Canada Canadian Championship
Toronto FC are announced as the country’s representatives in the CONCACAF Champions League amid difficulties
021 has been quite an eventful year so far for Canadian football.
After the 2020 Canadian Championship, scheduled to take place between June and September, was suspended due to the COVID pandemic, this year everything was poised for the return to activity, but circumstances have made it more complicated than it seemed.
In principle, the winner of this tournament, which would be played by 11 teams - the three Canadian representatives in MLS and the eight teams of the Canadian Premier League - would be the country’s flag bearer in the CONCACAF Champions League.
However, the cancellation of the tournament forced plans to be modified.
Thus, last August, Canada Soccer decided that, to determine the Canadian club in the continental competition, a one-game final would be played on March 20 between the two best teams of the year – Forge FC, winner of the CPL’s Island Games in the summer, and Toronto FC, the Canadian club that best finished the first phase of the revised MLS schedule.
Everything seemed to be ready but just ten days before the date, Canada Soccer released a statement announcing the postponement of the match to a date to be determined, so that the fans
of both teams could be in the stands, “in accordance with all public health and safety measures”.
In addition, due to Forge’s inability to train - due to COVID restrictions - and the start of the Champions League in April, Canada Soccer also announced that the country’s representatives in the continental competition would be Toronto FC. In exchange, Forge will host the Canadian Championship final when a date is finally set for the match.
After the statement, what remains to be decided is the competition format and date on which Canadian football will resume activity. The idea is that the next
It seems like mission impossible for Toronto FC, given that Mexican clubs have dominated the tournament for the past 15 years
Canadian Premier League season will kick-off on May 22. However, for that to happen, the tournament must have the approval of the Canadian authorities based on the state of the COVID pandemic in the country.
As vaccination in the country is barely accelerating, it seems unlikely that the tournament can be played on the scheduled dates, and there are several versions afloat of how and when the competition could resume. The most realistic seems to be the idea of two “bubble” tournaments, one in the east and one in the west, starting on July 1, with the winners meeting in the semi-finals at a later date.
What is known with complete certainty is that the Canadian representatives in the CONCACAF
Champions League will begin their participation in the continental tournament against the most difficult rivals possible, the Mexican champions Leon, in April. The road ahead does not get any easier, with the next opponents most likely to be Mexican powerhouse Cruz Azul, who are regarded as big favourites over the Haitian side Arcahaie, their rivals in the last 16.
It seems like mission impossible for Toronto FC, given that Mexican clubs have completely dominated the tournament for the past 15 years and are once again widely favoured to win the title in this edition.
In addition to Cruz Azul and Leon, Mexico will also send two of its most powerful teams to the tournament – America, the record winner of the continental tournament with seven titles, and Monterrey, who have won the CONCACAF crown four times.
The picture is completed by four more MLS teams (Columbus Crew, Philadelphia Union, Atlanta United and Portland Timbers), two Costa Rican sides (Alajuelense and Deportivo Saprissa), two Hondurans (Olimpia and Marathon), a Nicaraguan (Real Esteli) and Atletico Pantoja of the Dominican Republic.
The teams will play a knockout tournament from April, when the round of 16 kicks off, until the final, currently scheduled for October 28.
Never has a Canadian team clinched the title, although Toronto FC came agonisingly close back in 2018, when, led by Italian forward Sebastian Giovinco and Canadian Jonathan Osorio, they took Mexican side Guadalajara to penalties, but ended up failing to clear that last hurdle. In 2015, Montreal Impact also reached the final, but were comprehensively defeated by America 5-3 on aggregate.
Led by legendary American midfielder Michael Bradley and Spaniard Alejandro Pozuelo, Toronto FC will try to emulate those past successes, although the first step will be to make people forget what happened in 2019, when, against all odds, they were eliminated in the first round by Independiente de La Chorrera of Panama by an aggregate scoreline of 5-1.