Canadian Championship semifinals preview: CPL teams chasing history

The history of the Canadian Championship has been completely dominated by three teams: Toronto FC, Vancouver Whitecaps and CF Montreal.

Since the start of the Canadian Championship, Canada’s answer to the FA Cup, that trio of MLS clubs has won the annual competition 16 out of 17 times. The lone exception came in 2008 when Montreal hoisted the Voyageurs Cup while competing in the second-tier United Soccer League.

The launch of the Canadian Premier League has done little to slow down MLS teams in the domestic cup competition. Since the CPL’s first season in 2019, MLS clubs have won every Canadian Championship, while only one CPL team has even reached the final.

But things could change this year. The semifinals of the 2025 Canadian Championship kick off this week, and three of the four teams involved are from the CPL, which means there will be CPL representation in this year’s final for only the second time in the tournament’s history.

Atlético Ottawa takes on Vancouver FC in an all-CPL matchup, while Forge FC prepares to battle the Whitecaps. Forge hosts the Whitecaps in the first leg on Wednesday at Hamilton Stadium (formerly known as Tim Hortons Field). The return matches for both semifinals are next month, with the one-match final scheduled for Oct 1.

Forge currently sits atop the CPL table, having gone unbeaten through its first 18 matches (11 wins) of the regular season. The Hamilton-based club upset Montreal in the previous round of the Canadian Championship. Earlier in the year, it tested itself against Mexican giants C.F. Monterrey in the first round of the Concacaf Champions Cup.

The Whitecaps are one of the best teams in MLS this year and boast a squad littered with top international players, foremost among them Thomas Müller. The Bayern Munich icon and World Cup winner recently signed with the Whitecaps, and even though he won’t play in Wednesday’s game in Hamilton, his arrival in Vancouver just goes to show the great disparity of quality and resources between MLS and CPL clubs.

Still, Forge won’t be a soft touch, and the favoured Whitecaps can’t afford to underestimate their CPL counterparts.

“We believe in our own football. We've got a lot of skill and talent in our team that we've shown against MLS teams, and we have faith in ourselves and we don't get too blinded about who's on the other side,” Forge midfielder/centre back Alexander Achinioti-Jönsson told Sportsnet.

“Because at the end of the day, they're just like us in that they try to play football as well. They make mistakes like everybody else, and we just gotta remember that and not give them too much respect, and then go in with the same determination of mentality that we had earlier in the season.”

Forge previously played in the COVID-delayed 2020 Canadian Championship final in 2022 when it hosted TFC and lost via a penalty shootout.

Since then, CPL clubs have become regular participants in the semifinals, upsetting MLS teams along the way. At the same time, Forge and reigning CPL champions Cavalry FC of Calgary competed in the Concacaf Champions Cup, testing themselves against some of the best clubs in North America.

It says a lot about how far the CPL has come from its inaugural 2019 season that it’s on the cusp of sending two of its teams to the Canadian Championship final.

“We're growing the league in small steps, and you see CPL teams making strides every year in being a part of the Concacaf Champions Cup, and progressing in the Canadian Championship. Not just us, but I think the CPL as a whole is putting the MLS teams to a tough test. The skill level and the league's overall level have increased a lot since the beginning. So, it's good to know that the CPL is headed in the right direction,” Achinioti-Jönsson said.

He added, “No CPL team has won it before, so it'd be a major milestone. But even so, having three out of four teams that have the chance to win it right now, that's huge, and we're gonna have a CPL team in the final, which is also gonna be huge. And it just shows the league's growth.”

Forge have won four CPL titles (and twice finished as runners-up) in six seasons. Their success as the standard bearers of the CPL since the formation of the league is one of the best stories in Canadian soccer.

Achinioti-Jönsson has been an ever-present figure for the Hamilton-based outfit since Day 1. He played in the league’s inaugural game on April 27, 2019, and has made over 200 appearances for Forge across all competitions.

Now in his seventh CPL season, Achinioti-Jönsson has played a key role in all four of Forge’s title-winning campaigns (2019, 2020, 2022 and 2023). He also displayed great versatility, making the shift from midfielder to centre back, and was named the league’s defender of the year in 2022.

The talented Swede has witnessed firsthand how the CPL has grown since its inception, and feels the league is ready to take its place at the grown-ups’ table alongside Canada’s MLS teams.

“I think the skill level has increased a lot. I think being able to play these international games in Concacaf against Mexican teams and teams from Central America raised the profile of the CPL and attracted better players from outside of the country, which I think is huge,” Achinioti-Jönsson said.

“It's also been a great place for Canadian talent. You see more Canadian players coming home and doing well here, which also is great for the league. I think that's been the purpose of it from the beginning; to showcase Canadian talent, because there is a lot of talent, a lot of skilled players in this country. So, I think that's a big, big part of why the league is growing."

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