As the 60th edition of the Concacaf Champions Cup gets set to kick off in a few weeks, there are several Canadian players who could star in this year’s competition.
With a home World Cup a year and a half away, every major club competition is a significant opportunity for key Canadian players to prove themselves to national team head coach Jesse Marsch. With several Canadian men’s national team members on teams expected to go deep in this year’s tournament, including last year’s finalists the Columbus Crew, could this be the year a Canadian lifts the trophy?
Here are ten Canadian players to watch in the 2025 Concacaf Champions Cup.
FB – Sam Adekugbe (Vancouver Whitecaps / CAN)
![Ccc Sam Adekugbe]()
The Canadian international full-back was unavailable due to a knee injury for the Whitecaps during last year’s Concacaf Champions Cup campaign, and could be a big boost to their efforts in this year’s competition. Now 29, Adekugbe was part of the Whitecaps team that made their first appearance in the Concacaf Champions Cup back in 2015. He left the club in 2018, spending multiple successful seasons in Norway and then Turkey. Adekugbe also has 42 caps for the Canadian men’s national team, including representing the country at the 2022 FIFA World Cup. Back with Vancouver since 2023, Adekugbe is the exact type of experienced and composed player that can make all the difference in this sort of competition.
FW – Stephen Afrifa (Sporting Kansas City / USA)
![Ccc Stephen Afrifa]()
The 23-year-old enjoyed a breakout campaign with Sporting Kansas City this past season, scoring six goals in all competitions and adding a pair of assists. The exciting winger is good on the dribble and has a flair for the spectacular, scoring some fantastic goals this past year. His play earned him a call-up to the Canadian men’s national team for the September window, where he made his debut in a victory over the United States in a 2-1 victory. That match was coincidentally played in Kansas. Afrifa initially joined SKC as the eighth overall pick in the 2023 MLS SuperDraft.
MF – Ali Ahmed (Vancouver Whitecaps / CAN)
![Ccc Ali Ahmed]()
Entering his third season with the Whitecaps, Ahmed feels primed for a breakout campaign under new head coach Jesper Sørensen. Scoring once in 2024, and adding an assist, the talented 24-year-old has more to give if deployed well in the new Caps system. Ahmed has become a starter in Jesse Marsch’s system towards the end of the year, using his passing and dribbling ability to break lines and play a vertical brand of football for the national team. He earned eight caps for the Canadian men’s national team in 2024.
FB – Zorhan Bassong (Sporting Kansas City / USA)
![Ccc Zorhan Bassong]()
After a few years where he struggled to get minutes with CF Montréal, and then the Romanian first division, Bassong found a home in Kansas City last season. The 25-year-old full-back from Toronto played in 24 matches in all competitions for SKC, earning his way back onto the national team radar. Having come through the youth systems of Anderlecht and Lille, Bassong is excellent at progressing the ball and strong in a tackle.
GK – Marco Carducci (Cavalry FC / CAN)
![Ccc Marco Carducci]()
Carducci is the definition of club legend for Cavalry FC. One of the club’s first-ever signings, the Calgary-born goalkeeper has started in net for the vast majority of the team’s matches over their six, going on seven, seasons of existence. That included November’s CPL Final, where his Cavalry team finally defeated rivals Forge 2-1 to lift their first North Star Cup and qualify for the 2025 Concacaf Champions Cup. An outstanding shot-stopper with solid distribution, the 28-year-old became the first active Canadian Premier League player to be called up by the Canadian national team in 2019.
FW – David Choinière (Forge FC / CAN)
![Ccc David Choiniere]()
Few, if any, Canadian players have made as much of a mark in Concacaf competition over the past few years as the Forge attacker. Having earned the nickname ‘Big Game Dave’ among Forge faithful, Choinière has scored five goals in 19 continental matches. That included scoring a stoppage-time winner in Forge’s first-ever Concacaf match, against Antigua GFC in the Concacaf League in 2019, and their first-ever goal in the Concacaf Champions Cup against Cruz Azul at the Azteca in 2022. Having played for Forge in each of their six seasons in club history, Choinière has always delivered in the team’s biggest moments, and the 2025 Concacaf Champions Cup will be yet another opportunity to do so.
DF – Manjrekar James (Alajuelense / CRC)
![Ccc Manjrekar James]()
An experienced Canadian international defender who has played top-flight football in Europe, James is now a key starter for Costa Rican giants Alajuelense. The 31-year-old helped Alajuelense win the Concacaf Central American Cup in 2024, earning them a bye through the first round of this year’s Concacaf Champions Cup — where they will face the winner of Cavalry FC and Pumas UNAM. A commanding defender who is good on the ball and can contribute offensively, James scored twice in 17 caps for Canada.
FW – Santiago López (Pumas UNAM / MEX)
![Ccc Santiago Lopez]()
The 19-year-old, who was born in Morelia, Mexico but grew up in the Toronto area, has already turned heads with the Canadian youth national team this past year. In seven appearances for his country, he scored six goals, some of which were outstanding. A confident and technically excellent attacker, López is one of the most exciting prospects in Canadian soccer for a reason, a fact which saw him called up to the senior national team for a friendly against Panama in October. He has already made a pair of appearances for Pumas in Liga MX, and could be in line to play a key role in the Concacaf Champions Cup, especially in the opening round where Pumas will face Canadian Premier League club Cavalry FC.
FW – Jacen Russell-Rowe (Columbus Crew / USA)
![Ccc Jacen Russell Rowe]()
Only a handful of Canadians have had the honour of playing in this competition’s final, and Russell-Rowe is the most recent. The 22-year-old was a 68th-minute substitute in the Crew’s 3-0 loss to Pachuca in the 2024 Concacaf Champions Cup final, but he had a strong tournament to help get them there. In the quarter-finals, he scored in the penalty shootout to help Columbus defeat Tigres, before scoring the winner in the first leg of the semi-final and again in the second leg against CF Monterrey. Scoring eight times in all competitions last season, 2025 is a big year for Russell-Rowe, who will be looking to solidify his place on the Canadian men’s national team.
FW – Kimani Stewart-Baynes (Colorado Rapids / USA)
![Ccc Kimani Stewart Baynes]()
The fourth overall pick in the 2024 MLS SuperDraft, Stewart-Baynes hopes to earn greater opportunity with the Colorado Rapids this season. Making 12 appearances, none of which were starts for the Rapids in MLS action, he picked up an assist. A Canadian youth international, he also signed a development contract with the Canadian Premier League’s Halifax Wanderers in 2023. A quick and creative winger with an excellent ability to playmaker for opponents, Stewart-Baynes is a direct and decisive attacker. Sport runs in the family, as his brother N’Keal Harry is an NFL tight end, while another brother Khamal Stewart-Baynes was a standout track athlete at the University of Miami.
