‘Boyfriend duties’: Justin Trudeau explained why he chose USA over Canada at the World Cup

Justin Trudeau was in the stands at SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles on June 12 for the FIFA World Cup opening ceremony, where his pop star girlfriend Katy Perry performed ahead of the United States’ inaugural match of the tournament.

The same night, Canada was kicking off its own World Cup campaign in Toronto against Bosnia and Herzegovina at BMO Field, without its most famous ex-prime minister in attendance.

His absence from the Canadian game didn’t go unnoticed by folks north of the border, and Trudeau addressed it himself on X the following evening.

“Sometimes supportive boyfriend duties call,” he wrote. “But you know who I’m rooting for to take the Cup.”

For those who haven’t been paying attention, the ex-world leader and singer have been an item for nearly a year now.

The two were first spotted together at Le Violon in Montreal last July. From there things moved quickly and pretty openly. Trudeau showed up at Perry’s Bell Centre show just days after they met, paparazzi caught them kissing on a yacht in California by October, and they celebrated her birthday together in Paris in November. A diplomatic trip to Japan followed, then dinner at Leméac in Outremont in February, and Coachella in the spring.

Just last week they made their first red carpet appearance together at the Tribeca Festival premiere of Perry’s concert film in New York, where she called the 54-year-old “the love of my life.”

And when it comes to crossing international lines, Perry, for her part, seems to have no trouble embracing both sides of the border. In a video posted to Instagram around the time of the opening ceremony, she held up a Canadian and an American pin. “It’s not just a pin, it’s a lifestyle,” she said, to laughter from Trudeau and the people around them.

Canada’s next World Cup match is June 18 in Vancouver. The US plays Australia in Seattle the following day, so Trudeau should be off the hook for that one.

This story was inspired by the article “FIFA 2026 : Justin Trudeau se défend d’avoir assisté au match des USA et non du Canada” which was originally published on Narcity.