The Vancouver Whitecaps have a chance to win some silverware on Wednesday evening.
For the fourth straight year, the Whitecaps will play and host the Canadian Championship final. They have a chance to win their fourth straight Voyageurs Cup. No team has done that since Toronto FC from 2009 to 2012. However, that was when the Canadian Championship had three and then four teams, with the addition of the Montreal Impact (now CF Montreal) in 2012. So the Whitecaps look to be the fourth team since the inception of the CPL in 2019 to win four straight Voyageurs Cups.
In 2022 and 2024, Vancouver defeated Toronto FC on penalties, and in 2023, they defeated CF Montreal. In 2025, they will not face an MLS team, but a team from the CPL. This is the first time a CPL team has made the final. And that team plays their home matches in a stadium that is about a 56-minute drive from BC Place.
There isn’t an official name for this derby yet. Call it the 604 Derby, the Lower Mainland Derby, or whatever.
An all-Vancouver affair
Vancouver FC plays their home games at Langley’s Willoughby Stadium at Langley Events Centre. Yes, a team that plays in Langley calls itself Vancouver FC.
Vancouver has reached the Canadian Championship final by defeating BC rivals Pacific on penalties in the preliminary round after a 1-1 draw. Then, after a two-legged quarterfinal tie against Cavalry, which ended 2-2 on aggregate, the Eagles won 5-4 on penalties in the second leg. In the semi-finals, they upset Atletico Ottawa 3-2 on aggregate.
But it has been a really poor season for Vancouver FC. With a 4-6-15 record, they sit last in the CPL with 18 points. That is three points behind Pacific and four points behind Valour. The Eagles are on the verge of missing the playoffs again and have not qualified since joining the league in 2023.
Due to the poor form, Afshin Ghotbi was fired as head coach in late July, and the team brought in former Whitecaps player (in their USL days from 2004 to 2010) and former York United head coach Martin Nash as interim head coach.
Under Nash, Vancouver has gone 3-1-6 and reached the Canadian Championship final. The Eagles are also coming off two straight wins, 2-1 over York United and 3-1 over Halifax Wanderers. Both those wins have come at home. The win over York was Vancouver’s first home win since August of 2024.
Nash and his team are aware of the daunting task against the Whitecaps, but they are not nervous.
“They’re the best team we’ll face this year, by far,” said Nash on the Whitecaps per Dan Ferguson of The Abbotsford News. “It is a tall task for our guys.”
“We’re going to keep the players as calm as we can. We’ve got to play as quick and clean as we can.”
Nash was also asked about the team’s improved form.
“It’s nice that we’re in a good moment,” he said. “They are all buying into what we are doing.”
Vancouver FC goalkeeper and captain Callum Irving says his team isn’t really nervous, but they are up for the challenge on Wednesday.
“I think those nerves are more excited nerves than nervous,” said Irving. “For us, it’s a really fun challenge. It’s two teams playing the same sport for 90 minutes. We’ll respect them, but we will be coming in to win.”
Whitecaps focused on winning
The Whitecaps have reached the final after beating Valour in the quarterfinals and Forge in the semi-finals. They are the favourites, by far. However, in cup finals, anything can happen. Just look at Crystal Palace beating Manchester City in this year’s FA Cup, for example.
“We, of course, are looking forward to it; it’s an important game,” said Whitecaps head coach Jesper Sørensen on the approach to the final to the media on Monday afternoon. “It’s a final and we want to win it. We, of course, will bring the best we can.”
Sørensen was asked about Vancouver FC and their surprising run to the final, and how they are looking to upset the Whitecaps.
“That’s the great thing about cup football, sometimes unexpected things happen,” he said. “I think it’s great, it’s a big night for us, but I think it’s a bigger night for Vancouver FC. I think it’s a great achievement that they reached this final. But we also know they are going to bring everything they have. They are going to do everything they can and even do better than they used to because they are up against a better opponent. I think it’s going to be exciting, and it is fair to say they have a lot more to gain than to lose. On the other hand, I think we have lots to gain as well. It’s up to us to make sure the big surprise doesn’t come in this game.”
Whitecaps star midfielder Thomas Müller is on the verge of making German soccer history. If he and the ‘Caps win on Wednesday night, that would make him the most decorated German soccer player ever. Müller and former Bayern Munich and German national team teammate Toni Kroos are both tied with 34 titles, which includes the 2014 World Cup they won together. With Kroos now retired, the Raumdeuter has a chance to reach greater heights.
“I’m not focused on making history,” said Müller on Monday. “I’m focused on having this winning feeling and feeling that we are strong and progress as a team and enjoy the game of football…but I’m aware of a cup game. In a cup game, you have to be ready; anything can happen, and the goal is to win it. We don’t just want to play it.”
The 13-time Bundesliga champion acknowledged that the team as a whole has a chance to make history with four Voyageurs Cups in a row and playing Vancouver FC in the final.
“I’m excited for the Vancouver derby,” said Müller. “I’m not sure how important it is for the city. I wish it were a little bit more important. I’m from Munich; we have two very big clubs, former rivals. But the fanbases are still rivals. So it’s a little bit different because I didn’t recognize a lot of this rivalry…maybe we can see a bit of it in the stadium on Wednesday. On the sports side, we are just very focused and very confident. We had many changes as a whole to the group. We had many changes in the starting lineup due to injuries and rotation. But we are always able to compete and fight back if we are down during the game. The whole squad looks very strong and gives me a very good feeling for Wednesday.”
Whitecaps and Vancouver FC connections
Aside from the fact that they play in the same metropolitan area, there are a lot of connections between Vancouver FC and the Whitecaps.
As mentioned above, Nash spent the last eight years of his career with the Whitecaps as a player. Of course, his brother Steve is part-owner of the Whitecaps.
Several players on Vancouver FC have connections with the Whitecaps. The most notable is midfielder Nicolas Mezquida, who signed with the Eagles in April. The Uruguayan midfielder wore the blue and white from 2014 to 2018 and was part of the team that lifted the Voyageurs Cup in 2015. That was the first trophy for the Whitecaps since they entered MLS .
Mezquida has been a revelation for Vancouver FC since he signed. He has scored seven goals and tallied one assist in 20 appearances. For him, playing against the Whitecaps in the final will be a full-circle moment.
“To be honest, I didn’t imagine that playing in my first season with Vancouver FC, when coming back to this city, that I’d be a part of this amazing group and reach a final, said Mezquida to Alexandre Gangue-Ruzic of CanPL.Ca.
“This is so special, this is gonna be emotional to step onto the pitch at BC Place and see all of the fans of Vancouver FC and the Whitecaps,” he said. “Some Whitecaps fans still send me messages of love, and our Vancouver FC fans are great, so it’s going to be amazing. Whatever the result, it’s going to be a great experience, so I will try to enjoy each moment and do what we can to try and win the cup.”
Several Vancouver FC players came through the Whitecaps academy. Irving is one of them, and so are defenders Matteo Campagna, Paris Gee, and David Norman Jr., midfielders Vasco Fry and Dominic Joseph, and forwards Thierno Bah and Terran Campbell. There is also forward Jay Herdman, who signed with Cavalry permanently from the Whitecaps in January and is on loan at Vancouver FC. But due to him being cap tied with Cavalry, he won’t play on Wednesday.
Ryan Gauld and Brian White
It seems that Whitecaps captain Ryan Gauld could be available for selection, as hinted by Sørensen. Now that would be a big boost, as his knee capsule injury has kept him out since March 8.
It looked like Brian White re-injured his hamstring against the Seattle Sounders on Saturday. Sørensen said his status is unclear.
Wednesday’s final kicks off at 7 pm.
