The Whitecaps inch closer to MLS Cup after all-time classic playoff match vs. LAFC: "We took a great step"
‘Surely, not again.’
On several occasions, those words are likely to have passed through the minds of the Vancouver Whitecaps supporters who were watching their side take on LAFC in the Western Conference Semi-Finals on Saturday.
No matter if it was the 53,957 in attendance at BC Place, or the countless others who watched on television, there were truly some moments that had some questioning why they even bothered watching this sport, let alone this Whitecaps team.
Granted, you wouldn’t have blamed a few players for whispering those ill-fated words, either, as they endured a rollercoaster of a match that will surely go down in MLS history, or "The brutal beauty of the game," as Thomas Müller put it afterwards.
By the time defender Mathías Laborda stepped up to the penalty spot with his game on his foot, however, there appeared to be no outcome that was truly off the table. He could’ve scored, or he could’ve missed - the net could’ve spontaneously combusted and no one would’ve batted an eye at that stage of proceedings.
Instead, with the game at 2-2 and the penalties sitting at 3-3, the Whitecaps' fifth and final taker stepped up and coolly slotted home his spot kick, wasting no time before emptying a roar, one that was drowned out by the crescendo of noise that bellowed out from the rest of the stadium as the elation of victory quickly set in. 
At that point, all that mattered to him and his teammates was that they’d gotten the job done - they’d finally eliminated LAFC, and were en route to the Western Conference Final for the first time since the club joined MLS in 2011.
It didn’t matter that they’d relinquished a 2-0 lead after a fantastic start. Or that they’d lost the 2025 MLS Defender of the Year to a late red card. Heck, at that point, the impossible ‘triple doink’ from extra time had already faded from their memories.
In a game that required a winner and a loser, the Whitecaps found themselves on the right side of the result, and that’s what the history books will remember.
“Football is a game where there's a lot of unpredictability, and sometimes you have to rely on things that you don't normally rely on normally,” Whitecaps head coach Jesper Sørensen said afterwards.
#VWFC WIN AND ADVANCE TO THE CONFERENCE FINAL!!
— Alexandre Gangué-Ruzic (@AlexGangueRuzic) November 23, 2025
Truly an all time MLS game, and it ends with the biggest playoff win of the Vancouver Whitecaps MLS era. What an unhinged start, middle and ending pic.twitter.com/ySs8PEJFZZ
Ironically, however, this game could’ve been much different for these Whitecaps. Through the first 45 minutes, they had put up an all-time performance, one that reminded onlookers of why this team had just put together their best campaign of the MLS era.
Not only did they nab a deserved 2-0 lead thanks to goals from Emmanuel Sabbi and Laborda, but they had so thoroughly dominated their guests that you could genuinely wonder if they’d already sealed the game by halftime.
WHAT A BALL! 👀
— Major League Soccer (@MLS) November 23, 2025
WHAT A RUN! 🌬️
WHAT A CHIP! 😱
Filthy pass from Yohei Takaoka to Emmanuel Sabbi to open the scoring for the @WhitecapsFC // Audi MLS Cup Playoffs pic.twitter.com/VlWEzLK0Ii
That’s no exaggeration, either - LAFC finished the first half without a single shot attempt, and held just 34% of possession and took just six touches in Vancouver’s box. Not only had the Whitecaps steamrolled them with their suffocating and controlling possession game, but they’d completely bossed them in the duels, too, as this game looked a lot more like a matchup between title contenders and relegation fodder instead of a battle of two of the top regular-season teams of the past decade.
Vancouver scores again! 😤
— Major League Soccer (@MLS) November 23, 2025
Mathias Laborda strikes off the Thomas Müller rebound to put @WhitecapsFC ahead 2-0. // Audi MLS Cup Playoffs pic.twitter.com/E2t0YZLpj1
But, for all of the good work the Whitecaps had done, you just knew that their lead wasn’t as strong as it looked. While it’s easy to pull out the “a two-goal lead is the worst lead” trope, it truly applies when a team like LAFC is on the field, as they have the star power to turn games around by themselves.
Because of that, the Whitecaps knew that for them to have a chance at seeing this out, they desperately needed a third goal, or else the tides could quickly turn.
And turn they did. When LAFC’s newest superstar, Heung-Min Son, slipped home his own rebound from close range in the 60th minute, you could almost feel the field tilt the other way as the visitors quickly grew in confidence.
Son Heung-Min strikes! 💥@LAFC cut the lead in half. Game on. // Audi MLS Cup Playoffs pic.twitter.com/w3S8rN1Qu7
— Major League Soccer (@MLS) November 23, 2025
Thanks to a small tweak made at half time, one that saw them switch from the 5-4-1 formation to a 4-3-3, they went from a timid, ineffective unit to the sort of swaggering, brash attacking side they can be at their best.
As a result, they started to pour on the shots, with Son’s first goal already sitting as his team’s seventh attempt of the half.
To the Whitecaps' credit, despite that hammer blow, they didn’t fold quite yet, however. After that goal, they didn’t concede another shot until the 84th minute, as they finally settled down and started to protect their goal a lot better, while offering a bit more of a threat the other way.
Through that, they were able to generate a glorious chance in the 78th minute, one that nearly proved decisive for them. After a fantastic delivery from Sebastian Berhalter from a free kick, Tristan Blackmon did well to meet it and send a powerful strike towards goal, firing what surely appeared to be the insurance marker his team needed to see out this game into the back of the net.
Instead, his shot would be kept out by the right arm of LAFC goalkeeper, Hugo Lloris, who redeemed himself for a shaky first-half performance with a save befitting of a World Cup winner.
Hugo Lloris with a potentially game-saving stop! 😱@lafc // Audi MLS Cup Playoffs pic.twitter.com/hZFoelwtqC
— Major League Soccer (@MLS) November 23, 2025
Safe to say, that was a key turning point, as LAFC, buoyed by that save, found new life in their hunt for an equalizer after that.
In a cruel twist of fate for the Whitecaps, Blackmon, who was inches away from being the protagonist of this match, ended up being the antagonist, as he was given a second yellow card for taking down Denis Bouanga on a counter-attack.
Then, to add insult to injury, Son stepped up to take the ensuing free kick and curled a shot that only a handful of players in the world could dare attempt, finding the top corner with a dramatic 90+5’ equalizer that completely turned the game upside down.
SON HEUNG MIN FREE KICK EQUALIZER IN THE 95TH MINUTE! 😱🚨@LAFC // AUDI MLS CUP PLAYOFFS pic.twitter.com/LDF3RYWXsG
— Major League Soccer (@MLS) November 23, 2025
All of a sudden, the Whitecaps went from up a goal to level, and given that they were down a player, it felt like they’d squandered all hope at regaining their lead, too.
Now, all they could do was just sit, bunker and hope that a clear-cut chance would appear out of thin air, as otherwise the game seemed destined to end with an LAFC victory. Given that LAFC had outshot the Whitecaps 14-2 in the second stanza after their first-half blank, things were certainly looking bleak for the Whitecaps as they headed into 30 minutes of extra time.
Little did they know, things could only get worse for them.
Sensing that defending with 10 wasn’t enough for them, fate decided that they’d have to level up and try a harder challenge - defending with nine, as defender Belal Halbouni, who had only come into the game to fill in for Blackmon, came off with what appeared to be a serious knee injury with 10 minutes left in extra time.
With the Whitecaps out of substitutions, they were left with no choice but to defend down two players, which, against LAFC’s attack, was the equivalent of trying to win a sword fight while armed with a blade of grass, or stopping a tidal wave with a shot glass.
At that point, well and truly, it felt like they’d reached the end of their 2025 season. While the game remained tied, it was hard to imagine LAFC not capitalizing on the extra space and ending the game with a heartbreaking late winner.
Certainly, had that been the case, familiar excuses would have been there for the Whitecaps, who could’ve bemoaned their injury luck and the decision to send off Blackmon. As Vancouverites will tell you, that would’ve been par for the course when it came to sporting teams from this city, who have unfortunately used similar excuses to explain why past sides came up short in the biggest games.
Poorly-timed injuries, bad officiating, food poisoning, bad coaching decisions, even conspiracy theories - this city has seen it all.
Yet, in the unlikeliest of twists, the Whitecaps didn’t succumb to their inevitable fate. Instead, the powers that be reminded everyone that there is no such thing as a sure thing in this sport.
When Andrew Moran sliced a dangerous tap-in from in tight in the 115th minute, you couldn’t help but raise an eyebrow. Then, David Martinez missed what can only be described as a sitter in the 118th minute, and the murmurs started to reverberate within a nervous BC Place.
From there, that set the table for one of the most inexplicable sequences in the history of this sport - and that’s no exaggeration.
In something that seemed straight out of ‘EAFC’, Martinez first struck the crossbar with a cross, which then dropped to an open Bouanga at the back post, but he then hit the post with a left-footed shot.
Luckily for him, though, the ball fell right back to him, this time on his preferred right foot, but instead of curling a ball into the back of the net, as he’s done many a time against this Whitecaps side, his shot hit the crossbar and stayed out to complete the elusive ‘triple doink’.
Chaos in the final minutes of extra time! 🤯
— Major League Soccer (@MLS) November 23, 2025
Audi MLS Cup Playoffs pic.twitter.com/FESFMO1dSI
Naturally, that sent the crowd, who had spent most of the second half and extra time shell-shocked by how the game had unfolded, into a rapture of noise, as the belief returned to their voices.
Through those voices, they then willed their team to a shootout (not without another post from Bouanga), which is where things flipped back on their head.
For the first time since Son had dashed their dreams with their free kick, the Whitecaps were back on even footing, and they didn’t want to relinquish this chance to win the game they’d felt they’d thrown away, having fought so hard to not let things completely unravel.
That was reflected in the penalty shootout, which proceeded with almost military-like efficiency. Everyone from the players, to goalkeeper Yohei Takaoka, to the fans, seemed to know their roles, and that pushed the hosts to quickly go up 3-1 in the shootout thanks to goals from Sebastian Berhalter, Jayden Nelson and Ryan Gauld.
They had a bit of luck on their side again, as Son shockingly slammed his penalty into the post, while Mark Delgado inexplicably chipped his shot well over the net, but that’s not as if that guaranteed them victory - they still had the opportunity to slip up.
Naturally, they nearly did just that, as Edier Ocampo squandered the Whitecaps' first chance to seal the shootout with an attempt that was easily saved by Lloris, but LAFC’s two earlier misses left Laborda the chance to play the hero on the Whitecaps' next shot.
By then, he wasn’t going to let his team’s second opportunity at victory go to waste, and the rest is history.
Every kick from a wild Penalty Kick shootout 🤯@WhitecapsFC // Audi MLS Cup Playoffs pic.twitter.com/l58EAhDDTe
— Major League Soccer (@MLS) November 23, 2025
“You have to believe that you can do it,” Sørensen said. “You have to believe that you can put something up, and you have to trust that you know that we have a structure that can help you when things are difficult, not just when it's easy.
“Yeah, you needed a little bit of luck in the end, but we got that, and we will not complain about that.”
Now, it’s important to remember that the Whitecaps' journey is far from over. Despite the emotional nature of this win, which will have felt cathartic given their history with LAFC, who had eliminated them from the 2023 Concacaf Champions Cup and both the 2023 and 2024 MLS Cup playoffs, the show must now go on for these Whitecaps - even if they've finally slayed their dragon.
First, they’ll take on either San Diego FC or Minnesota United in the Conference Final, which will be on the road if San Diego wins, or at BC Place if Minnesota wins. Then, if they can win that game, they’d reach their first-ever MLS Cup Final, where they’d sit just one win away from the sort of major trophy that they’d never come close to winning before this year.
If they’re to lift an MLS Cup, however, they’ll need to make sure they don’t get caught up in the emotional nature of this win and instead focus on the task ahead, which is much easier said than done.
Make no mistake, this sort of win is the exact sort of result winning teams typically need to go through en route to lifting a trophy, so it’s not as if they should completely flush it out, either, but they’ll need to quickly refocus once the euphoria of an improbable victory wears off.
“We had belief in us,” Laborda said. “(We know) that the player next to you will die on the pitch with you, that’s all.”
VANCOUVER ADVANCES!!! 😤😤😤@WhitecapsFC // Audi MLS Cup Playoffs pic.twitter.com/GMJqfZSpD8
— Major League Soccer (@MLS) November 23, 2025
As for the fans of this team, however, how they react to this is a completely different story. No matter how this run ends, this game will go down in history, sitting as one of the best MLS has offered up.
In the end, though, instead of finishing with the expected result of an LAFC victory, it will be remembered that a city that has endured its fair share of sporting heartbreak was able to watch the Whitecaps come out on the right side with a victory.
For those fans who got to witness that in person, or even from afar, it’ll create the sort of memories that’ll remind them why they love this sport - even if they might’ve been questioning that very fandom just hours earlier.
“I’m so happy for everybody to create these moments together with 54,000 people with this kind of game,” Sørensen finished. “I think that the joy you can have with sports, altogether, it’s a (great) feeling for everybody there, so I’m happy, it was unbelievable.”
“We showed that we have grit, and a team that can play football, and that we have the best fans in the league,” Sabbi added. “We took a great step today, and we’ve just got to keep it going.”
