By: Kaja Antic, Sports Writer
For the third time in as many years, the Vancouver Whitecaps are headed to the Canadian Championship finals.
This annual tournament is organized by Canada Soccer and is played between the three Canadian Major League Soccer (MLS) teams, the eight Canadian Premier League (CPL) teams, and the champions of semi-pro League1 Ontario, League1 BC, and Ligue1 Quebec. Teams within this tournament compete for the Voyageurs Cup, which was initially created and is still named after the supporters groups of Canada’s national soccer teams, the Voyageurs.
The Whitecaps are the reigning back-to-back champions, and will be facing fellow MLS side, Toronto FC. Toronto holds the record for the most Canadian Championship titles with eight, followed by CF Montreal with five, then Vancouver currently with three. No non-MLS competitors have previously won the tournament, with the CPL side Forge FC being a runner-up once in the tournament’s history.
Vancouver’s record in the Canadian Championship finals against Toronto is 1–6. The sole win the Whitecaps currently hold over their eastern counterparts is their 2022 Championship victory, in which they took the Voyageurs Cup after earning the edge 5–3 in penalty kicks. Vancouver’s other two Championship titles came from victories against CF Montreal in 2015 and 2023.
In their current regular season, the Whitecaps have played Toronto once — a 4–0 win at BC Place on April 6. At the time of writing, Toronto FC narrowly holds onto a playoff spot in the Eastern Conference in eighth, with only two points separating them and the 10th-ranked Atlanta United. Vancouver is in contention for a higher Western Conference spot, currently in sixth, and are only a handful of points back from clinching home field advantage for the MLS Cup Playoffs. In overall league standings, at the time of writing, Vancouver is in ninth while Toronto is in 17th.
The journey to the finals was not as smooth as the Whitecaps had hoped. Their first game in the preliminary round against CPL side Cavalry FC saw the defending champions take a 1–0 loss. Playing Cavalry again in the quarterfinals, the Whitecaps snuck through to the semi-finals after taking the advantage on away goals. Vancouver had won 2–1 away at Cavalry’s home in Calgary, while Cavalry only managed a 1–0 win while playing at BC Place.
The ‘Caps then faced Pacific FC, the CPL side from Vancouver Island. The two are familiar foes, with Pacific having lost 3–0 to the Whitecaps in the 2023 semi-finals, and Pacific having eliminated the Whitecaps during the 2021 Championship tournament. In the two legs played — one in Vancouver and one in Langford — the Whitecaps came away from both with a 1–0 win in each, moving onto the finals for the third year in a row.
The Vancouver Whitecaps will look to defend their title and become the first Canadian Championship three-peat since their finals opponent, Toronto FC, did it from 2016–18. The single finals match will kick off at BC Place on Wednesday, September 25, at 7:00 p.m. PST.
