FIFA World Cup 2026 – Mexico, Canada and The USA – Hot Dogs

The Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) World Cup 2026 is at its quarter final stage, with the big final match scheduled for Sunday, July 19. While following Mexico’s matches, I decided to find a traditional dish from the opposing country that seemed similar to a Mexican dish, as a way to point out that we are all just people, and this is a small world after all. It was fun following “El Tri” (Mexico’s team nickname from the tricolour Mexican flag), especially through their string of victories with no scoring from the opposing teams (for full stories and recipes, click on highlighted text): Mexico 2 – South Africa 0 (fried breads); Mexico 1 – Korea Republic 0 (pork belly wraps); Mexico 3 – Czechia (pickled sausages); and in the round of 32, Mexico 2 – Ecuador 0 (potato patties).

Unfortunately, for the knockout round of 16, Mexico lost against England (meat patties), in an exciting game with a final score of 2-3. As for the other two hosting nations, Canada made it to the round of 32 in second place, with a victory 1-0 over South Africa, but was defeated 0-3, in the round of 16 against Morocco. Finally, The USA was victorious against Bosnia and Herzegovina 2-0 for the round of 32, but was defeated by Belgium 1-4 in the next round. Thousands of fans and all teams are now evacuating Mexico and Canada, as the rest of the matches are scheduled within the United States.

Now that Mexico is out of the competition, along with co-hosts Canada and the USA, I thought of featuring one dish that is common and very popular in the three hosting countries: hot dogs!

There are different claims of how and when the sausage on a soft bun was created, but all come from somewhere in the United States (St. Louis Missouri, Chicago Illinois and Coney Island New York, for example) in the late 19th or early 20th centuries. There are hundreds of regional variations, from the chili dogs or Coney Island hot dogs from Michigan (!) to the New York City style, with sauerkraut and brown mustard as toppings. I have shared the story and recipe for the Chicago style hot dog, which is assembled as follows: steamed bun (preferably with poppy seed), steamed winner sausage, mustard and chopped onion on top, then on one side, Chicago Style relish (aka, dyed fluorescent bluish-green), on the other side, sliced tomato and pickle, then finished with Sport Peppers and a sprinkle of celery salt (pictured at the top of this post, and below):

In Canada, sausages came from Europe, but the hot dog made its way from the US in the early- to mid-20th century, particularly to the provinces of Manitoba and Quebec. In Montreal, Quebec, the usual toppings on a steamé (borrowed from the English word “steamed”) or toasté (toasted) are: onions, mustard, relish, and often coleslaw. Hot dogs have always been a classic baseball park treat.  In Toronto, Ontario, during every Blue Jays home game that takes place on a Tuesday, The Rogers Centre runs a promotion called Loonie Dogs Night; Schneider™ hotdogs are sold for one Canadian dollar (nicknamed loonie). During the 2025 season, a record 826,308 Loonie Dogs were purchased! The sausages are so iconic, that they may be found at supermarkets in Ontario, Canada:

The introduction of hot dogs in Mexico took place with the arrival of baseball to the country at the end of the 1800s, in different regions, and for different reasons.  In Guaymas, Sonora, by American sailors; in Nuevo Laredo, Tamaulipas, and Monterrey, Nuevo Leon, by American workers during railroad construction; and in the South, in the Yucatan peninsula, for its proximity to Cuba, a protectorate of the USA from 1898 until 1902.  By the mid 1900s, hot dogs could be found everywhere in Mexico, and later, hot dog buns were mass produced, which since have also been marketed as “medias noches” –  “midnights”, after a Spanish snack that was enjoyed late at night, consisting of a small roll, sliced lengthwise and filled with cold cuts, cheese, etc. In the state of Sonora, both baseball and hot dogs are still big traditions. The modern Sonora style hot dog, called dogo sonorense, took off in the 1980s, with some additions and extra toppings.  Nowadays, wrapping the sausage with bacon, and topping with caramelized onions, tomatoes, and what seems like a pound of mayonnaise, have become the classic way for dogos, as it is to include a side of fries:

For full story, regional variations, and recipes of the dogo sonorense, please visit my post: Dogos – Sonora Style Hot Dogs.

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The matches for the FIFA World Cup 2026 Quarter Final Stage are: France – Morocco; Spain – Belgium; Norway – England; and Argentina – Switzerland. Everyone is in danger of elimination, and already Morocco has finished its participation, with a final score of France 2 – Morocco 0. A complete schedule of football matches may be found at the official FIFA World Cup 2026 website.

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I am sharing my post at Thursday Favourite Things #767, with Katherine @ Katherine’s Corner, Pam @ Artful Analog, and Amber @ Follow the Yellow Brick Home.   

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I am bringing my recipes to Full Plate Thursday #802 with Miz Helen @ Miz Helen’s Country Cottage.

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I am joining Fiesta Friday #649 with Angie @ Fiesta Friday.