Our 10 favourite stats, storylines and memories from the TELUS Canadian Championship
The 2024 TELUS Canadian Championship continues on OneSoccer this week as Atlético Ottawa takes on Valour FC alongside a 905 Derby rematch between Forge FC and York United (7PM ET / 4PM PT for both matches), before we head over to the west coast for Pacific FC vs. TSS Rovers FC to round out the evening.
And, with an eye toward HFX Wanderers FC vs. CS Saint-Laurent tomorrow, here are 10 interesting and surprising stats and storylines from the competition's memory-laden history:
The great (Canadian soccer) pyramid
Though League1 Canada teams have only participated in the tournament since 2018, the TELUS Canadian Championship has been the perfect platform for footballers at the semi-pro level to showcase their talents... and, therefore, their services to prospective buyers.
Making an impact in this tournament has foreshadowed a number of standout careers and transfers:
- Anthony Novak and Diyaeddine Abzi each scored for their teams (Oakville and Blainville) in 2018 before earning CPL moves.
- Before joining the Whitecaps, Ryan Raposo was scoring goals for Vaughan Azzurri against HFX Wanderers in 2019.
- CanMNT and Celtic star Alistair Johnston had a different sort of impact in that match, picking up a red card in Leg 2 for Vaughan.
- MLS Cup winner Mo Farsi of the Columbus Crew was first spotted over two legs for Blainville vs. York United in 2019.
- Zachary Fernandez, now at Halifax, played against his CPL team while at Blainville in 2021 – and clearly made an impression!
- Blainville didn't win, but GK Rayane Yesli kept that game close at 2-1 before signing for Valour FC in 2022.
Here's a trip down memory lane – Enjoy!
A Canadian tournament, for all
While the TELUS Canadian Championship gives Canadian footballers a platform to perform, it's only fitting that a nation that celebrates its multicultural diversity has seen, by our count, players from over 50 different nations compete for the Voyageurs Cup:
Footballers from Canada, the United States, Holland, France, Somalia, Australia, Germany, Ireland, Trinidad, South Sudan, England, New Zealand, Brazil, Mexico, Lebanon, Haiti, Ecuador, Portugal, Northern Ireland, Switzerland, Spain, Mali, Algeria, Guyana, Zimbabwe, Ivory Coast, Ghana, Wales, Romania, Columbia, El Salvador, Ukraine, Japan, Senegal, Sweden, Czechia, Belgium, Syria, Liechtenstein, Liberia, Philippines, Zambia, Italy, South Africa, Norway, Honduras, Cuba, Jamaica, Morocco, Cameroon and Tunisia have played in the TELUS Canadian Championship.
That's at least one player from every single continent on earth (except Antarctica)!
An internationally-led effort
Speaking of diversity and the TELUS Canadian Championship, here's another fact to chew on: No Canadian-born head coach has ever won the Voyageurs Cup, though John Limniatis (2008) and Wilfried Nancy (2021) were Canadian citizens when they won the tournament, coming to Canada from Greece and France respectively.
Should one of John Herdman (England), Vanni Sartini (Italy) or Laurent Courtois (France) win with Toronto, Vancouver or Montreal, that trend would continue – could a Canadian Premier League manager change that this year, though?
A well-attended affair in Toronto
A tournament is only as enticing as its final, and none, perhaps, are as memorable (or as well-attended) as this Canadian Classique between Toronto and Montréal in 2017 – the game with the single highest attendance was the second leg of the 2017 final: 26,539 at BMO Field.
A long range 36th-minute effort from Ballou Tabla was not enough to overcome a late Giovinco brace, while Patrice Bernier was infamously sent off in the 90th minute in a match that lives long in the memory for those who were there to witness it.
Young stars shine on CanChamp nights
Alphonso Davies is the youngest player to appear in the TELUS Canadian Championship. He made his very first Whitecaps appearance at age 15, in June, 2016, against the Ottawa Fury. In May, 2017, at age 16, he became the youngest goalscorer in tournament history when he found the back of the net against the Montreal Impact. (David Choiniere scored for the other side in that game, by the way). Davies scored in the second leg too, but Montreal won 5-4 on aggregate.
Davies isn’t alone: 23 players under the age of 18 have appeared in the TELUS Canadian Championship. These include Doneil Henry, Marco Carducci, and more recently, Jahkeele Marshall-Rutty, Aribim Pepple, Ahmed Al-Ghamdi and Victor Loturi.
The path to the golden boot
Speaking of young talent on the rise, you’ll recognize a lot of names on the TELUS Canadian Championship all-time top goalscorers list.
Sure, Toronto FC captain Jonathan Osorio may lead the pack with eight goals, having added to his total last week with this acrobatic effort vs. Simcoe County Rovers FC:
GOAL 🦝🦝🦝🦝
— OneSoccer (@onesoccer) April 25, 2024
It's FOUR for Toronto FC vs. Simcoe County Rovers as Jonathan Osorio applies a bit of acrobatics to compound this #CanChamp misery for their League1 Ontario opposition ✨
🔴 Watch LIVE on OneSoccer pic.twitter.com/fMk80uQJHg
But among those tied for second in the leaderboard alongside Jozy Altidore, Ignacio Piatti and Sebastian Giovinco is young CF Montréal attacker Sunusi Ibrahim, who has been a nightmare for Forge FC over the last three years and has six goals for his troubles. At 21 years old, Ibrahim has plenty of time to catch up to Osorio and claim the crown for his very own.
Don't let the kids have all the fun!
Great, so there are a lot of young stars showcasing what they can do, but the TELUS Canadian Championship isn't child's play! By our count, 21 players over the age of 36 have appeared in the tournament over the years, too. The oldest? 41-year old former Haitian international Gabard Fénélon who played in goal for CS Mont-Royal Outremont against Forge FC in 2022.
And at 38 years old, Didier Drogba is the tournament's oldest goalscorer – he notched one for Montreal against Toronto FC in 2016.
In the battle of MLS vs. CPL...
...the results are fairly one-sided. MLS sides have been pitted against CPL sides on 18 occasions (so far), winning 16 and losing 2.
But those two defeats at the expense of the Vancouver Whitecaps against Cavalry and Pacific respectively have become memorable pieces of CanChamp history and lore.
And, MLS vs. CPL fixtures have gone to penalties on three occasions (Forge-TFC 2020, Forge-MTL 2021, Cavalry-VWFC 2022): MLS sides won every time.
So it's not impossible. Let's see if the 2024 TELUS Canadian Championship provides any cupsets.
A new tradition is emerging
Look, don't feel too bad for the Vancouver Whitecaps: Since losing to Cavalry and Pacific, they've gone on to change their fortunes completely, winning the last two editions of this tournament and birthing a new post-tournament tradition of sorts.
CANADIAN CHAMPION VIBES 🏆 👏 🇨🇦
— Tim and Friends (@timandfriends) July 27, 2022
Vancouver Whitecaps FC head coach Vanni Sartini goes tarps off after winning the Voyageurs Cup on penalties 😂
(📹: @onesoccer) #CanChamp #VWFC pic.twitter.com/ieo4Ytcp5V
That was back in 2022. How did 2023 end?
SCENES ✨@plattoli checks in with #VWFC head coach Vanni Sartini, who took no time to change into his much-deserved #CanChamp CHAMPIONS T-Shirt live on air 😎 pic.twitter.com/yETeTkZGBq
— OneSoccer (@onesoccer) June 8, 2023
Winning the Voyageurs Cup = tarps off, it seems!
The magic of the cup, indeed
And finally, we can't have a list filled with cupsets and beautiful memories and storylines without revisiting this magical match for semi-pro League1 B.C. outfit TSS Rovers FC against Canadian Premier League opposition in Valour FC of Winnipeg.
Around the world, domestic cup tournaments like the FA Cup, Copa del Rey, DFB-Pokal, etc. are made into legend by lower-league teams emerging triumphant against greater foes, and that same magic that made CPL vs. MLS so fascinating to behold went down one layer further in this incredible night in Canadian soccer history:
