2023 Canadian Championship
Soccer tournament featuring professional teams
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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.
| Championnat canadien 2023 (French) | |
|---|---|
| Tournament details | |
| Country | Canada |
| Date | April 18 – June 7, 2023 |
| Teams | 14 (from 5 leagues) |
| Final positions | |
| Champions | Vancouver Whitecaps FC (3rd title) |
| Runners-up | CF Montréal |
| Tournament statistics | |
| Matches played | 13 |
| Goals scored | 35 (2.69 per match) |
| Attendance | 79,875 (6,144 per match) |
| Top goal scorer(s) | Sunusi Ibrahim (3 goals) |
| Awards | |
| George Gross Memorial Trophy | Julian Gressel |
| Best young player | Ali Ahmed |
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
| League | Team | Location | Entry round | App. | Previous best performance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Major League Soccer | Toronto FC | Toronto, ON | Quarter-finals as 2022 finalist | 16th | Winners (8 times; 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2020) |
| Vancouver Whitecaps FC | Vancouver, BC | 15th | Winners (2 times; 2015, 2022) | ||
| CF Montréal | Montreal, QC | Preliminary round | 15th | Winners (4 times; 2013, 2014, 2019, 2021) | |
| Canadian Premier League | Atlético Ottawa | Ottawa, ON | 3rd | Preliminary round (2 times; 2021, 2022) | |
| Cavalry FC | Foothills, AB | 4th | Semi-finals (2019) | ||
| Forge FC | Hamilton, ON | 5th | Runners-up (2020) | ||
| HFX Wanderers FC | Halifax, NS | 4th | Quarter-finals (3 times; 2019, 2021, 2022) | ||
| Pacific FC | Langford, BC | 4th | Semi-finals (2021) | ||
| Valour FC | Winnipeg, MB | 4th | Quarter-finals (2021) | ||
| Vancouver FC | Langley, BC | 1st | — | ||
| York United FC | Toronto, ON | 4th | Semi-finals (2022) | ||
| League1 Canada (division champions) |
FC Laval (PLSQ) | Laval, QC | 1st | — | |
| TSS FC Rovers (L1BC) | Burnaby, BC | 1st | — | ||
| Vaughan Azzurri (L1O) | Vaughan, ON | 2nd | First 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]
Final positions
| West (home) | West (away) | East (home) | East (away) | Byes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
†: Could not host a Preliminary Round match.
Schedule
| Round | Match dates |
|---|---|
| Preliminary round | April 18–20 |
| Quarter-finals | May 9–10 |
| Semi-finals | May 24 |
| Final | June 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
| Pacific FC | 1–1 | Cavalry FC |
|---|---|---|
|
Report |
|
| Penalties | ||
| 5–3 | ||
| York United FC | 1–0 | Vancouver FC |
|---|---|---|
Babouli  6' (pen.) |
Report |
| HFX Wanderers FC | 1–3 | Atlético Ottawa |
|---|---|---|
| Ferrin 19' |
Report | Shaw 40' Espejo 44'Tissot 85' |
| CF Montréal | 2–0 | Vaughan Azzurri |
|---|---|---|
| Rea 31' Ibrahim 36' |
Report |
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
| Toronto FC | 1–2 | CF Montréal |
|---|---|---|
|
Report |
|
Semi-finals
Summary
| Team 1 | Score | Team 2 |
|---|---|---|
| Pacific FC | 0–3 | Vancouver Whitecaps FC |
| CF Montréal | 2–0 | Forge FC |
Matches
Final
Top goalscorers
Own goals
- 1 own goal -
Elijah Adekugbe
Awards
- George Gross Memorial Trophy:
Julian Gressel (Vancouver Whitecaps FC)[13] - Best Young Canadian Player Award: Ali Ahmed (Vancouver Whitecaps FC)[13]