2023 Canadian Championship

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2023 Canadian Championship
Championnat canadien 2023 (French)
Tournament details
CountryCanada
DateApril 18 – June 7, 2023
Teams14 (from 5 leagues)
Final positions
Champions Vancouver Whitecaps FC (3rd title)
Runners-up CF Montréal
Tournament statistics
Matches played13
Goals scored35 (2.69 per match)
Attendance79,875 (6,144 per match)
Top goal scorer(s) Sunusi Ibrahim
(3 goals)
Awards
George Gross
Memorial Trophy
Julian Gressel
Best young player Ali Ahmed
  2022
2024  

The 2023 Canadian Championship (French : Championnat canadien 2023) was the sixteenth edition of the Canadian Championship, the premier men's domestic cup competition in Canadian soccer, and the 22nd competition staged to determine the winner of the Voyageurs Cup. It was a knockout tournament with all eleven professional men's soccer teams in Canada, from Major League Soccer and the Canadian Premier League, competing, along with the champions of the three semi-professional League1 Canada competitions. The tournament marked the first Voyageurs Cup campaign for FC Laval, TSS FC Rovers and Vancouver FC.

Contents

This tournament was notable for the TSS FC Rovers' performance, as they made the quarter-finals in their debut appearance by upsetting Valour FC in the first round. In doing so, they became the first non-professional team in the history of the competition to advance past a fully professional opponent.

Format

The winner of the 2022 Canadian Championship, Vancouver Whitecaps FC, and runner-up Toronto FC, both received byes to the quarter-finals. The remaining 12 teams began the competition from the first round in April. [1] Qualification to the Canadian Championship for 2023 was automatic for Canadian teams within Major League Soccer and for all teams within the Canadian Premier League, Canada's tier-one national league. The 2022 champions from the three regional pro-am leagues of League1 Canada (League1 Ontario, PLSQ, and League1 British Columbia) also qualified. [2]

The 2023 Canadian Championship determined a place in the continental 2024 CONCACAF Champions Cup tournament. [3] [4] If the winner had already qualified for the Champions Cup via berths in the 2023 Major League Soccer, 2023 Leagues Cup or 2023 Canadian Premier League, the place would have gone to the runners-up in the final, and then to the "higher-ranked" semi-finalist based on league points totals, [5] if the runners-up had also already qualified. [4]

Matches in the 2023 tournament were each played as a single 90-minute match with additional time. If a match ended in a draw, no extra time was played, and the match went straight to a penalty shoot-out to decide the winner. [6] Each team competing in the tournament could select up to 30 players to their tournament roster. If a player already nominated to a team's tournament roster was transferred to a competing team during the tournament, they were disqualified from further play in the tournament. [6] For each match, teams could select up to 18 players for a match roster, while their starting lineup had to include at least three Canadian players. Both teams could make up to five substitutions and two concussion substitutions throughout the match at up to three stoppages of play, excluding half-time. [6]

Teams

Canada location map 2.svg
Black pog.svg
Vancouver
Black pog.svg
Toronto
Black pog.svg
Montreal
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2023 Canadian Championship (Canada)
Locations of teams competing in the 2023 Canadian Championship
LeagueTeamLocationEntry roundApp.Previous best performance
Major League Soccer Toronto FC Toronto Quarter-finals as 2022 finalist 16thWinners (8 times; 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2020)
Vancouver Whitecaps FC Vancouver 15thWinners (2 times; 2015, 2022)
CF Montréal Montreal Preliminary round15thWinners (4 times; 2013, 2014, 2019, 2021)
Canadian Premier League Atlético Ottawa Ottawa 3rdPreliminary round (2 times; 2021, 2022)
Cavalry FC Foothills 4thSemi-finals (2019)
Forge FC Hamilton 5thRunners-up (2020)
HFX Wanderers FC Halifax 4thQuarter-finals (3 times; 2019, 2021, 2022)
Pacific FC Langford 4thSemi-finals (2021)
Valour FC Winnipeg 4thQuarter-finals (2021)
Vancouver FC Langley 1st
York United FC Toronto 4thSemi-finals (2022)
League1 Canada
(division champions)
FC Laval (PLSQ) Laval 1st
TSS FC Rovers (L1BC) Burnaby 1st
Vaughan Azzurri (L1O) Vaughan 2ndFirst qualifying round (2019)

Draw

On January 17, 2023, Canada Soccer announced that the draw for the championship would be held on January 31 at 8:00 pm ET. The draw details and pots were announced on January 24. [1] Due to the early start of the tournament, only 5 of 12 teams were able to host to host a match in the first round. [7] Teams were assigned into pots based on geography (east or west) and hosting ability. [7]

Prior to the commencement of the draw, one club from Pot B1 was moved into Pot A1, then one club from Pot B2 was moved to B1, and then both clubs from Pot C were moved to Pot B2, resulting in an even distribution of three teams in each of the first round pots. [8] Atlético Ottawa and the HFX Wanderers were placed in Pot B2 prior to the draw as the eastern teams that did not commit to hosting a match in the first round. The Wanderers were eventually drawn from Pot A1 as the designated home team for their first round match against Ottawa, and Canada Soccer determined a neutral venue for the match. [7]

Pot A1Pot A2Pot B1Pot B2Pot CPot D

Final positions

West (home)West (away)East (home)East (away)Byes

: Could not host a Preliminary Round match.

Schedule

RoundMatch dates
Preliminary roundApril 18–20
Quarter-finalsMay 9–10
Semi-finalsMay 24
FinalJune 7

Bracket

 
 
              
 
Langford, BC
 
 
Pacific FC (p)1 (5)
 
Langford, BC
 
Cavalry FC 1 (3)
 
Pacific FC 2
 
Burnaby, BC
 
TSS FC Rovers 0
 
TSS FC Rovers 3
 
Langford, BC
 
Valour FC 1
 
Pacific FC 0
 
Toronto, ON (York Lions)
 
Vancouver Whitecaps FC 3
 
York United FC 1
 
Toronto, ON (York Lions)
 
Vancouver FC 0
 
York United FC 1
 
 
Vancouver Whitecaps FC 4
 
 
Vancouver, BC
 
 
Vancouver Whitecaps FC 2
 
 
CF Montréal 1
 
 
Toronto, ON (BMO)
 
 
Toronto FC 1
 
Montreal, QC
 
CF Montréal 2
 
CF Montréal 2
 
Montreal, QC
 
Vaughan Azzurri 0
 
CF Montréal 2
 
Hamilton, ON
 
Forge FC 0
 
Forge FC 3
 
Hamilton, ON
 
FC Laval 0
 
Forge FC (p)1 (3)
 
Toronto, ON (York Lions)
 
Atlético Ottawa 1 (2)
 
HFX Wanderers FC 1
 
 
Atlético Ottawa 3
 

Preliminary round

Summary

Team 1 Score Team 2
TSS FC Rovers 3–1 Valour FC
Pacific FC 1–1 (5–3 p) Cavalry FC
York United FC 1–0 Vancouver FC
Forge FC 3–0 FC Laval
HFX Wanderers FC 1–3 [a] Atlético Ottawa
CF Montréal 2–0 Vaughan Azzurri

    Matches

    TSS FC Rovers 3–1 Valour FC
    • Polisi Soccerball shade.svg39', 62'
    • Mejia Soccerball shade.svg42'
    Report
    Swangard Stadium , Burnaby, British Columbia
    Attendance: 2,486
    Referee: Robert D'Alesio


    York United FC 1–0 Vancouver FC
    Babouli Soccerball shade.svg6' (pen.) Report
    York Lions Stadium , Toronto, Ontario
    Attendance: 950
    Referee: Michael Venne

    Forge FC 3–0 FC Laval
    Jensen Soccerball shade.svg37', 55'
    Pacius Soccerball shade.svg57' (pen.)
    Report
    Tim Hortons Field , Hamilton, Ontario
    Attendance: 2,117
    Referee: Scott Bowman

    HFX Wanderers FC 1–3 Atlético Ottawa
    Ferrin Soccerball shade.svg19' Report Shaw Soccerball shade.svg40'
    Espejo Soccerball shade.svg44'
    Tissot Soccerball shade.svg85'
    York Lions Stadium , Toronto, Ontario [a]
    Attendance: 674
    Referee: Myriam Marcotte

    CF Montréal 2–0 Vaughan Azzurri
    Rea Soccerball shade.svg31'
    Ibrahim Soccerball shade.svg36'
    Report
    Saputo Stadium , Montreal, Quebec
    Attendance: 11,069
    Referee: Mathieu Souaré

    Quarter-finals

    Summary

    Team 1 Score Team 2
    Pacific FC 2–0 TSS FC Rovers
    York United FC 1–4 Vancouver Whitecaps FC
    Forge FC 1–1 (3–2 p) [b] Atlético Ottawa
    Toronto FC 1–2 CF Montréal

      Matches

      Pacific FC 2–0 TSS FC Rovers
      Report
      Starlight Stadium , Langford, British Columbia
      Attendance: 2,593
      Referee: Myriam Marcotte

      York United FC 1–4 Vancouver Whitecaps FC
      Report
      York Lions Stadium , Toronto, Ontario
      Attendance: 1,827
      Referee: Drew Fischer


      Toronto FC 1–2 CF Montréal
      Report
      BMO Field , Toronto, Ontario
      Attendance: 17,726
      Referee: Yusri Rudolf

      Semi-finals

      Summary

      Team 1 Score Team 2
      Pacific FC 0–3 Vancouver Whitecaps FC
      CF Montréal 2–0 Forge FC

      Matches


      CF Montréal 2–0 Forge FC
      Report
      Saputo Stadium , Montreal, Quebec
      Attendance: 10,062
      Referee: Pierre-Luc Lauzière

      Final

      Vancouver Whitecaps FC 2–1 CF Montréal
      Report
      BC Place , Vancouver, British Columbia
      Attendance: 20,072
      Referee: Filip Dujic

      Top goalscorers

        Team eliminated or did not play in this round.
      RankPlayerTeamGoalsBy round
      PRQFSFF
      1 Flag of Nigeria.svg Sunusi Ibrahim CF Montréal 3111
      2 Flag of the United States.svg Simon Becher Vancouver Whitecaps FC 211
      Flag of the United States.svg Julian Gressel Vancouver Whitecaps FC 11
      Flag of Canada (Pantone).svg Noah Jensen Forge FC 2
      Flag of Canada (Pantone).svg Matteo Polisi TSS FC Rovers 2
      6 Flag of Canada (Pantone).svg Ali Ahmed Vancouver Whitecaps FC 11
      Flag of the Syrian revolution.svg Molham Babouli York United FC 1
      Ulster Banner.svg Ollie Bassett Atlético Ottawa 1
      Flag of Canada (Pantone).svg Kyle Bekker Forge FC 1
      Flag of New Zealand.svg Myer Bevan Cavalry FC 1
      Flag of Canada (Pantone).svg Zachary Brault-Guillard CF Montréal 1
      Flag of Spain.svg Diego Espejo Atlético Ottawa 1
      Flag of Canada (Pantone).svg Massimo Ferrin HFX Wanderers FC 1
      Flag of Scotland.svg Ryan Gauld Vancouver Whitecaps FC 1
      Flag of Wales (1959-present).svg Josh Heard Pacific FC 1
      Flag of Italy.svg Lorenzo Insigne Toronto FC 1
      Flag of Canada (Pantone).svg Levonte Johnson Vancouver Whitecaps FC 1
      Flag of Costa Rica.svg Ariel Lassiter CF Montréal 1
      Flag of Canada (Pantone).svg Ivan Mejia TSS FC Rovers 1
      Flag of Canada (Pantone).svg Anthony Novak Valour FC 1
      Flag of Nigeria.svg Chinonso Offor CF Montréal 1
      Flag of Canada (Pantone).svg Easton Ongaro Pacific FC 1
      Flag of Canada (Pantone).svg Woobens Pacius Forge FC 1
      Flag of Canada (Pantone).svg Sean Rea CF Montréal 1
      Flag of Canada (Pantone).svg Adonijah Reid Pacific FC 1
      Flag of Canada (Pantone).svg Austin Ricci York United FC 1
      Flag of Trinidad and Tobago.svg Malcolm Shaw Atlético Ottawa 1
      Flag of Canada (Pantone).svg Maxim Tissot Atlético Ottawa 1
      Flag of the United States.svg Brian White Vancouver Whitecaps FC 1

      Own goals

      Awards

      Broadcasting rights

      CountryBroadcasterRef.
      Canada OneSoccer [14] [15]
      United States Fox Sports [15] [16] [17]

      Notes

      1. 1 2 This match was played at York Lions Stadium (a neutral venue) due to both clubs being unable to host the match. [10]
      2. 1 2 Although Atlético Ottawa was drawn as the home team, this match was played at Tim Hortons Field due to Atlético opting out of hosting. [11] [12]

      References

      1. 1 2 "Canada Soccer prepares for biggest Canadian Championship ever starting in April". Canadian Soccer Association . January 17, 2023. Retrieved January 17, 2023.
      2. "Canadian Championship Welcomes League1 BC as New Entrant for 2023". Canadian Soccer Association . November 3, 2022. Retrieved November 3, 2022.
      3. Becherano, Lizzy (June 3, 2022). "Concacaf reveals new format for Champions League starting in 2024". 90min . Archived from the original on June 3, 2022. Retrieved January 24, 2023. Canadian teams will only be assured three places, with the champions, regular-season winner and Canadian Championship winner slated for the competition.
      4. 1 2 Straus, Brian (June 1, 2022). "Concacaf Reveals Qualifying Criteria for Expanded Champions League". Sports Illustrated . Archived from the original on June 1, 2022. Retrieved January 24, 2023. The "higher-ranked" semifinalist, based on unspecified criteria, will earn the berth if the two finalists have qualified via MLS, the Leagues Cup or the Canadian Premier League.
      5. "2024 Concacaf Champions Cup Regulations" (PDF). Concacaf. October 25, 2023. pp. 14–19. Retrieved November 1, 2023.
      6. 1 2 3 "14 things to know about the 2023 Canadian Championship". Canadian Soccer Association . January 28, 2023. Retrieved February 2, 2023.
      7. 1 2 3 "Final draw procedures confirmed for the Canadian Championship Draw". Canadian Soccer Association . January 31, 2023. Retrieved February 5, 2023. From the 12 clubs in the Preliminary Round, five clubs have committed to hosting a Canadian Championship match at their home venue in April [...] The club drawn from Pot B2 into Pot B1 (either Ottawa or Halifax) will serve as a Home team at a neutral venue to be determined by Canada Soccer...
      8. "Canada Soccer Announces Details for the 2023 Canadian Championship draw". Canadian Soccer Association . January 24, 2023. Retrieved January 25, 2023.
      9. "Canada Soccer conducts Official Draw for the 2023 Canadian Championship". Canadian Soccer Association . January 31, 2023. Retrieved February 5, 2023.
      10. O'Connor-Clarke, Charlie (April 18, 2023). "Preview: Halifax Wanderers vs. Atlético Ottawa — 2023 Canadian Championship". Canadian Premier League . Archived from the original on April 19, 2023. Retrieved September 6, 2023. With neither side able to host this first-round matchup, they'll be playing at a neutral site in York Lions Stadium.
      11. "Atlético Ottawa advance to the Quarter-Finals after a 3:1 win over Halifax". Canada Soccer . April 19, 2023. Retrieved April 21, 2023. Atlético Ottawa will travel to Hamilton to face Forge FC in the 2023 Quarter-Finals in May.
      12. Jacques, John (February 7, 2023). "Ottawa, Halifax To Play Cup Match In Toronto". Northern Tribune. Retrieved April 21, 2023. Atletico Ottawa has also released a club statement confirming that it made an administrative error in opting out as a host club for this year's iteration of the tournament when it only meant to opt out of the opening round.
      13. 1 2 "Gressel and Ahmed win awards at 2023 Canadian Championship". Canada Soccer. June 8, 2023. Retrieved June 8, 2023.
      14. "Important information about your OneSoccer subscription in 2023 and beyond". OneSoccer . March 23, 2023. Retrieved April 28, 2023.
      15. 1 2 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.
      16. "Mediapro Canada renews with FOX Sports 2, bringing CPL, Canadian Championship to US viewers" (Press release). Mediapro Canada. May 16, 2022. Retrieved April 28, 2023.
      17. Jacques, John (May 16, 2022). "Fox Sports Inks Multi-Year Canadian Premier League Broadcast Deal". Northern Tribune. Retrieved April 28, 2023.