Well, Canada’s home World Cup is over, but what is already clear is that its impact will live on.

Historic, heroic, hair-raising, and in the end, a little bit heartbreaking. Canada fell to Morocco in the Round of 16, but not before inspiring a country and taking the game to new heights in this country.

There is plenty of time to reflect and learn from what it meant to host the world’s biggest tournament—but really, the last few months were a dream come true for so many.

All that, plus the latest from plenty of action in the NWSL, MLS, CPL and NSL, all ahead in this week’s edition of The Northern Pitch.

The journey comes to an end. The CanMNT’s journey in the 2026 World Cup comes to an end in Houston after a defeat to a world-class Moroccan team.

Canada started with a strong first half, Jesse Marsch’s trademark style of high press, pace and physicality. The Moroccans struggled to break and couldn’t properly establish a rhythm. Canada created opportunities and frustrated Morocco’s defence.

Morocco were clinical on the counter-attack. In the second half, it was clear that the Moroccans bided their time, waiting for counter-attacking opportunities. It worked.

Morocco’s first goal came from a set-piece play where the CanMNT switched off for a split second, but the next two came from thoughtful counter-attacks and exposed Canada’s backline.

Why no Alphonso Davies? “He wasn’t gonna play at all,” stated Marsch about the CanMNT captain. Phonzy was deemed unfit during the training session and in the pre-game warm-up. The gaffer explained that during halftime, Phonzy was warming up, but then told the medical team that he was not fit to play. The wise decision would be to not risk aggravating an already injury-plagued season for Davies.

“The smallest details make the match,” said Jesse Marsch when referring to the post-game team huddle. That is the truth with football at the highest level. Canada had opportunities to shoot but opted for a pass. Or a heavy touch would eliminate the chance of an effective attack into the box. These details were not missed by Morocco.

The younger players balled out. Luc de Fougerolles and Niko Sigur started and ended the game. We would’ve loved the goal, but the younger players on the squad showed courage and a stellar performance. They solidified their future on the national team. Perhaps earning moves to bigger clubs?

It is only the beginning. We all believed we could make it further, and losing is never easy. The truth is, this is a stepping stone into a higher level. The next generation of Canadians will build off this team and bring the CanMNT program to new heights.

As Canada’s World Cup comes to an end, its national competition resumes action.

On Wednesday, four exciting quarter-final matchups will get underway. Ligue1 Québec champs CS Saint-Laurent host Forge at Stade Boréale (3 p.m. ET), FC Supra du Québec host Atlético Ottawa (7 p.m. ET), Vancouver FC host CF Montréal (7 p.m. PT / 10 p.m. ET) and the four-time defending champs Vancouver Whitecaps enter the competition, as they will take on Cavalry FC at Swangard Stadium (7:30 p.m. PT / 10:30 p.m. ET).

The reverse legs for three of the series will be played on Sunday at the home of the aforementioned visitors. Atlético Ottawa and Supra, meanwhile, don’t play their second leg at TD Place until August 11. Four sides will book their place in the semi-finals, which will also be played over two legs starting in mid-September.

All matches are available on OneSoccer.

🤩 Huitema vs. Lacasse. The NWSL came back from its summer pause this week, doing so in a big way with a marquee matchup between Jordyn Huitema and Julia Grosso’s Chicago Stars, and Cloé Lacasse’s Utah Royals. Lacasse bagged a goal for Utah, but the last laugh went to Air Jordyn, landing not one, but two goals, including the winner.

🦢 Nichelle Prince assist. NP7 continued to produce the goods despite the nearly 5 weeks off, returning to her excellent form before the break with an assist on Sunday. Boston also ended up playing to a 2-2 draw against Bay after going 2-0 down in the first half.

💛 Gabby Carle assist. And to complete the trifecta of good news results, Gabby Carle came off the bench to supply the helper on Washington’s winner against the Houston Dash on Friday. Fellow Canadian Élisabeth Tsé had the start, being replaced by Carle in the second half of the 2-1 win over the Dash.

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🔵 CF Montreal in the transfer market. CFM surprised everyone on Thursday morning when they announced the signing of Dani Pereira from Austin FC for an initial $1.4 million in GAM, with additional money for 2027 GAM and conditional GAM. Despite the big sum of money, MTL have seriously bolstered their midfield with a proven player.

👋 Sunusi Ibrahim and Mahala Opoku leave Montreal. Nigerian forward Ibrahim and CFM have mutually agreed to terminate the contract. While Opoku has been transferred to Greek Super League club Panetolikos FC.

🏟️ Stade Olympique is moving closer to becoming CFM’s new home. For the past year, there had been rumours of a potential renovation for the interior of the Big O, along with the renovations to its roof. A new rumour had been tweeted by Montreal journalist Nilton Jorge that the government will announce interior renovations by next week or, at the latest, by August. If true, this means CF Montreal will have an indoor venue for the winter months.

❌ Toronto FC cut ties with Cassius Mailula and Henry Wingo. The Reds continued to clear house in terms of their squad today. issuing contract buyouts to Mailula and Wingo. Wingo has been dealing with on-and-off injury problems, while Mailula was declared surplus and shipped out on loan already to clear his roster spot.

🔴 José Cifuentes returns to Rangers. The hopes that Cifu would regain his best LAFC form with the Reds were shortlived. The Ecuadorian midfielder’s short-term loan came to an end on June 30th and was not extended past that date.

🌊 Vancouver parts ways with Sebastian Schonlau. Vancouver cut ties with the towering centre-back this week, exercising a buyout of Schonlau’s contract. He has since joined Holstein Kiel back in his native Germany.

🩼 Kenji Cabrera is out for 6 months. The Whitecaps midfielder underwent successful surgery on his foot and will be in recovery for the next 4-6 months.

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🔨 A five-goal Canada Day thriller in Hamilton. Vancouver shocked the home side as they took the lead in the first half with two goals. However, a 2-0 lead is the most dangerous lead in football. Forge’s experience responded with three goals in the second half as they saw out the game with a 3-2 win over VFC.

🦖 The Ballou Tabla show came to Halifax. The Wanderers hosted Atletico Ottawa, and the home club were handed a 3-1 defeat against the reigning champs. Tabla had an impressive performance as he scored the opener and assisted Gabriel Antinoro for the second. Ballou also converted a pen to secure Ottawa’s third goal.

🐴 Cavalry ride on with win in Ottawa. Must have been brutal to be an Atleti fan on Saturday. Just hours after watching Canada lose 3-0 at the World Cup, probably at a viewing party at TD Place, they stuck around to see their beloved Ottleti lose by the same score. Caniggia Elva had a goal and an assist. So did Goteh Ntignee. Cavalry are looking unstoppable lately.

🦅 Eagles soar in four-goal dub. Okay, first thing’s first, what the heck is going on with Inter Toronto? This was a team built to challenge the big boys. Instead, it’s crumbling right now. 16 goals against in their past four matches? Something has gone wrong big time. Vancouver doesn’t care though, with a hat-trick, Mo Amissi is leading the Golden Boot race and the Eagles soared to a 4-0 victory.

🔨 Filion fires Forge past Supra. In Québec vs. the team of all Québécers, it was another Québécois player who spoiled the Supra party. After Loïc Kwemi’s vicious strike cancelled Dan Nimick’s early penalty, Max Filion headed home Forge’s winner in a 2-1 victory. Forge stay top, now by five points.

⚓️ Halifax get a rare win out west. Flying across Canada has never been easy for the Wanderers. On Sunday, for just the second time EVER, they beat Pacific FC at Starlight Stadium. Ciccarelli and Callegari scored the goals and Halifax are above the playoff line as it stands. Pacific FC are now winless in 12 straight.

The CPL is back on holiday for a couple weeks with the Canadian Championship quarter-finals right around the corner! Action resumes Thursday, July 16th.

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🌹 A thorn in Vancouver’s side. Stade Boréale delivered a six-goal goal-fest in its Saturday match, and all but one of those ended up in the back of the Vancouver goal. Montréal exploded with an Evelyn Badu hat-trick to go along with single markers for the Roses’ Elyse Bennett and Tanya Boychuk. Jess De Filippo had what was the initial equalizer in the 5-1 finish.

🪽 Ottawa coast to victory. The Rapid maintained their lead over the rest of the NSL this weekend, bookending a 3-1 win over the Calgary Wild. Keera Melenhorst got the party started, Johanne Fridlund added to it, and Jazmine Wilkinson helped close up shop after Meggie Dougherty Howard stepped up for her side from the spot.

✅ Toronto get it done on the road. An early goal for Kaylee Hunter was all that was on the cards in a 1-0 win over the Halifax Tides at Wanderers Grounds. The Tides came close, rocking one off the woodwork, but AFC continued to make up ground in the standings by taking home all three points.

Saturday, July 11
AFC Toronto vs. Ottawa Rapid (4PM ET @ York Lions Stadium)
Calgary Wild vs. Vancouver Rise (5PM MT @ McMahon Stadium)

Sunday, July 12
Montreal Roses vs. Halifax Tides (4PM ET @ Stade Boréale)

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