2026 Forge FC season

Forge FC will enter the 2026 Canadian Premier League season as the two-time reigning regular season winners after having finished first and claiming the CPL Shield in both the 2024 and 2025 CPL seasons.^[1] The 2025 shield was the club's third regular season title and seventh trophy in seven years.^[2] In the CPL playoffs, Forge were eliminated in the semifinals, making the 2025 CPL final the first in league history not to feature Forge.^[3]

The Hammers will also compete in the 2026 Canadian Championship, a domestic cup organized by the Canadian Soccer Association. In the 2025 edition, Forge advanced to the semifinal, defeating MLS side CF Montréal in the quarterfinal for the second year in a row,^[4] before being knocked out by the eventual champion Vancouver Whitecaps FC.^[5]

Forge qualified for the 2026 CONCACAF Champions Cup as 2025 CPL regular season winners.^[1][6] This was Forge's fourth appearance in the competition and third appearance in a row. In the 2025 edition, Forge faced Mexican side Monterrey in round one, losing 5–0 on aggregate.^[7]

Head coach and sporting director Bobby Smyrniotis is contracted to return for his eighth season with the club after signing a four-year contract extension in 2023.^[8][9]

Forge reported that it had opened its preseason in Hamilton with medicals on January 12 before starting training the next day. The club is scheduled to travel to Cancun for two weeks of training where it will play friendlies against Liga Premier club Inter Playa del Carmen and MLS club Orlando City SC.^[10]

As of April 27, 2026^[update][11]

No.	Name	Nationality	Position	Date of birth (age)	Previous club	Notes
Goalkeepers
16	Dimitry Bertaud		GK	(1998-06-06) June 6, 1998 (age 27)	Montpellier HSC	INT
36	Dino Bontis		GK	(2004-08-03) August 3, 2004 (age 21)	Western Mustangs
Defenders
3	Marko Jevremović		DF	(1996-02-23) February 23, 1996 (age 30)	Athens Kallithea F.C.	INT
4[12]	Daniel Krutzen		DF	(1996-09-19) September 19, 1996 (age 29)	Phoenix Rising FC
5	Daniel Nimick		DF	(2000-09-22) September 22, 2000 (age 25)	HFX Wanderers FC
8	Antoine Batisse		DF	(1995-01-13) January 13, 1995 (age 31)	FK IMT	INT
24	Rezart Rama		DF	(2000-12-04) December 4, 2000 (age 25)	KF Egnatia	INT
32	Zayne Bruno		DF	(2007-01-23) January 23, 2007 (age 19)	Sigma FC	U21, EYT
Midfielders
6	Ben Paton		MF	(2000-05-05) May 5, 2000 (age 25)	Ross County
10	Kyle Bekker		MF	(1990-09-02) September 2, 1990 (age 35)	North Carolina FC
22	Noah Jensen		MF	(1999-07-20) July 20, 1999 (age 26)	Oakland University
23	Anthony Aromatario		MF	(2003-04-30) April 30, 2003 (age 22)	Woodbridge Strikers
26	Aghilas Sadek		MF	(2008-06-15) June 15, 2008 (age 17)	CF Montréal Academy	U21, EYT
28	Keito Lipovschek		MF	(2005-04-03) April 3, 2005 (age 21)	Fleetwood United	U21
64	Khadim Kane		MF	(2005-05-17) May 17, 2005 (age 20)	CF Montréal U23	U21
Forwards
7	Ismael Oketokoun		FW	(2006-04-08) April 8, 2006 (age 20)	CF Platges de Calvià	INT
9	Brian Wright		FW	(1995-03-24) March 24, 1995 (age 31)	York United FC
11	Nana Opoku Ampomah		FW	(1996-01-02) January 2, 1996 (age 30)	Fortuna Düsseldorf	INT
17	Hoce Massunda		FW	(2005-06-19) June 19, 2005 (age 20)	Sigma FC	U21
18	Molham Babouli		FW	(1993-01-02) January 2, 1993 (age 33)	York United FC
19	Tristan Borges		FW	(1998-08-26) August 26, 1998 (age 27)	OH Leuven
20	Kevaughn Tavernier		FW	(2006-02-24) February 24, 2006 (age 20)	Sigma FC	U21

The following non-roster players were in Forge's matchday lineup for its April 26 CPL match away against Pacific FC.^[12]

No.	Name	Nationality	Position	Date of birth (age)	Previous club
12	Maxime Filion		FW	(2003-04-13) April 13, 2003 (age 23)	Montreal Carabins
87	Maxime Bourgeois		MF	(2002-07-04) July 4, 2002 (age 23)	Sherbrooke

No.	Pos.	Player	Contract details	Date	Source
11	FW	Nana Ampomah	Multi-year contract (length undisclosed)	December 22, 2025	[13]
20	FW	Kevaughn Tavernier	Undisclosed	January 30, 2026	[14][15]
23	MF	Anthony Aromatario	U Sports contract, later converted to Multi-year contract	March 13, 2026	[16][17][18]
12	FW	Maxime Filion	U Sports contract	April 4, 2026	[19]
87	MF	Maxime Bourgeois	U Sports contract	April 4, 2026	[19]

No.	Pos.	Player	From club	Fee/notes	Date	Source
	DF	Daniël Krutzen	Phoenix Rising FC	Free	December 23, 2025	[20]
7	FW	Ismael Oketokoun	CF Platges de Calvià	Free	January 8, 2026	[21]
23	MF	Anthony Aromatario	York Lions	Short-term replacement contract	January 30, 2026	[14][15]
30	GK	Sjard Strauss	Mount Royal Cougars	Short-term replacement contract	January 30, 2026	[14][15]
8	DF	Antoine Batisse	FK IMT	Free	January 31, 2026	[22][23]
16	GK	Dimitry Bertaud	Montpellier HSC	Free	February 1, 2026	[24][25]
15	DF	Noah Bickford	TMU	Short-term contract	February 2, 2026	[26][27]
87	MF	Maxime Bourgeois	Sherbrooke	Short-term contract	February 2, 2026	[26][27]
12	FW	Maxime Filion	Montreal Carabins	Short-term contract	February 2, 2026	[26][27]
	MF	Aghilas Sadek	CF Montréal Academy	Exceptional Young Talent contract	April 2, 2026	[28]

Forge FC made two selections in the 2026 CPL–U Sports Draft on November 28, 2025.^[29][30] Draft picks are not automatically signed to the team roster; only those who are signed to a contract will be listed as transfers in.

Round	Selection	Pos.	Player	Nationality	University
1	8	DF	Noah Bickford	Canada	TMU
2	15	MF	Maxime Bourgeois	Canada	Sherbrooke

No.	Pos.	Player	To club	Fee/notes	Date	Source
81	DF	Malik Owolabi-Belewu	Chesterfield F.C.	Contract expired	December 31, 2025	[31][32]
7	FW	David Choinière	FC Supra	Contract expired	December 31, 2025	[33][34]
27	FW	Victor Klonaridis	Aris Petroupolis F.C.	Contract expired	December 31, 2025	[35][36]
39	FW	Béni Badibanga	Inter Toronto FC	Contract expired	December 31, 2025	[37]
1	GK	Jassem Koleilat	Birmingham Legion FC	Contract expired	December 31, 2025	[38]
23	MF	Harry Paton	Cavalry FC	Contract expired	December 31, 2025	[39]
29	GK	Christopher Kalongo	Toronto FC II	Contract expired	December 31, 2025	[40]
8	MF	Elimane Cissé	Teungueth FC	Contract expired	December 31, 2025	[41]
13	MF	Alexander Achinioti-Jonsson	Raufoss IL	Contract expired	December 31, 2025	[42][43]
21	MF	Alessandro Hojabrpour	FC Emmen	Undisclosed	January 20, 2026[i]	[44][46][45]
99	MF	Christos Liatifis	Saronikos Anavyssos	Mutual contract termination	January 24, 2026[ii]	[47][14]

Prior to the season, the Hamilton Sports Group welcomed businessman and investor Angelo Paletta as a minority owner.^[48][49]

In November 2025, Canadian Soccer Business announced a multi-year partnership with Hummel to be the CPL's new kit and apparel partner starting with the 2026 season,^[50] replacing Macron.^[51] In December, the league Moneris as the new sleeve sponsor for every CPL club.^[52]

On January 6, Forge unveiled a black and orange third kit that pays homage to the defunct Hamilton Steelers (1981–1992) and made available only to the club's season seat members.^[53][54] Later in the month, Forge unveiled its new orange primary kit and dark gray alternate kit.^[55]

Matches are listed in Hamilton local time: Eastern Daylight Time (UTC−4) from March 8 until November 1, and Eastern Standard Time (UTC−5) otherwise.

The Canadian Premier League announced its schedule on February 2. The season is scheduled to include a pause starting June 11 for the 2026 FIFA World Cup before resuming on June 26.^[57][58]

The Canadian Championship draw was held on January 17.^[64] As one of the four-highest ranked clubs based on the Canadian Championship Club Ranking Index, Forge were pre-seeded for the draw.^[65]

Canada Soccer announced the preliminary round schedule on February 5.^[66]

The CONCACAF Champions Cup draw was held on December 9, 2025, with Forge drawing Liga MX side Tigres UANL in round one.^[67][68] Having qualified as CPL regular season winners, Forge entered the competition in round one and began play in February.^[6]

The round one schedule was announced on December 12, 2025.^[69]

Forge FC v Tigres UANL

February 3 Leg 1	Forge FC	0–0	Tigres UANL	Hamilton, Ontario
7:00 pm	Oketokoun  48'	Report		Stadium: Hamilton Stadium Attendance: 4,560[70] Referee: Armando Villarreal (United States)

Tigres UANL v Forge FC

February 10 Leg 2	Tigres UANL	4–1 (4–1 agg.)	Forge FC	San Nicolás de los Garza, Mexico
10:00 pm	Aguirre 22', 71' Gorriarán  40' Correa  52', 81' Joaquim 86'	Report	Oketokoun  11' Wright 80' (pen.)	Stadium: Estadio Universitario Attendance: 22,902[71] Referee: Juan Gabriel Calderón (Costa Rica)