When Canada's winning bid for the 2015 FIFA Women's World Cup was announced as being the winner, it would be the first time that the event would be held in Canada and only the third time it would be held in North America. The event would also be the first time that matches would be held in cities across the host country. The host cities were Vancouver, British Columbia; Edmonton, Alberta; Winnipeg, Manitoba; Ottawa, Ontario; Montréal, Québec and Moncton, New Brunswick. Of the stadiums hosting the matches, Edmonton's Commonwealth Stadium was the largest, able to accommodate 56,302 spectators. Today it remains the largest open air stadium in Canada.
The tournament was, to that time, the largest and most watched Women's World Cup to take place. Canada, the host country, made it to the quarter finals after winning their division, but on June 27, 2015, Team Canada was eliminated from the tournament following a 2–1 loss to England.
Used primarily as the home of the
Edmonton Eskimos of the
Canadian Football League, construction of Commonwealth Stadium began in 1975. It opened in time to be the host venue for the
1978 Commonwealth Games. The stadium was built with a seating capacity of 42,500, twice expanded to 59,912 in 1982 and 60,081 in 1983. After the
2010 Grey Cup, seating was replaced with better, wider seats, resulting in the present capacity of 56, 302.
One of six stadiums to host the 2015 FIFA Women's World Cup, in 2026 it will again host World Cup Soccer, being one of several stadiums in Canada, the U.S. and Mexico to host the 2026 FIFA Men's World Cup.