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2024 Canadian Championship
From Wikipedia - Reading time: 15 min
| Championnat canadien 2024 (French) | |
|---|---|
| Tournament details | |
| Country | Canada |
| Date | April 23 – September 25 |
| Teams | 14 (from 5 leagues) |
| Final positions | |
| Champions | Vancouver Whitecaps FC (4th title) |
| Runners-up | Toronto FC |
| Tournament statistics | |
| Matches played | 19 |
| Goals scored | 53 (2.79 per match) |
| Attendance | 112,917 (5,943 per match) |
| Top goal scorer(s) | Deandre Kerr (5 goals) |
| Awards | |
| George Gross Memorial Trophy | Isaac Boehmer |
| Best young player | Isaac Boehmer |
The 2024 Canadian Championship (French: Championnat canadien 2024) was the seventeenth edition of the Canadian Championship, the premier men's domestic cup competition in Canadian soccer, and the 23rd competition staged to determine the winner of the Voyageurs Cup. It featured all eleven professional men's soccer teams in Canada, from Major League Soccer and the Canadian Premier League, along with the champions of the three semi-professional League1 Canada competitions. This tournament marked the first Voyageurs Cup campaign for CS Saint-Laurent and Simcoe County Rovers FC. Victoria Highlanders FC had also qualified as the League1 British Columbia regular season winners but withdrew before the start of the tournament; they were replaced by TSS Rovers FC.
Vancouver Whitecaps FC earned their third consecutive title after defeating Toronto FC on penalties following a scoreless draw in the final, held at BC Place in Vancouver.[1] As winners, they qualified for the 2025 CONCACAF Champions Cup.
Format
[edit]Canada Soccer announced the competition format on February 22. The tournament consisted of four rounds with the quarter-finals and semi-finals being two legs, and the preliminary round and the finals being single legs. The winner of the 2023 Canadian Championship, Vancouver Whitecaps FC, and runner-up, CF Montréal, both received byes to the quarter-finals. The remaining twelve teams began the competition in the preliminary round starting in April. Hosting privileges up to the semi-finals were determined based on a three-year Canadian Championship ranking index.[2][3]
An earlier report suggested that Canada Soccer was reviewing a Canadian Premier League format proposal that would include a May start date, byes for Vancouver Whitecaps FC (2023 Canadian Championship winners) and Forge FC (2023 Canadian Premier League champions), and replace the draw with set regional matchups.[4][5]
Teams
[edit]
CF Montréal; 
CS Saint-LaurentToronto area clubs:
Toronto FC; 
York United Vancouver area clubs:
Vancouver Whitecaps; Vancouver FC; TSS Rovers Canadian Premier League Major League Soccer League1 Canada
| Rank | League | Team | Location | Entry round | App. | Previous best (last) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Major League Soccer | Vancouver Whitecaps FC | Vancouver, BC | Quarter-finals | 16th | Winners (2023) |
| 2 | CF Montréal | Montreal, Quebec | 16th | Winners (2021) | ||
| 3 | Toronto FC | Toronto, Ontario | Preliminary round | 17th | Winners (2020) | |
| 4 | Canadian Premier League | Pacific FC | Langford, BC | 5th | Semi-finals (2023) | |
| 5 | Forge FC | Hamilton, Ontario | 6th | Runners-up (2020) | ||
| 6 | York United FC | Toronto, Ontario | 5th | Semi-finals (2022) | ||
| 7 | Cavalry FC | Foothills County, Alberta | 5th | Semi-finals (2019) | ||
| 8 | HFX Wanderers FC | Halifax, Nova Scotia | 5th | Quarter-finals (2022) | ||
| 9 | Atlético Ottawa | Ottawa, Ontario | 4th | Quarter-finals (2023) | ||
| 10 | Valour FC | Winnipeg, Manitoba | 5th | Quarter-finals (2021) | ||
| 11 | Vancouver FC | Langley, BC | 2nd | Preliminary round (2023) | ||
| 12 | League1 Canada (division champions) |
TSS Rovers FC[a] (L1BC) | Burnaby, BC | 2nd | Quarter-finals (2023) | |
| 13 | CS Saint-Laurent (L1Q) | Montreal, Quebec | 1st | — | ||
| 14 | Simcoe County Rovers FC (L1O) | Barrie, Ontario | 1st | — |
Notes
- ^ Victoria Highlanders FC had qualified for the Canadian Championship as the League1 BC regular season winners. However, on April 8, 2024, the club announced that it had withdrawn from the competition.[6][7] On April 19, 2024, they were replaced by TSS Rovers FC.[8]
Ranking Index
[edit]Ahead of this edition of the competition, Canada Soccer created the Canadian Championship Club Ranking Index. The index used a weighted ranking of the past three years' competitive results in the Canadian Championship. Each professional team received its own ranking while League1 Canada's component leagues each received a league ranking that was used by their representative team. In the preliminary round, the team with the highest ranking hosted the single knockout game; in the quarter and semi-final rounds, the team with the highest ranking hosted the second game of the two-legged tie.[2][3]
Draw
[edit]Canada Soccer conducted two draws to determine the matchups of the tournament: one draw to determine the preliminary round and quarter-final matchups, and another to determine the semi-final and final rounds.[9]
First draw
[edit]The first draw was held on February 23, 2024 and was conducted behind closed doors. Canada Soccer placed each participating team in the following pots. Prior to the main draw, one team from the east pot was randomly drawn to play in the west bracket. They were automatically scheduled to host Valour FC in the preliminary round due to geographical considerations.[9]
| West | West (non-hosting) | East | East (semi-pro) | Bye |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Notes
- ^ Victoria Highlanders FC withdrew from the competition on April 8, 2024, after the first draw had been completed. They were replaced by the TSS Rovers FC.[6][7]
- ^ Moved to West Pot.
Second draw
[edit]The second draw was held on May 29 during halftime of the Pacific FC vs Atlético Ottawa quarter-final second-leg match.[10] It determined the matchups for the semi-finals and hosting rights for the single-leg final.[9][11]
Schedule
[edit]The preliminary round schedule was announced on March 11;[12] the quarter-final schedule was announced on May 3;[13] and the semi-final schedule was announced on June 10.[14]
| Round | Draw date | First leg | Second leg |
|---|---|---|---|
| Preliminary round | February 23 | April 23 – May 2 | |
| Quarter-finals | May 7–8 | May 21–29 | |
| Semi-finals | May 29 | July 10 | August 27 |
| Final | September 25 | ||
Bracket
[edit]For two-legged ties, the team listed above in the bracket hosted the second match.
|
|
|
| |||||||||||||||||||
| Vancouver Whitecaps FC (a) | 2 | 0 | 2 | |||||||||||||||||||
| Foothills County, AB | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Cavalry FC | 1 | 1 | 2 | |||||||||||||||||||
| Cavalry FC | 1 | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Vancouver FC | 0 | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Vancouver Whitecaps FC | 1 | 1 | 2 | |||||||||||||||||||
| Langford, BC | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Pacific FC | 0 | 0 | 0 | |||||||||||||||||||
| Pacific FC | 1 (5) | |||||||||||||||||||||
| TSS Rovers FC | 1 (4) | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Pacific FC | 0 | 2 | 2 | |||||||||||||||||||
| Ottawa, ON | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Atlético Ottawa | 0 | 1 | 1 | |||||||||||||||||||
| Atlético Ottawa | 7 | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Vancouver, BC | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Valour FC | 0 | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Vancouver Whitecaps FC (p) | 0 (4) | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Toronto, ON (BMO) | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Toronto FC | 0 (2) | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Toronto FC | 5 | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Simcoe County Rovers FC | 0 | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Toronto FC | 3 | 8 | 11 | |||||||||||||||||||
| Halifax, NS | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| CS Saint-Laurent | 0 | 1 | 1 | |||||||||||||||||||
| HFX Wanderers FC | 2 (3) | |||||||||||||||||||||
| CS Saint-Laurent | 2 (5) | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Toronto FC (a) | 1 | 1 | 2 | |||||||||||||||||||
| Forge FC | 2 | 0 | 2 | |||||||||||||||||||
| CF Montréal | 1 | 1 | 2 | |||||||||||||||||||
| Hamilton, ON | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Forge FC | 1 | 2 | 3 | |||||||||||||||||||
| Forge FC | 3 | |||||||||||||||||||||
| York United FC | 1 | |||||||||||||||||||||
Preliminary round
[edit]Summary
[edit]Matches
[edit]
| Forge FC | 3–1 | York United FC |
|---|---|---|
| Report |
|
| Pacific FC | 1–1 | TSS Rovers FC |
|---|---|---|
|
Report |
|
| Penalties | ||
| 5–4 | ||
Quarter-finals
[edit]Summary
[edit]| Team 1 | Agg. Tooltip Aggregate score | Team 2 | 1st leg | 2nd leg |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cavalry FC | 2–2 (a) | Vancouver Whitecaps FC | 1–2 | 1–0 |
| Atlético Ottawa | 1–2 | Pacific FC | 0–0 | 1–2 |
| Forge FC | 3–2 | CF Montréal | 1–1 | 2–1 |
| CS Saint-Laurent | 1–11 | Toronto FC | 0–3 | 1–8 |
Matches
[edit]| Cavalry FC | 1–2 | Vancouver Whitecaps FC |
|---|---|---|
|
Report |
|
2–2 on aggregate. Vancouver Whitecaps FC won on away goals.
Pacific FC won 2–1 on aggregate.
| Forge FC | 1–1 | CF Montréal |
|---|---|---|
|
Report |
|
| CF Montréal | 1–2 | Forge FC |
|---|---|---|
|
Report |
Forge FC won 3–2 on aggregate.
| CS Saint-Laurent | 0–3 | Toronto FC |
|---|---|---|
| Report |
|
Toronto FC won 11–1 on aggregate.
Semi-finals
[edit]Summary
[edit]| Team 1 | Agg. Tooltip Aggregate score | Team 2 | 1st leg | 2nd leg |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pacific FC | 0–2 | Vancouver Whitecaps FC | 0–1 | 0–1 |
| Forge FC | 2–2 (a) | Toronto FC | 2–1 | 0–1 |
Matches
[edit]Vancouver Whitecaps FC won 2–0 on aggregate.
| Forge FC | 2–1 | Toronto FC |
|---|---|---|
| Report |
|
| Toronto FC | 1–0 | Forge FC |
|---|---|---|
|
Report |
2–2 on aggregate. Toronto FC won on away goals.
Final
[edit]Top goalscorers
[edit]| Rank | Player | Team | Goals | By round | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PR | QF1 | QF2 | SF1 | SF2 | F | ||||||||
| 1 |  Deandre Kerr
|
Toronto FC | 5 | 1 | 4 | ||||||||
| 2 |  Prince Owusu
|
Toronto FC | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | |||||||
| 3 |  Ollie Bassett
|
Atlético Ottawa | 2 | 2 | |||||||||
| David Choinière
|
Forge FC | 1 | 1 | ||||||||||
 Rubén del Campo
|
Atlético Ottawa | 2 | |||||||||||
 Ryan Gauld
|
Vancouver Whitecaps FC | 1 | 1 | ||||||||||
| Jordan Hamilton
|
Forge FC | 2 | |||||||||||
| Levonte Johnson
|
Vancouver Whitecaps FC | 2 | |||||||||||
 Cassius Mailula
|
Toronto FC | 1 | 1 | ||||||||||
| Kwasi Poku
|
Forge FC | 1 | 1 | ||||||||||
 Alberto Zapater
|
Atlético Ottawa | 2 | |||||||||||
Sending offs
[edit]| No. | Date | Player | Club | Offence |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | April 23 | Shamit Shome
|
Cavalry FC | Serious foul play |
| May 21 |  Oussema Boughanmi
|
CS Saint-Laurent | Serious foul play |
Broadcasting rights
[edit]OneSoccer, a Canadian video streaming service owned by Mediapro, had been the Canadian Championship's broadcaster in recent editions of the tournament.[15][16] This status was put into doubt on January 25, 2024 when Canadian Soccer Business launched legal action against Mediapro, taking back the broadcast rights of several properties including the Canadian Championship.[17] However, on April 2, OneSoccer began promoting a "2024 Season Pass" that included "exclusive access" to the Canadian Championship, suggesting a breakthrough had been reached.[18] The following day, Canadian Soccer Business issued a statement saying that they and Mediapro were "on a positive path toward resolving our differences and expect to come to a finalized agreement in the near future".[18]
| Country | Broadcaster | Ref. |
|---|---|---|
| Canada
|
OneSoccer | [18] |
References
[edit]- ^ Adams, J.J. (September 25, 2024). "Three-peat for Vancouver Whitecaps in Canadian Championship". The Province. Retrieved September 25, 2024.
- ^ a b "Canada Soccer Announces Telus Canadian Championship Format". Canadian Soccer Association. February 22, 2024. Archived from the original on February 22, 2024. Retrieved February 22, 2024.
- ^ a b Davidson, Neil (February 22, 2024). "Fourteen clubs from five leagues to contest Canadian Championship soccer tournament". Yahoo! News. The Canadian Press. Archived from the original on February 22, 2024. Retrieved February 22, 2024.
- ^ Szwarc, Thiago (January 29, 2024). "Exclusive: The CPL's proposal to Canada Soccer for the 2024 Canadian Championship". TrueNorthFoot. Archived from the original on January 30, 2024. Retrieved January 30, 2024.
- ^ Jacques, John (January 29, 2024). "TrueNorthFoot: CPL Pitches CanChamp Format To Canada Soccer". Northern Tribune. Archived from the original on January 30, 2024. Retrieved January 30, 2024.
- ^ a b Mahmoudi, Nelson (April 9, 2024). "Victoria Highlanders Pull Out Of League1 BC, Canadian Championship". Northern Tribune. Archived from the original on April 9, 2024. Retrieved April 10, 2024.
- ^ a b Steiner, Ben (April 9, 2024). "Victoria Highlanders pull out of Voyageurs Cup, leaving Canada Soccer with void to fill". Canadian Soccer Daily. Archived from the original on April 9, 2024. Retrieved April 9, 2024.
- ^ "Update to Participation of League1 British Columbia in the 2024 TELUS Canadian Championship". Canadian Soccer Association. April 19, 2024. Archived from the original on April 19, 2024. Retrieved April 19, 2024.
- ^ a b c "2024 Telus Canadian Championship format, draw and hosting procedures announced". Canadian Premier League. February 22, 2024. Retrieved February 22, 2024.
- ^ Canada Soccer [@CanadaSoccerEN] (May 21, 2024). "Tune in for the Semi-Final draw of the TELUS Canadian Championship on May 29th, conducted live during halftime of the Pacific FC v Atlético Ottawa match, on @OneSoccer! Semi-Final match-ups and pathway to hosting the Voyageurs Cup to be determined" (Tweet). Retrieved May 22, 2024 – via Twitter.
- ^ Canada Soccer [@CanadaSoccerEN] (May 29, 2024). "The results are in! 🗳️ The first #CanChamp Semi-Final will be Vancouver Whitecaps FC against the winner of Atlético Ottawa and Pacific FC. The second Semi-Final will be contested between Ontario rivals, Toronto FC and Forge FC!" (Tweet). Retrieved May 29, 2024 – via Twitter.
- ^ "The 2024 Telus Canadian Championship set to kick off 23 April in Calgary". Canadian Soccer Association. March 11, 2024. Archived from the original on March 11, 2024. Retrieved March 11, 2024.
- ^ "Quarter-Finals set for the 2024 TELUS Canadian Championship". Canadian Soccer Association. May 3, 2024. Archived from the original on May 3, 2024. Retrieved May 3, 2024.
- ^ "Semi-finals set for the 2024 Telus Canadian Championship". Canadian Soccer Association. June 10, 2024. Archived from the original on June 10, 2024. Retrieved June 10, 2024.
- ^ "Important information about your OneSoccer subscription in 2023 and beyond". OneSoccer. March 23, 2023. Retrieved April 28, 2023.
- ^ Nightingale, Tom (March 24, 2023). "Why a government ruling means OneSoccer could soon become a TV channel". Canadian Soccer Daily. Fresh Press Media. Retrieved April 28, 2023.
- ^ Davidson, Neil (January 25, 2024). "Canadian Soccer Business launches legal action against media partner Mediapro". TSN. The Canadian Press. Archived from the original on January 26, 2024. Retrieved January 26, 2024.
- ^ a b c Davidson, Neil (April 3, 2024). "Broadcast future for Canadian soccer appears brighter with CSB, Mediapro nearing deal". CBC Sports. The Canadian Press. Archived from the original on April 8, 2024. Retrieved April 23, 2024.
Further reading
[edit]- Lewis, Danny (November 2024). "CPL clubs close the gap in Canadian Championship". World Soccer. Kelsey Media. pp. 84–85. ISSN 0043-9037 – via Zinio.
External links
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