 03 Jul 2026 06:00:00 -0400</pubDate><guid>https://www.blogto.com/eat_drink/2026/07/boarded-7-eleven-location-toronto/</guid><media:content height="630" medium="image" type="image/jpeg" url="https://blogto-production2-baselayer-display.blogto.com/articles/20260702-mourning-7-eleven-toronto.jpg?w=1200&amp;cmd=resize_then_crop&amp;height=630&amp;format=auto" width="1200"></media:content><media:content height="630" medium="image" type="image/jpeg" url="https://blogto-production2-baselayer-display.blogto.com/articles/20260702-mourning-7-eleven-toronto.jpg?w=1200&amp;cmd=resize_then_crop&amp;height=630&amp;format=auto" width="1200"><media:title>People mourn the death of boarded-up 7-Eleven location in Toronto</media:title></media:content></item><item><title>Here's where Canada ranks among the richest countries in the world</title><link>https://www.blogto.com/city/2026/07/canada-ranks-among-richest-countries-world/</link><description>&lt;img class="webfeedsFeaturedVisual" src="https://blogto-production2-baselayer-display.blogto.com/articles/20260702-canada-richest-country-ranking.jpg?w=1200&amp;amp;cmd=resize_then_crop&amp;amp;height=630&amp;amp;format=auto" width="100%"&gt;&lt;p&gt;Canada is one of the richest countries in the world, according to a new report.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;UBS, a Swiss bank that manages the wealth of high-net-worth individuals around the world, released its Global Wealth Report for 2026, and the findings reveal just how wide the gap is between the richest and everyday Canadians.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;According to UBS, while global wealth grew rapidly in 2025, with personal wealth rising by over 10 per cent at its fastest pace in years, inequality deepened.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&amp;quot;This growth was fueled by strong financial markets and a notable increase in non-financial assets, signaling a broad uplift in living standards,&amp;quot;&amp;nbsp;reads the report. &amp;quot;However, the gains were uneven: while average wealth rose notably, median wealth actually declined in most markets, highlighting a growing divide between the wealthiest and the broader population.&amp;quot;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;The report found that North America is the richest region in the world, with an average personal wealth of over US$664,000 (C$942,000) in 2025. This was mainly driven by the United States being the second richest country globally, with an average wealth per adult of US$696,277 (C$988,000) in 2025.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;The U.S. sits behind Switzerland, which holds the top spot with an average wealth per adult of US$910,382 (C$1.2 million). Canada is up there, taking 13th place with an average wealth per adult of US$399,886 (C$567,000).&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;UBS also noted that a record number of millionaires emerged globally in 2025, reaching record levels in every market it tracks.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&amp;quot;Nearly one million new millionaires were created in 2025, with the United States accounting for almost half of this growth, with more than 1,200 new millionaires emerging every day,&amp;quot;&amp;nbsp;reads the report. &amp;quot;Eastern Europe led in percentage growth, while Asia-Pacific and Western Europe also saw significant increases.&amp;quot;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;In fact, a recent report from a non-profit, non-partisan organization, Canadians for Tax Fairness (C4TF), revealed&amp;nbsp;&lt;a data-google-interstitial="false" href="https://dailyhive.com/canada/canadian-provinces-most-billionaire-families" target="_blank"&gt;which provinces are home to the richest billionaire families&lt;/a&gt;&amp;nbsp;in Canada.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Check out the full&amp;nbsp;&lt;a href="file:///Users/isabelledocto/Downloads/global-wealth-report-en-2026.pdf" target="_blank"&gt;UBS report&lt;/a&gt;.&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;</description><dc:creator xmlns:dc="http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/">Isabelle Docto</dc:creator><pubDate>Fri, 03 Jul 2026 05:00:00 -0400</pubDate><guid>https://www.blogto.com/city/2026/07/canada-ranks-among-richest-countries-world/</guid><media:content height="630" medium="image" type="image/jpeg" url="https://blogto-production2-baselayer-display.blogto.com/articles/20260702-canada-richest-country-ranking.jpg?w=1200&amp;cmd=resize_then_crop&amp;height=630&amp;format=auto" width="1200"></media:content><media:content height="630" medium="image" type="image/jpeg" url="https://blogto-production2-baselayer-display.blogto.com/articles/20260702-canada-richest-country-ranking.jpg?w=1200&amp;cmd=resize_then_crop&amp;height=630&amp;format=auto" width="1200"><media:title>Here's where Canada ranks among the richest countries in the world</media:title></media:content></item><item><title>Ronaldo shouts out Toronto fans following Portugal's FIFA World Cup win</title><link>https://www.blogto.com/sports_play/2026/07/ronaldo-toronto-fans-portugal-fifa-world-cup/</link><description>&lt;img class="webfeedsFeaturedVisual" src="https://blogto-production2-baselayer-display.blogto.com/articles/20260702-ronaldo-toronto-world-cup.jpg?w=1200&amp;amp;cmd=resize_then_crop&amp;amp;height=630&amp;amp;format=auto" width="100%"&gt;&lt;p&gt;Cristiano Ronaldo and Portugal are moving on to the Round of 16 after surviving a wild knockout-stage match against Croatia in Toronto.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;And Ronaldo was the star.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;He first found the back of the net in the 61st minute, but had the goal called back after he was narrowly offside. Just minutes later, the 41-year-old found himself with another chance to tie the game from the penalty spot.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Ronaldo blasted his penalty down the middle before breaking out his trademark &amp;quot;Siuuu&amp;quot; celebration, sending the sold-out crowd of 43,036 into a frenzy.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;blockquote class="twitter-tweet"&gt;&lt;p dir="ltr" lang="en"&gt;CRISTIANO RONALDO&amp;#39;S FIRST EVER WORLD CUP KNOCKOUT ROUND GOAL COMES IN TORONTO! 🇵🇹 &lt;a href="https://x.com/hashtag/FIFAWorldCup?src=hash&amp;amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw"&gt;#FIFAWorldCup&lt;/a&gt; &lt;a href="https://t.co/gKJ4aOfFVS"&gt;pic.twitter.com/gKJ4aOfFVS&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&amp;mdash; TSN (@TSN_Sports) &lt;a href="https://x.com/TSN_Sports/status/2072840719610327206?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw"&gt;July 3, 2026&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&lt;script async src="https://platform.x.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"&gt;&lt;/script&gt;&lt;p&gt;Portugal&amp;#39;s Gon&amp;ccedil;alo Ramos scored the go-ahead goal with&amp;nbsp;a 94th-minute header to put the score at 2-1 and send the team to the Round of 16.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;After the match, Ronaldo said the win carried extra meaning for him and his teammates&amp;nbsp;because of the date.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;One year ago, Portuguese forward Diogo Jota was killed in a car crash. The 28-year-old had earned 49 caps for Portugal and likely would have been part of the country&amp;#39;s 2026 FIFA World Cup squad.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&amp;quot;To win on Diogo Jota&amp;#39;s day, it&amp;#39;s everything. He was so special to us,&amp;quot; Ronaldo told reporters.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&amp;quot;We spoke about it today as a team. The coincidence of life amazed me because of the situation. It means a lot to us.&amp;quot;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Following the final whistle, Ronaldo put on Jota&amp;#39;s No. 21 jersey before saluting the Portuguese supporters packed into the north end of Toronto Stadium.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img alt="" id="content-image-129660" src="https://blogto-production2-baselayer-display.blogto.com/uploads/2026/07/03/1783053688-20260703-ronaldo-portugal-toronto.jpg?w=1400&amp;cmd=resize&amp;format=auto" /&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p class="caption"&gt;Cristiano Ronaldo holds up the jersey number of his late teammate Diogo Jota following Portugal&amp;#39;s 2-1 win over Croatia at the 2026 FIFA World Cup in Toronto. (Marley Dickinson/Offside)&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;He also credited the Toronto fans with helping Portugal rally after his disallowed goal.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&amp;quot;After my offside goal, I noticed the fans got behind us,&amp;quot; Ronaldo said. &amp;quot;Then after scoring the penalty, it became better for us. We deserved to win the match.&amp;quot;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Another major storyline heading into Thursday&amp;#39;s match was the possibility that it would be the final FIFA World Cup appearance for both Ronaldo and Croatian captain Luka Modrić.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;The two were former teammates at Real Madrid and&amp;nbsp;are both playing in their final FIFA World Cup, and are captains of their own respective squads.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Ronaldo shared a&amp;nbsp;moment with Modrić following the final whistle, congratulating the 40-year-old midfielder on an incredible career.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&amp;quot;He&amp;#39;s a legend of football. I played so many years with him at Real Madrid,&amp;quot; Ronaldo said. &amp;quot;I wish him all the best, and I hope he continues to play.&amp;quot;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;blockquote class="twitter-tweet"&gt;&lt;p dir="ltr" lang="en"&gt;Cristiano Ronaldo thanks the city of Toronto for the support on his Instagram! 🇨🇦 &lt;a href="https://x.com/hashtag/FIFAWorldCup?src=hash&amp;amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw"&gt;#FIFAWorldCup&lt;/a&gt; &lt;a href="https://t.co/2StrUCJT3D"&gt;pic.twitter.com/2StrUCJT3D&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&amp;mdash; TSN (@TSN_Sports) &lt;a href="https://x.com/TSN_Sports/status/2072889479438733501?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw"&gt;July 3, 2026&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&lt;script async src="https://platform.x.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"&gt;&lt;/script&gt;&lt;p&gt;Ronaldo signed off by thanking fans in Toronto on Instagram, captioning a photo of Portugal&amp;#39;s&amp;nbsp;massive fan march through Liberty Village with &amp;quot;Obrigato, Toronto.&amp;quot;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;It was a fitting farewell to one of the tournament&amp;#39;s most memorable matches, and to&amp;nbsp;the six FIFA World Cup matches in Toronto.&lt;/p&gt;</description><dc:creator xmlns:dc="http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/">Marley Dickinson, Offside</dc:creator><pubDate>Fri, 03 Jul 2026 00:48:36 -0400</pubDate><guid>https://www.blogto.com/sports_play/2026/07/ronaldo-toronto-fans-portugal-fifa-world-cup/</guid><media:content height="630" medium="image" type="image/jpeg" url="https://blogto-production2-baselayer-display.blogto.com/articles/20260702-ronaldo-toronto-world-cup.jpg?w=1200&amp;cmd=resize_then_crop&amp;height=630&amp;format=auto" width="1200"></media:content><media:content height="630" medium="image" type="image/jpeg" url="https://blogto-production2-baselayer-display.blogto.com/articles/20260702-ronaldo-toronto-world-cup.jpg?w=1200&amp;cmd=resize_then_crop&amp;height=630&amp;format=auto" width="1200"><media:title>Ronaldo shouts out Toronto fans following Portugal's FIFA World Cup win</media:title></media:content></item><item><title>$2 million Toronto townhouse boasts permanently-protected skyline views</title><link>https://www.blogto.com/real-estate-toronto/2026/07/th2-288-st-clair-avenue-w-toronto/</link><description>&lt;img class="webfeedsFeaturedVisual" src="https://blogto-production2-baselayer-display.blogto.com/articles/20260630-th2288stclairavewest-toronto-15.jpg?w=1200&amp;amp;cmd=resize_then_crop&amp;amp;height=630&amp;amp;format=auto" width="100%"&gt;&lt;p data-end="429" data-start="249"&gt;Finding a home in Toronto with skyline views is one thing. Finding one where you don&amp;#39;t have to worry about those views disappearing behind a condo tower is something else entirely.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p data-end="487" data-start="431"&gt;That&amp;#39;s what makes this townhouse at 288 St Clair Ave. W. stand out.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p data-end="762" data-start="489"&gt;Located across from Sir Winston Churchill Park, built atop the historic St. Clair Reservoir, the three-storey Georgian-inspired townhouse overlooks protected green space, offering unobstructed views of the CN Tower, Casa Loma and the downtown skyline that are unlikely to change anytime soon.&lt;img alt="TH2 288 St Clair Avenue West Toronto" id="content-image-129598" src="https://blogto-production2-baselayer-display.blogto.com/uploads/2026/06/30/1782842389-20260630-th2288stclairavewest-toronto-14.jpg?w=1400&amp;cmd=resize&amp;format=auto" /&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p class="caption" data-end="762" data-start="489"&gt;The view of the city from the terrace.&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p data-end="762" data-start="489"&gt;&amp;quot;What is so incredible about this property is that from every single bedroom, living space, oversized terrace, office and even the primary bathroom, you have full city and park views,&amp;quot; realtor Samantha Thomson told blogTO.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p data-end="1106" data-start="987"&gt;&lt;img alt="TH2 288 St Clair Avenue West Toronto" id="content-image-129591" src="https://blogto-production2-baselayer-display.blogto.com/uploads/2026/06/30/1782842387-20260630-th2288stclairavewest-toronto-7.jpg?w=1400&amp;cmd=resize&amp;format=auto" /&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p class="caption" data-end="1106" data-start="987"&gt;A bedroom.&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p data-end="1106" data-start="987"&gt;The south-facing home is part of the&amp;nbsp;intimate &lt;a href="https://strata.ca/toronto/288-292-st-clair-ave-w-churchill-collection-townhomes" target="_blank"&gt;Churchill Collection Townhomes&lt;/a&gt; community, which consists of&amp;nbsp;just a dozen&amp;nbsp;brownstone-style townhouses&amp;nbsp;built about a decade ago by&amp;nbsp;&lt;a href="https://urbantoronto.ca/news/2014/09/alex-chapman-retires-and-new-era-begins-union31.10619" target="_blank"&gt;Alex Chapman of UNION31&lt;/a&gt;.&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p data-end="1291" data-start="1108"&gt;&lt;img alt="TH2 288 St Clair Avenue West Toronto" id="content-image-129594" src="https://blogto-production2-baselayer-display.blogto.com/uploads/2026/06/30/1782842388-20260630-th2288stclairavewest-toronto-10.jpg?w=1400&amp;cmd=resize&amp;format=auto" /&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p class="caption" data-end="1291" data-start="1108"&gt;The primary bedroom.&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p data-end="1291" data-start="1108"&gt;&amp;quot;This is true NYC walk-up brownstone type living, in an optimal location,&amp;quot; Thomson said. &amp;quot;When you close the door it is shockingly quiet and you are left with the serene green views.&amp;quot;&lt;img alt="TH2 288 St Clair Avenue West Toronto" id="content-image-129603" src="https://blogto-production2-baselayer-display.blogto.com/uploads/2026/06/30/1782842921-29440_26.jpg?w=1400&amp;cmd=resize&amp;format=auto" /&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p class="caption" data-end="1291" data-start="1108"&gt;The front patio.&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p data-end="1291" data-start="1108"&gt;The exterior is solid brick &amp;mdash; something Thomson notes is increasingly rare in newer construction &amp;mdash; giving the homes a stately curb appeal.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p data-end="1545" data-start="1508"&gt;&lt;img alt="TH2 288 St Clair Avenue West Toronto" id="content-image-129597" src="https://blogto-production2-baselayer-display.blogto.com/uploads/2026/06/30/1782842389-20260630-th2288stclairavewest-toronto-13.jpg?w=1400&amp;cmd=resize&amp;format=auto" /&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p class="caption" data-end="1545" data-start="1508"&gt;The living room.&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p data-end="1545" data-start="1508"&gt;Inside, the three-bedroom, three-bathroom&amp;nbsp;home is equally polished.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p data-end="1799" data-start="1547"&gt;&lt;img alt="TH2 288 St Clair Avenue West Toronto" id="content-image-129604" src="https://blogto-production2-baselayer-display.blogto.com/uploads/2026/06/30/1782842922-29440_27.jpg?w=1400&amp;cmd=resize&amp;format=auto" /&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p class="caption" data-end="1799" data-start="1547"&gt;The front entrance.&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p data-end="1799" data-start="1547"&gt;Ten-foot coffered ceilings on the main and second floors, marble and granite finishes, crown moulding, built-in speakers and a solid mahogany front door create a decidedly upscale feel.&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p data-end="1799" data-start="1547"&gt;&lt;img alt="TH2 288 St Clair Avenue West Toronto" id="content-image-129596" src="https://blogto-production2-baselayer-display.blogto.com/uploads/2026/06/30/1782842389-20260630-th2288stclairavewest-toronto-12.jpg?w=1400&amp;cmd=resize&amp;format=auto" /&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p class="caption" data-end="1799" data-start="1547"&gt;The kitchen.&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p data-end="1799" data-start="1547"&gt;The kitchen comes equipped with high-end JennAir appliances.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p data-end="1933" data-start="1801"&gt;&lt;img alt="TH2 288 St Clair Avenue West Toronto" id="content-image-129593" src="https://blogto-production2-baselayer-display.blogto.com/uploads/2026/06/30/1782842388-20260630-th2288stclairavewest-toronto-9.jpg?w=1400&amp;cmd=resize&amp;format=auto" /&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p class="caption" data-end="1933" data-start="1801"&gt;The primary ensuite.&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p data-end="1933" data-start="1801"&gt;The oversized primary ensuite even has heated floors, and if you&amp;#39;re into the furniture, the townhome can come fully furnished.&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p data-end="2017" data-start="1935"&gt;&lt;img alt="TH2 288 St Clair Avenue West Toronto" id="content-image-129585" src="https://blogto-production2-baselayer-display.blogto.com/uploads/2026/06/30/1782842385-20260630-th2288stclairavewest-toronto-1.jpg?w=1400&amp;cmd=resize&amp;format=auto" /&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p class="caption" data-end="2017" data-start="1935"&gt;The view out the front window.&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p data-end="2017" data-start="1935"&gt;One of the home&amp;#39;s biggest perks, though, is what sits just outside the front door.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p data-end="2138" data-start="2019"&gt;&lt;img alt="TH2 288 St Clair Avenue West Toronto" id="content-image-129587" src="https://blogto-production2-baselayer-display.blogto.com/uploads/2026/06/30/1782842386-20260630-th2288stclairavewest-toronto-3.jpg?w=1400&amp;cmd=resize&amp;format=auto" /&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p class="caption" data-end="2138" data-start="2019"&gt;The park.&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p data-end="2138" data-start="2019"&gt;The reservoir park offers tennis courts, a running track and sweeping lawns, while Cedarvale Ravine is only steps away.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p data-end="2354" data-start="2140"&gt;&lt;img alt="TH2 288 St Clair Avenue West Toronto" id="content-image-129602" src="https://blogto-production2-baselayer-display.blogto.com/uploads/2026/06/30/1782842921-29440_14.jpg?w=1400&amp;cmd=resize&amp;format=auto" /&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p class="caption" data-end="2354" data-start="2140"&gt;The primary ensuite.&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p data-end="2354" data-start="2140"&gt;&amp;quot;This is a dog walker&amp;#39;s paradise due to its close proximity to the designated dog park and the ravine system that runs north and south through the park,&amp;quot; Thomson said. &amp;quot;The scenery means every season is beautiful.&amp;quot;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p data-end="2554" data-start="2356"&gt;&lt;img alt="TH2 288 St Clair Avenue West Toronto" id="content-image-129588" src="https://blogto-production2-baselayer-display.blogto.com/uploads/2026/06/30/1782842386-20260630-th2288stclairavewest-toronto-4.jpg?w=1400&amp;cmd=resize&amp;format=auto" /&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p class="caption" data-end="2554" data-start="2356"&gt;A home office.&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p data-end="2554" data-start="2356"&gt;The location also puts residents within walking distance of Forest Hill Village, St. Clair West subway station, the streetcar, Loblaws, Wychwood Library and several of Toronto&amp;#39;s top private schools.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p data-end="2731" data-start="2556"&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p class="caption" data-end="2731" data-start="2556"&gt;&lt;img alt="TH2 288 St Clair Avenue West Toronto" id="content-image-129601" src="https://blogto-production2-baselayer-display.blogto.com/uploads/2026/06/30/1782842921-29440_8.jpg?w=1400&amp;cmd=resize&amp;format=auto" /&gt;The dining nook.&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p data-end="2731" data-start="2556"&gt;Despite each townhouse including two underground parking spaces, Thomson says many residents rarely need to drive thanks to the neighbourhood&amp;#39;s walkability and transit access.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p data-end="2797" data-start="2733"&gt;&lt;img alt="TH2 288 St Clair Avenue West Toronto" id="content-image-129590" src="https://blogto-production2-baselayer-display.blogto.com/uploads/2026/06/30/1782842387-20260630-th2288stclairavewest-toronto-6.jpg?w=1400&amp;cmd=resize&amp;format=auto" /&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p class="caption" data-end="2797" data-start="2733"&gt;A bedroom.&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p data-end="2797" data-start="2733"&gt;She also says the development has become a close-knit community.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p data-end="2993" data-start="2924"&gt;&lt;img alt="TH2 288 St Clair Avenue West Toronto" id="content-image-129600" src="https://blogto-production2-baselayer-display.blogto.com/uploads/2026/06/30/1782842920-29440_6.jpg?w=1400&amp;cmd=resize&amp;format=auto" /&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p class="caption" data-end="2993" data-start="2924"&gt;The kitchen.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p data-end="2993" data-start="2924"&gt;Perhaps the most enviable feature comes at the very top of the house.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p data-end="3078" data-start="2995"&gt;&lt;img alt="TH2 288 St Clair Avenue West Toronto" id="content-image-129586" src="https://blogto-production2-baselayer-display.blogto.com/uploads/2026/06/30/1782842385-20260630-th2288stclairavewest-toronto-2.jpg?w=1400&amp;cmd=resize&amp;format=auto" /&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p class="caption" data-end="3078" data-start="2995"&gt;The rooftop terrace.&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p data-end="3078" data-start="2995"&gt;The fourth-floor rooftop terrace offers panoramic views stretching across the city.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p data-end="3222" data-start="3080"&gt;&amp;quot;The fourth-floor terrace makes you feel like you&amp;#39;re on top of the world,&amp;quot; Thomson said. &amp;quot;Every time the CN Tower changes colour, you see it.&amp;quot;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p data-end="3468" data-start="3224"&gt;&lt;img alt="TH2 288 St Clair Avenue West Toronto" id="content-image-129589" src="https://blogto-production2-baselayer-display.blogto.com/uploads/2026/06/30/1782842387-20260630-th2288stclairavewest-toronto-5.jpg?w=1400&amp;cmd=resize&amp;format=auto" /&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p class="caption" data-end="3468" data-start="3224"&gt;A bathroom.&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p data-end="3468" data-start="3224"&gt;Monthly maintenance fees are $1,125, covering everything from snow removal and landscaping to exterior maintenance, making it an appealing option for buyers seeking a lock-and-leave lifestyle without sacrificing the feel of living in a house.&lt;img alt="TH2 288 St Clair Avenue West Toronto" id="content-image-129595" src="https://blogto-production2-baselayer-display.blogto.com/uploads/2026/06/30/1782842388-20260630-th2288stclairavewest-toronto-11.jpg?w=1400&amp;cmd=resize&amp;format=auto" /&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p class="caption" data-end="3468" data-start="3224"&gt;The living and dining area.&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p data-end="3468" data-start="3224"&gt;In a city where million-dollar views often come with no guarantee they&amp;#39;ll still exist a decade from now, this townhouse&amp;#39;s biggest luxury might simply be knowing they&amp;#39;ll still be there.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p data-end="3654" data-is-last-node="" data-is-only-node="" data-start="3470"&gt;&lt;img alt="TH2 288 St Clair Avenue West Toronto" id="content-image-129599" src="https://blogto-production2-baselayer-display.blogto.com/uploads/2026/06/30/1782842920-29440_29.jpg?w=1400&amp;cmd=resize&amp;format=auto" /&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p class="caption" data-end="3654" data-is-last-node="" data-is-only-node="" data-start="3470"&gt;The front of the property.&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p data-end="3654" data-is-last-node="" data-is-only-node="" data-start="3470"&gt;The townhouse is &lt;a href="https://www.sothebysrealty.com/eng/sales/detail/180-l-740-hgwfe3/288-st-clair-ave-w-th2-toronto-on-m4v-1s3" target="_blank"&gt;listed for&amp;nbsp;$2,100,000&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;</description><dc:creator xmlns:dc="http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/">Misha Gajewski</dc:creator><pubDate>Fri, 03 Jul 2026 00:00:00 -0400</pubDate><guid>https://www.blogto.com/real-estate-toronto/2026/07/th2-288-st-clair-avenue-w-toronto/</guid><media:content height="630" medium="image" type="image/jpeg" url="https://blogto-production2-baselayer-display.blogto.com/articles/20260630-th2288stclairavewest-toronto-15.jpg?w=1200&amp;cmd=resize_then_crop&amp;height=630&amp;format=auto" width="1200"></media:content><media:content height="630" medium="image" type="image/jpeg" url="https://blogto-production2-baselayer-display.blogto.com/articles/20260630-th2288stclairavewest-toronto-15.jpg?w=1200&amp;cmd=resize_then_crop&amp;height=630&amp;format=auto" width="1200"><media:title>$2 million Toronto townhouse boasts permanently-protected skyline views</media:title></media:content></item><item><title>Here's how Toronto has changed since last time Kawhi was on Raptors</title><link>https://www.blogto.com/sports_play/2026/07/whats-changed-toronto-since-kawhi-raptors/</link><description>&lt;img class="webfeedsFeaturedVisual" src="https://blogto-production2-baselayer-display.blogto.com/articles/20260702-kawhi-toronto.jpg?w=1200&amp;amp;cmd=resize_then_crop&amp;amp;height=630&amp;amp;format=auto" width="100%"&gt;&lt;p&gt;Kawhi Leonard was dealt to the Toronto Raptors in a shocking &lt;a href="https://www.blogto.com/sports_play/2026/06/kawhi-leonard-trade-toronto-raptors/" target="_blank"&gt;blockbuster trade&lt;/a&gt; this week, and the 2019 Finals MVP, who brought Canada its &lt;a href="https://www.blogto.com/sports_play/2019/06/toronto-raptors-championship-celebration/" target="_blank"&gt;first NBA championship&lt;/a&gt;, will return to a very different city for the 2026-27 season.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Toronto Raptors fans will remember Leonard as the difference-maker who brought a championship pedigree to a perennial playoff-bust team, culminating in a historic victory over the Golden State Warriors to secure the 2019 NBA Championship.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;span style="background-color: white; font-family: merriweatherregular, Georgia, serif; font-size: 18px; font-weight: 300;"&gt;Fans may remember that series and the resulting&amp;nbsp;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;a href="https://www.blogto.com/sports_play/2019/06/raptors-parade-downtown-toronto/" style="font-family: merriweatherregular, Georgia, serif; font-size: 18px; font-weight: 300;" target="_blank"&gt;parade attended by millions&lt;/a&gt;&lt;span style="background-color: white; font-family: merriweatherregular, Georgia, serif; font-size: 18px; font-weight: 300;"&gt;, as if it were just yesterday, but it&amp;#39;s been a full seven years since Kawhi brought glory to the north.&lt;/span&gt;&amp;nbsp;And he will be returning to a very different-looking city.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Here are some of the biggest changes Toronto has experienced since the Kawhi era.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;h6&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The city skyline&lt;/h6&gt;&lt;p&gt;Looking at photos of the 2019 parade through downtown Toronto shows a very different city from what exists today. However, Kawhi famously interacted with Toronto from &amp;quot;garage-to-garage,&amp;quot; and might not even see the countless new glittering towers that have joined the skyline for his belated victory lap in the city.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;h6&gt;Pandemic business turnover&lt;/h6&gt;&lt;p&gt;If Kawhi is looking to cash in on those &lt;a href="https://www.blogto.com/eat_drink/2019/05/toronto-restaurants-offer-kawhi-leonard-free-food-life-stay-raptors/" target="_blank"&gt;Ka&amp;#39;wine &amp;amp; Dine offers&lt;/a&gt; used to woo him to re-sign with the Raptors, he might notice a few (if not many) of those restaurants no longer exist. For anyone waking up from a coma, the COVID-19 pandemic had an immense impact on Toronto businesses, and several popular spots that would have been frequented by NBA players in the before times have long since closed.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;h6&gt;Scotiabank Arena&amp;nbsp;&lt;/h6&gt;&lt;p&gt;The Vault has also changed in the seven years since Toronto&amp;#39;s championship. An ongoing $350 million renovation project has been modernizing the facility &lt;a href="https://www.blogto.com/sports_play/2023/10/scotiabank-arena-350-million-renovation/" target="_blank"&gt;since 2023&lt;/a&gt;, and I&amp;#39;d wager these will be the changes Kawhi are most likely to notice.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;h6&gt;Population&lt;/h6&gt;&lt;p&gt;Toronto&amp;#39;s population has swelled from approximately 2.94 million when Kawhi won a championship with the Raptors in 2019, and now sits at over 3.35 million in 2026. Canada&amp;#39;s population has also grown by over three million in Kawhi&amp;#39;s seven-year absence, bringing the Raptors&amp;#39; Canadian fanbase to over 41 million residents.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;h6&gt;The Canadian Dollar&lt;/h6&gt;&lt;p&gt;A $1 purchase in 2019 will set you back $1.24 in 2026 thanks to inflation, and the general cost of living has skyrocketed in post-pandemic Toronto.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;h6&gt;Two new transit lines&lt;/h6&gt;&lt;p&gt;The&lt;a href="https://www.blogto.com/city/2026/02/150-photos-opening-line-5-eglinton-crosstown-lrt/" target="_blank"&gt; Line 5 Eglinton&lt;/a&gt; and &lt;a href="https://www.blogto.com/city/2025/12/line-6-finch-west-lrt-opening-day/" target="_blank"&gt;Line 6 Finch&lt;/a&gt; were both just construction boondoggles during the Kawhi era, but now they are both real LRT lines you can actually ride. Well, &lt;a href="https://www.blogto.com/city/2026/06/entire-ttc-line-out-service/" target="_blank"&gt;most of the time&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href="https://www.blogto.com/city/2026/06/entire-ttc-line-shuts-down/" target="_blank"&gt;at least&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;h6&gt;Drinking in parks&lt;/h6&gt;&lt;p&gt;Even the pre- and post-game activities will look a whole lot different for Kawhi&amp;#39;s return, with alcohol consumption in Toronto parks&lt;a href="https://www.blogto.com/city/2024/04/toronto-parks-drinking-permanently-allowed/" target="_blank"&gt; legalized in 2024&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;</description><dc:creator xmlns:dc="http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/">Jack Landau</dc:creator><pubDate>Fri, 03 Jul 2026 00:00:00 -0400</pubDate><guid>https://www.blogto.com/sports_play/2026/07/whats-changed-toronto-since-kawhi-raptors/</guid><media:content height="630" medium="image" type="image/jpeg" url="https://blogto-production2-baselayer-display.blogto.com/articles/20260702-kawhi-toronto.jpg?w=1200&amp;cmd=resize_then_crop&amp;height=630&amp;format=auto" width="1200"></media:content><media:content height="630" medium="image" type="image/jpeg" url="https://blogto-production2-baselayer-display.blogto.com/articles/20260702-kawhi-toronto.jpg?w=1200&amp;cmd=resize_then_crop&amp;height=630&amp;format=auto" width="1200"><media:title>Here's how Toronto has changed since last time Kawhi was on Raptors</media:title></media:content></item><item><title>Croatia fans litter Toronto Stadium pitch with garbage after controversial call</title><link>https://www.blogto.com/sports_play/2026/07/croatia-fans-litter-toronto-stadium-controversial-call/</link><description>&lt;img class="webfeedsFeaturedVisual" src="https://blogto-production2-baselayer-display.blogto.com/articles/20260702-croatia-fans-garbage-stadium.jpg?w=1200&amp;amp;cmd=resize_then_crop&amp;amp;height=630&amp;amp;format=auto" width="100%"&gt;&lt;p&gt;Toronto&amp;#39;s knockout-stage game between Croatia and Portugal might have been one of the greatest games of the FIFA World Cup so far, though Croatian fans left with a sour taste in their mouths.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Deep into stoppage time, Croatian left back Jo&amp;scaron;ko Gvardiol put his foot on what seemed to be a deflected ball to knot the game at two.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;It put the Croatian supporters into a frenzy, but after a lengthy video review, FIFA&amp;#39;s video assistant referee (VAR) ruled the goal offside.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;The referee&amp;#39;s decision resulted in Croatia being knocked out of the tournament.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;blockquote class="twitter-tweet"&gt;&lt;p dir="ltr" lang="en"&gt;The Toronto Stadium field has been littered with garbage after the referee called off &lt;a href="https://x.com/hashtag/croatia?src=hash&amp;amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw"&gt;#croatia&lt;/a&gt; 102nd minute goal.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Insane.&lt;a href="https://x.com/hashtag/FIFAWorldCup?src=hash&amp;amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw"&gt;#FIFAWorldCup&lt;/a&gt; &lt;a href="https://t.co/i0o3boNzAZ"&gt;pic.twitter.com/i0o3boNzAZ&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&amp;mdash; Marley Dickinson (@marleydickinson) &lt;a href="https://x.com/marleydickinson/status/2072857817271132313?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw"&gt;July 3, 2026&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&lt;script async src="https://platform.x.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"&gt;&lt;/script&gt;&lt;p&gt;With emotions already high,&amp;nbsp;supporters began throwing water bottles, beer cans and other debris onto the pitch at Toronto Stadium.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;The match was delayed for several minutes while stadium staff were forced to clear the field, but more objects continued to rain down from the stands. At one point, even a basket of fries, which could&amp;#39;ve been poutine, landed near the Portuguese goalkeepers&amp;#39; six-yard box.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;For Toronto sports fans, it brought back memories of the Blue Jays&amp;#39; 2015 ALCS, when high-priced beer and hot dogs were thrown onto the field following a questionable deflected throw at home.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Croatia&amp;#39;s frustration was understandable.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;blockquote class="twitter-tweet"&gt;&lt;p dir="ltr" lang="en"&gt;NO GOAL IN STOPPAGE TIME.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;HEART BREAK FOR CROATIA &lt;a href="https://x.com/hashtag/FIFAWorldCup?src=hash&amp;amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw"&gt;#FIFAWorldCup&lt;/a&gt; &lt;a href="https://t.co/AXgA01tUBG"&gt;pic.twitter.com/AXgA01tUBG&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&amp;mdash; TSN (@TSN_Sports) &lt;a href="https://x.com/TSN_Sports/status/2072849856196952561?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw"&gt;July 3, 2026&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&lt;script async src="https://platform.x.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"&gt;&lt;/script&gt;&lt;p&gt;The disallowed goal in stoppage time was the third time the team had scored, only to have it ruled offside upon review. Another goal was waved off in the 79th minute, which would have given Croatia a 2-1 lead late in the match.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Instead, Portugal survived the late match antics. Gon&amp;ccedil;alo Ramos scored with a 94th-minute header to send Portugal into the Round of 16 to meet Spain.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Cristiano Ronaldo also found the back of the net with a penalty shot to open the scoring for Portugal.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;He has now scored in both career matches he&amp;#39;s played at Toronto Stadium (BMO Field).&lt;/p&gt;</description><dc:creator xmlns:dc="http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/">Marley Dickinson, Offside</dc:creator><pubDate>Thu, 02 Jul 2026 23:23:50 -0400</pubDate><guid>https://www.blogto.com/sports_play/2026/07/croatia-fans-litter-toronto-stadium-controversial-call/</guid><media:content height="630" medium="image" type="image/jpeg" url="https://blogto-production2-baselayer-display.blogto.com/articles/20260702-croatia-fans-garbage-stadium.jpg?w=1200&amp;cmd=resize_then_crop&amp;height=630&amp;format=auto" width="1200"></media:content><media:content height="630" medium="image" type="image/jpeg" url="https://blogto-production2-baselayer-display.blogto.com/articles/20260702-croatia-fans-garbage-stadium.jpg?w=1200&amp;cmd=resize_then_crop&amp;height=630&amp;format=auto" width="1200"><media:title>Croatia fans litter Toronto Stadium pitch with garbage after controversial call</media:title></media:content></item></channel></rss>