2020 Canadian Championship

2020 Canadian Championship final

Tim Hortons Field in Hamilton, Ontario, hosted the final match.
Forge FC Toronto FC 1 1
Toronto FC won 5–4 on penalties
Date	June 4, 2022
Venue	Tim Hortons Field, Hamilton, Ontario
Man of the Match	Tristan Borges [1]
Referee	Silviu Petrescu
Attendance	13,715
← 2019 (final) 2021 (final) →

The 2020 Canadian Championship was the thirteenth edition of Canada's national soccer cup tournament, awarding the Voyageurs Cup. It was held as a final between one representative each from Major League Soccer and the Canadian Premier League. Before the COVID-19 pandemic, a larger knockout tournament was to be held from June 16 to September 24, 2020, between twelve teams.

The twelve teams originally planned to participate were the three MLS clubs, seven Canadian Premier League clubs, and the champions of League1 Ontario and Première ligue de soccer du Québec. ^{[2] [3]} The city of Ottawa had looked to be absent for the first time since 2013, with Ottawa Fury FC having suspended operations in late 2019, and Atlético Ottawa having joined the Canadian Premier League after the original draw had been finalized. ^[4]

The final was held on June 4, 2022, at Tim Hortons Field in Hamilton, Ontario between hosts Forge FC and Toronto FC. ^{[5] [6]}

Format

Original format

The format of the competition was originally changed slightly from the 2019 edition to accommodate the departure of Ottawa Fury FC. Each round of the four-round tournament would be played in a two-legged tie format. The League1 Ontario champion Master's FA, Première ligue de soccer du Québec champion A.S. Blainville, and six CPL clubs would enter in the qualifying round in June. They would be joined by the three Major League Soccer teams and the remaining CPL club (given bye as the furthest advancing club in the 2019 Canadian Championship) in the quarter-finals in July. The semi-finals would follow in August, and the finals would be in September. ^[7] Atlético Ottawa were not included in the original format because they joined the CPL after the schedule was announced.

The format was adjusted in June to exclude the League1 Ontario and Première ligue de soccer du Québec 2019 champions, who will instead qualify for the 2021 tournament. Atlético Ottawa's inclusion was also confirmed at this time. ^[8]

Revised format

On August 13, 2020, the Canadian Soccer Association (CSA) announced that the tournament would consist solely of a single match final to be held between the winner of the head-to-head series between Canadian teams from Major League Soccer and the champion of the Canadian Premier League. ^[9] On November 25, 2020, the CSA announced that due to pandemic-related travel restriction and scheduling conflicts, the final would be scheduled for the first quarter of 2021. ^[10] During the fourth quarter of 2020, Toronto FC had been playing in the 2020 MLS Cup Playoffs in the United States, while Forge FC had been competing in the 2020 CONCACAF League across several locations in Central America and the Caribbean.

In early March 2021, several outlets reported that the final would be played on March 20, 2021. ^{[11] [12]} The winner of the Canadian Championship final would qualify for the 2021 CONCACAF Champions League which begins in early April 2021. Forge FC owner Bob Young raised concerns over the date of the final noting that as of March 6, 2021, his club had not yet been granted permission to train by local health authorities. ^[12] On March 8, Toronto FC – who had been training as a team since February 17 – announced that several members of their team had tested positive for COVID-19 and that they had halted training. ^[13]

On March 11, 2021, it was announced that the final would be postponed beyond March and that Toronto FC would automatically qualify for the Champions League. ^[14] On March 2, 2022, the match was set for June 4 at Tim Hortons Field. ^[6]

Qualification

Major League Soccer

Main article: 2020 Major League Soccer season

As part of the MLS regular season, Canada's three Major League Soccer clubs played each other three times from August 18 to September 16. The team with the most points from this series, Toronto FC, qualified for the Canadian Championship. ^[15]

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Toronto FC	6	4	0	2	9	5	+4	12	2020 Canadian Championship and 2021 CONCACAF Champions League
2	Montreal Impact	6	3	0	3	9	8	+1	9
3	Vancouver Whitecaps FC	6	2	0	4	8	13	−5	6

Source: MLS ^{[ dead link ‍]}
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) total wins; 3) goal differential; 4) goals for; 5) away goal differential; 6) away goals for; 7) home goal differential; 8) home goals for 9) coin toss or drawing of lots.

Fixtures

Date	Home team	Result	Away team
Aug 18, 2020	Toronto FC	3–0	Vancouver Whitecaps FC
Aug 21, 2020	Toronto FC	1–0	Vancouver Whitecaps FC
Aug 25, 2020	Montreal Impact	2–0	Vancouver Whitecaps FC
Aug 28, 2020	Montreal Impact	0–1	Toronto FC
Sep 1, 2020	Toronto FC	0–1	Montreal Impact
Sep 5, 2020	Vancouver Whitecaps FC	3–2	Toronto FC
Sep 9, 2020	Montreal Impact	1–2	Toronto FC
Sep 13, 2020	Vancouver Whitecaps FC	2–4	Montreal Impact
Sep 16, 2020	Vancouver Whitecaps FC	3–1	Montreal Impact

Canadian Premier League

Main article: 2020 Canadian Premier League season

The winner of the 2020 Canadian Premier League season, Forge FC, qualified for the Canadian Championship. The season was held from August to September in three stages – a first stage, group stage, and final.

First stage	Group stage
Pos Team v t e Pld Pts 1 Cavalry 7 13 2 HFX Wanderers 7 12 3 Forge 7 12 4 Pacific 7 11 5 York9 7 10 6 Valour 7 8 7 Atlético Ottawa 7 8 8 FC Edmonton 7 1 Source: CanPL.ca	Pos Team v t e Pld Pts 1 Forge 3 7 2 HFX Wanderers 3 4 3 Cavalry 3 3 4 Pacific 3 3 Source: CanPL.ca
2020 Canadian Premier League Final
September 19 3:00 pm ADT Forge FC 2–0 HFX Wanderers FC Alumni Field, Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island

Qualified teams

Team	League	City	Previous finals appearances (bold indicates winners)
Toronto FC	Major League Soccer	Toronto, Ontario	7 ( 2011 , 2012 , 2014, 2016 , 2017 , 2018 , 2019, 2021)
Forge FC	Canadian Premier League	Hamilton, Ontario	None

Final

On March 11, 2021, it was announced that the match could not be completed in time for the start of CCL competition; a compromise was reached where Toronto FC would be named to the CCL slot, while Forge FC would be permitted to host the match once it was finally played. ^[16] On March 25, 2021, Canada Soccer president Nick Bontis said that the final may end up taking place as late as July 2022. ^[17] On March 2, 2022, it was announced that the final would take place on June 4, 2022, at Tim Hortons Field. ^[6]

June 4, 2022

7:00 pm EDT

Forge FC	1–1	Toronto FC
Borges 60'	Report	Pozuelo 57'
Penalties
Achinioti-Jönsson Campbell Pacius Bekker Choinière Poku	4–5	Jiménez Salcedo Kerr Pozuelo Perruzza Thompson

Tim Hortons Field , Hamilton, Ontario

Attendance: 13,715

Referee: Silviu Petrescu

Forge FC

Toronto FC

Forge FC: GK 1 Triston Henry RB 24 Rezart Rama CB 13 Alexander Achinioti-Jönsson  25' CB 81 Malik Owolabi-Belewu  55' LB 3 Ashtone Morgan  77'  84' CM 33 Aboubacar Sissoko  75' CM 21 Alessandro Hojabrpour  81' CM 10 Kyle Bekker (c) RW 7 David Choinière CF 9 Terran Campbell LW 19 Tristan Borges  67'  67' Substitutes: GK 29 Christopher Kalongo MF 12 Sebastian Castello FW 14 Emery Welshman  75' FW 17 Woobens Pacius  67' MF 20 Kwasi Poku  84' MF 22 Noah Jensen DF 28 Daniel Stampatori Manager: Bobby Smyrniotis

Toronto FC: GK 16 Quentin Westberg RB 47 Kosi Thompson CB 5 Lukas MacNaughton  24'  90+2' CB 3 Carlos Salcedo LB 38 Luca Petrasso  19'  65' CM 29 Deandre Kerr CM 4 Michael Bradley (c) CM 11 Jayden Nelson  46' RW 20 Ayo Akinola  69'  79' CF 9 Jesús Jiménez LW 10 Alejandro Pozuelo  62' Substitutes: GK 25 Alex Bono MF 8 Ralph Priso  90+2' DF 12 Kadin Chung  65' FW 22 Jacob Shaffelburg  46' FW 77 Jordan Perruzza  79' MF 81 Themi Antonoglou FW 99 Ifunanyachi Achara Manager: Bob Bradley

Assistant referees: Peter Pendli Jason Vaillancourt Fourth official: David Barrie

See also

• 2020 Canadian Premier League season

References

1. @CanadaSoccerEN (June 4, 2022). "Tristan Borges with the Performance of the Match Powered by @GatoradeCanada" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
2. "Voyageurs Cup creator delighted with addition of CPL clubs to future Canadian Championships" . Retrieved October 15, 2018.
3. Jacques, John (September 28, 2019). "Master's Futbol Academy Wins League1 Ontario For The First Time". Northern Tribune. Retrieved November 18, 2019.
4. "Ottawa Fury". www.ottawafuryfc.com. Archived from the original on December 10, 2019. Retrieved November 8, 2019.
5. "Tim Hortons Field to host 2020 Canadian Championship Final". Forge FC. March 11, 2021. Retrieved March 12, 2021.
6. "2020 Canadian Championship Final set for June 4". Toronto FC. Retrieved March 2, 2022.
7. "Canada Soccer announces 2020 Canadian Championship schedule". Canada Soccer. Archived from the original on May 11, 2020. Retrieved December 19, 2019.
8. "Canada Soccer gives 2020 CanChamp update: CPL & MLS clubs only, Atlético Ottawa added to tournament". Canadian Premier League. June 16, 2020. Retrieved June 16, 2020.
9. "Canada Soccer announces format for 2020 Canadian Championship Final". Canada Soccer. Retrieved August 13, 2020.
10. "Canadian Championship Final: Forge FC to face Toronto FC in new year". Canada Soccer. Retrieved November 25, 2020.
11. "Forge FC Still Without Permission To Train: 'We've Done Everything Possible'". March 8, 2021. Retrieved March 10, 2021.
12. "Forge FC owner cries foul at timing of Canadian Championship final". CBC Sports. March 6, 2021. Retrieved March 12, 2021.
13. "Official Club Statement - March 8, 2021". Toronto FC. March 8, 2021. Retrieved March 12, 2021.
14. "2020 Canadian Championship final between Forge FC & Toronto FC postponed". Canadian Premier League. March 11, 2021. Retrieved March 12, 2021.
15. Davidson, Neil (August 13, 2020). "Canada's MLS teams to play each other for next stretch of schedule". Lethbridge News Now. The Canadian Press. Retrieved August 14, 2020.
16. "2020 Canadian Championship final between Forge FC & Toronto FC postponed". Canadian Premier League. March 11, 2021. Retrieved March 12, 2021.
17. "2020 Canadian Championship Final May Be As Late As July 2022". March 25, 2021. Retrieved May 30, 2021.