It’s somehow already December 1st, and even as the winter months begin, Canadian soccer news remains as hot as ever.

The Whitecaps are in the MLS Cup Final, CanWNT are ending the year with serious questions, and a CPL club has a new name. Plus plenty more in this week’s edition of The Northern Pitch.

Before we really jump in, the real big news of the week is the release of DARBY Issue 5: Belief. Available in five unique covers and filled with 160 pages of Canadian football stories, this is the biggest issue yet with some incredible features.

We explore Jacob Shaffelburg’s journey from Port Williams to Copa América, Canada captain Jessie Fleming’s quiet conviction, Demit Omphroy’s journey of self-discovery through art and football, Diana Matheson and some of the NSL’s founding players on the trials and triumphs of founding a new league, and Cavalry’s historic Concacaf trip into the Pumas’ den. 

Also featured in the magazine: CanMNT goalkeeper Dayne St. Clair, Indigenous trailblazer Terry Felix, global sensation Freda Ayisi, and much more.

Issue 5 is available now for limited pre-order, and as a loyal subscriber of The Northern Pitch, you can save 20% off the cover price with promo code: TNP20.

Don’t sleep, because pre-orders close at the end of the week! Can’t pick a cover? Grab a few copies and get free shipping on Canadian orders over $75 (it makes a great stocking stuffer).

Vancouver will battle for the 2025 MLS Cup against Messi and Inter Miami next Saturday at Chase Stadium.

This past weekend, the Whitecaps travelled to Southern California to face off against the Western Conference top seed, San Diego FC. The Caps thrashed SDFC 3-1, securing their spot in the final.

Brutally one-sided affair. The momentum was never in San Diego's favour. From the beginning, it was Vancouver setting the tempo, scoring all three goals in the first half. San Diego had no answers. To be fair, they are a new team, for them to make it this far is impressive, but this Vancouver squad have been together for over three years.

The most complete team in the competition? Despite losing key players like Ranko Veselinovic and Sam Adekugbe to injury. The Caps have the most complete team from defence to attack. The rhythm and cohesiveness in this team is something that we’ve been commenting on all season, a real title contender, and now they’re there. Moreover, Triston Blackmon will be back from suspension—a big addition.

What about Inter Miami? The South Florida team hosted NYCFC and thumped the away side 5-1. Messi did not score but registered an assist. However, Messi will always be an X factor. Sergio Busquets and Jordi Alba are still class, and given this will be their final dance, it’ll be extra motivation to come up on top. However, Miami’s defence might be its only weakness.

A proper final in Miami. Messi versus Müller. Two players who have played against each other at the highest levels of competition, including the 2014 World Cup final. Now that energy will be before us on December 6th. A real battle of the giants, and we are here for it. In the meantime, get yourself hyped up by watching Copa90’s doc on the Whitecaps.

To anyone who stayed up for that, we’re so sorry.

Also, mad respect, especially to our East Coast readers who braved the 1:30 a.m. ET kickoff time to watch a fourth straight scoreless game for the Canadian women’s national team in a 3-0 loss to Japan in the early hours of Saturday morning in Nagasaki.

Canada actually made it to the 43rd minute in pretty good shape, and even had a decent chance to open the scoring through Marie Levasseur. But some calamitous defending led to the ball falling to Momoko Tanikawa wide open in the box, and she opened the scoring.

Things got even worse in the second half, as in the 51st minute, Kailen Sheridan got caught on the ball at the back by Mina Tanaka who then scored into the empty net. It was as ugly a goal as the national team have conceded in a long time. Canada got carved again in the 68th minute, and it was 3-0 for the hosts. Japan finished the match with 11 shots on target to just one for Canada.

CanWNT have one more match on the calendar, and it requires copious amounts of coffee again. While 9 p.m. PT on Monday is a little bit more doable on the west coast for those who want to see a rematch with Japan in Isahaya, 12:00 a.m. ET on Tuesday is gonna take more sleep schedule planning out east.

Hopefully the team can end the year with a performance that is worth staying up for.

One of the Canadian Premier League’s original clubs is getting a second third lease on life as York9 becomes York United becomes Inter Toronto Football Club.

All jokes aside, the bold new branding comes with some exciting vision to move the team away from York Lions Stadium and into the heart of downtown Toronto.

The club has already had serious conversations about moving into a renovated Lamport Stadium, and working with the city to make it a better facility not only for themselves but for the community at large.

Lamport, which is just across the tracks from BMO Field, is a prime location to play and is much more accessible to supporters and sponsors alike.

The rebrand itself, announced at an event in Toronto on Thursday night, features a bold new blue and gold crest and colour scheme in line with the team’s ambitious goals.

It also comes just in time for the 2026 FIFA World Cup, with the club aligning itself with one of the competition’s host cities.

Plus, if the day wasn’t already a big deal for the club, former CPL Player of the Year Ollie Bassett was on hand for the event, where it was unveiled that the former Atlético Ottawa player would be joining Inter Toronto for this coming season.

🇨🇦 CanWFutsal bow out in Manila. The Canadian national women’s futsal team closed out their time at the 2025 FIFA Futsal Women’s World Cup this week. Drawn into a group of death with Spain, Thailand and Colombia each ranked #2, #4 and #8 in the world, Les Rouges can leave the tournament with their heads held high.

🫡 These are the Davids we know. And, they score in the UCL too. Promise David and Jonathan David both scored midweek winners for their clubs in crucial ties. USG claimed a 1-0 result away against Galatasaray. Jona finally broke his drought, scoring his first for Juve since August in a 3-2 decision over Bodø/Glimt. Here’s to hoping that’s just a start.

🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 Promise on the move? More rumours on Tobi’s future dropped this week. Those said that Premier League teams, including West Ham, Wolves and Leeds, could all be ready to sign a €20m cheque. But TSN’s Matthew Scianitti was quick to pump the brakes, saying that there was “no indication” he would be leaving in January. After all, he did just sign a four-year contract extension in June.

🇨🇭 Theo Bair from the spot. The Iceman, Tobi and Tani are going to be on the World Cup squad, that much we know (knock on wood for injuries). But who else will be there remains a question to be answered. Bair might keep himself in pole position if he keeps up his scoring antics, after getting the winner against Thun over the weekend.

❤️ Kadeisha Buchanan’s social impact programme. Despite an injury restricting her from seeing the pitch so far this season, Kadeisha is making a bit impact off the pitch. The BBC’s Emma Sanders reported this week that Kadeisha was one of 14 female footballers chosen by FIFA, launching an initiative to “help single moms and their daughters take part in football more easily.” Read more about her foundation here.

🇵🇹 Stephen Eustáquio enrols in coaching courses. Well, if the comparisons to his brother Mauro were getting tired, get ready for even more. While the junior Eustáquio still has plenty of games as a player in the tank, it’s never too early to start planning for the future. Portuguese outlet Bola na Rede noted this week that the Porto midfielder has started his AF Porto Level 2 badges, equal to a UEFA B license.

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☑️ The 2026 CPL U SPORTS Draft took place on Friday afternoon, with 16 players selected to the league’s eight teams over two rounds. Vancouver FC led the way with three selections, having acquired Inter Toronto’s first-rounder in a trade last season. They added a lot of talent, including Winnipeg full-back Joseph Green third overall, local goalkeeper Matheus De Souza 5th overall and another Winnipeger, wide player Nicolas Nadeau 10th overall.

⚜️ FC Supra go 1-2. As the league’s newest club, FC Supra du Québec had the first two selections in the draft, and chose Université de Montréal midfielder Calin Calaidjoglu, and UQTR attacker Alexandre Marcoux. The club is making soon on its intentions to prove a platform for Québécois talent, with both of them calling the province home.

🤔 Who will go pro? The question of the draft is always which players will get the opportunity to sign with the teams. While being picked usually means an invite to training camp, there are no guarantees that these 16 players will sign. Last year, only 9 of 16 players ended up playing a game, which is more than most years. Still, with guys like Joel Waterman coming out of the draft in the past there is always a lot of talent.

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✍️ NSL contract news. It’s that time of year, already. Business time when clubs announce their roster updates, and players begin to post end-of-season Instagram posts. Okay, maybe not all players do, but you get the gist.

🏔️ Five depart Vancouver Rise. The Rise became the second club to announce a full roster update. The most surprising of which was the departure of Jasmyne Spencer, who played a major role for Vancouver this season, after several injuries across their back line. Kayla Gonçalves, Sara Lilja, Rebecca Lake and Nedya Sawan also left the club.

🌹 Two exit Montréal Roses. The first club to announce their end-of-season roster moves were the Roses, who did so last week. Much of their core — 20 players — will be returning for 2026 after they were eliminated in the semi-finals by Toronto, with just Lara Schenk and Mathilde Lachance confirmed to not be returning.

🪽 Choo Hyo-joo extends in Ottawa. Last but not least for this week, Ottawa — though not a full update — will be able to count on a big piece of their starting core for 2026. The Rapid announced they had agreed new terms with the South Korean winger who featured in all but two matches for the club this season.

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