June 9th Edition

There’s no doubt that Canada Soccer showed out this past week at every level.

The men’s national team looked dominant against Ukraine, the women’s national team the same vs. Haiti, and the Canadian U-20 women’s team were champions of Concacaf.

Plus, more Canadians linked to Anderlecht, CPL to Montréal? and plenty more in this week’s edition of The Northern Pitch.

In this week's edition:

• 🇨🇦 CanMNT kick off Canadian Shield with a dub

• 🏆 Canada wins Concacaf U-20 W Championship

• 🇨🇦 Canada name strong Gold Cup squad

• 🇨🇦 CanWNT beat Haiti in Montréal

• 🌍 Canucks Abroad

• ⚽️ Canadian MLS Recap

• 🍁 CPL Recap

• 🌌 NSL Recap

CanMNT

🇨🇦 CanMNT kick off Canadian Shield with a dub

The inaugural edition of the Canadian Shield kicked off on Saturday, and the hosts wasted no time in making a statement on home soil.

In the first game of the friendly competition, played at Toronto’s BMO Field, Canada fairly comfortably defeated World #25 Ukraine 4-2.

It was the Tajon and David show, with Tajon Buchanan picking up two nasty assists, and a goal in his best performance in some time with Canada. Jonathan David, meanwhile, is inevitable, scoring a brace, while Promise David scored his first for Canada in his debut.

There were several other strong performances as well during an impressive afternoon from Les Rouges. Luc De Fougerolles was outstanding at central defender, while Nathan Saliba looked top in his first start in central midfield as well.

The match was broadcast across Canada on CTV, as Canadian audiences were given a taste of just how good this team is, just a year out from a home World Cup. Later in the day at BMO Field, Côte d’Ivoire lost 1-0 to New Zealand in the competition’s other match.

A win against Côte d’Ivoire in the final match of the 2025 Canadian Shield, which takes place on Tuesday night at 8:30 p.m. ET / 5:30 p.m. PT, and New Zealand dropping points earlier in the day against Ukraine would clinch the first-ever Canadian Shield for Canada.

It isn’t the trophy they truly want this summer, but it would be a big confidence boost prior to the 2025 Gold Cup, and going into next summer’s World Cup.

CanW20

🏆 Canada wins the Concacaf Women’s U-20 Championship

Canada are the Queens of Concacaf at the U-20 level.

The Canadian U-20s defeated Mexico 3-2 in extra time in the Concacaf U-20 Women’s Championship finals during an electric back-and-forth final.

Twice Canada led, during both regulation and extra time. Mexico’s goalie was sent off, their backup saved and penalty. Then Chukwu called game in the 120th minute, with an insane solo goal that has become her calling card.

Chukwu senior national team call-up when? Four more bangers for Canada’s all-time youth national team leading goalscorer at this competition. She’s got next.

Shoutout as well to Canada goalkeeper Noelle Henning, who was named the goalkeeper of the competition, and made several outstanding stops in the final and throughout the tournament.

Canada had already defeated the United States with a historic 1-0 victory in the semi-final courtesy of goal from Léa Larouche.

This was the first time in 17 years that Canada have won a Concacaf U-20 women’s Championship, and a good sign that the next generation of ballers on the women’s side are ready to make some noise for Casey Stoney in the next few years.

Concacaf conquered. Now, it’s time to show the world at the 2026 U-20 Women’s World Cup in Poland.

CanMNT

🇨🇦 Canada name strong Gold Cup squad

Canada named its 2025 Gold Cup squad, and unlike some of its other Concacaf rivals, all of the big boys are there.

We already knew there would be no Davies and no Bombito through injury, but after most of the top dogs decided not to play at the 2023 Gold Cup, they are all part of the 26-man roster this time around.

Tajon, JD, Alistair, Staqs, Koné, Dayne, Larin… all of them are there. Are Canada the favourite to win this competition? On paper, it is looking pretty promising.

The only player from the Canadian Shield team who is not part of the Gold Cup group is Zorhan Bassong. Jonathan Osorio, who was a late add to the Canadian Shield roster, Kamal Miller, Tom McGill and Alistair Johnston are added to that group.

Canada kick off the 2025 Gold Cup at BC Place in Vancouver against Honduras on June 17, before rounding out the group stage in Houston against Curaçao and El Salvador. The final is in Houston at NRG Stadium on July 6. Circle that date in your calendar.

CanWNT

🇨🇦 CanWNT beat Haiti in Montréal

The vibes were high in Montréal this past Tuesday at Stade Saputo as Canada beat Haiti 3-1.

The Haitian community in the city showed out, and created an outstanding atmosphere.

It was hometown Canadian striker Evelyne Viens who gave the crowd the most to cheer about, however, scoring a brace. But it was young Holly Ward who was the player of the match, as she picked up an assist and her first national team goal.

Haiti’s 21-year-old Melchie Dumornay, who dominated the match at times, scored Haiti’s lone goal from the penalty spot.

Canada’s next international window will feature a big test. After hosting Costa Rica at BMO Field on June 27, they travel to Washington D.C. for a battle with world #1 United States. That will tell us a lot about where this team is at, but for now, the signs are very positive.

Canucks Abroad

🌍 Canucks Abroad

🇧🇪 Anderlecht officially wants Nathan Saliba. Last week, we shared speculations of Nathan Saliba leaving Montreal for Europe. This week, Fabrizio Romano and Tom Bogert have reported that Belgian club Anderlecht have officially approached CFM for the 21-year-old midfielder. Nathan Saliba is priced at €2.7 million with bonuses. Fun fact, current Anderlecht sporting director, Oliver Renard, who was CF MTL’s former sporting director.

🇳🇱 More interest in Niko Sigur. Saliba isn’t the only Canadian reportedly wanted by Anderlecht, with Sigur’s name also being thrown into the mix. Another club that has also emerged as a contender for Sigur’s services is Dutch club Utrecht. It’s a big off-season for the 21-year-old from Burnaby.

🇪🇸 Cyle Larin is wanted by other Spanish clubs. It seems like the 30-year-old striker’s relationship with Mallorca is coming to an end. It has been reported that Rayo Vallecano, Sevilla and Girona are all interested in landing Larin. However, those clubs are reportedly interested in securing a loan instead of a permanent move.

👑 Bianca St. Georges scored an equalizer. Racing Louisville hosted the Utah Royals in the NWSL. CanWNT forward equalized the game 2-2 with a perfectly timed run from the half way line and converting a beautiful long ball into a calm finish. Despite the goal, the game ended 3-2 for Louisville with Janine Sonis picking up an assist.

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Major League Soccer

⚽️ Canadian MLS Recap

🤢 Whitecaps suffer food poisoning. So much for those precautions. Despite taking extra care ahead of their Champions Cup final, the Whitecaps were forced to cancel training on Wednesday after a “significant” number of players came down with a mystery stomach bug. With nine first-teamers already out on international duty, Jesper Sorensen will have a headache as a laundry list of players landed on VWFC’s player status report for their clash against Seattle on Sunday.

▶️ Of course, the game still went on. This game really shouldn’t have been played — but, it really shouldn’t be all that surprising by now that MLS still made it happen. As such, the Whitecaps called up seven players from WFC2, including Canadians Antoine Coupland, Rayan Elloumi, Johnny Selemani and Daniel Russo. Tough circumstances, but also, solid opportunities.

🌊 And, of course, the Whitecaps still won. Yes, you read that right. Though, it probably also shouldn’t be surprising by now, given what we’ve seen from VWFC this season. Bolstered by most of the illness-striken first-teamers starting in the end, Surrey’s own Jeevan Badwal got retribution for the ‘Caps with his first goal in MLS. It was all too much for Seattle to handle, apparently, as two Sounders were dismissed within five minutes of each other. Daniel Rios added a second and Damir Kreilach a third from the spot to cement yet another resilient performance for this squad.

Canadian Premier League

🍁 CPL Recap

🌾 Valour benefit from School Day. This was an exciting match for the record 11,390 in attendance for Valour’s School Day match — with four goals and two red cards, they were thoroughly entertained. The red card for Vancouver’s Kunle Dada-Luke seemed questionable as he tried to calm the situation and did not behave violently. Themi Antonoglou perhaps deserved a yellow or even a red as his actions against David Norman Jr. was outwardly violent. Nonetheless, this was a good game for Valour as they picked up a 3-1 dub.

🏟️ Ottawa snap their winless streak. It wasn’t quite the vintage Ottawa performance we saw for the capital club at the start of this season. Still, Ottleti found a way to re-establish their lead atop the table from the penalty spot in the first half. Chances were end-to-end in this one but both sides lacked finish in a 1-0 final for the visitors.

🔨 Forge remain undefeated. Nine games down in their CPL season and Bobby Smyrniotis’ side have yet to lose. Sure, there were five draws in the mix, but, the Wanderers’ zero wins in Hamilton over the last six years also came to roost. Hoce Massunda impressed again (the second coming of Kwasi Poku, anyone?) as Forge held down a 2-1 win.

🐎 A record regular-season Cavs crowd, getting treated to vintage Sergio Camargo. It was really a perfect day for the 5,114 fans in Calgary on hand for the team’s sixth win in their last eight. Camargo had a brace on a sunny afternoon with Massimo Ferrin only putting a dent in the second 2-1 win for Sunday’s home teams.

⚜️ MTL to have a CPL club? Legendary Montreal sports journalist Tony Marinaro has tweeted that the 514 is a step closer to having a CPL franchise. The club will be owned by The North Sixth Group, the club will play at the same stadium as Roses MTL, with CS St. Laurent’s sporting director and manager, Rocco Placentino and Nick Razzaghi respectively, will be involved in this endeavour. The club is expected to be launched in 2026.

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Northern Super League

🌌 NSL Recap

🦉 Calgary weather a late Halifax rebound. It was goals galore in the NSL this week, starting off at McMahon… and on that note, what a start it was, as Ally Green picked out the opposite corner from 25 yards. Four more goals would go in over the course of the afternoon, including the Tides posting two in the second half. But, it would only be a scare for the Wild fans as Lydia Bedford battened down the hatches for a 3-2 result.

🪽 Ottawa rout Toronto. It was a really bad day at the office for Toronto, despite it being all sunny on Saturday afternoon at York Lions Stadium. AFCT’s backline never really had a chance to get organized, allowing the Rapid to get off to a bright start. Once there, they never looked back as a speedy Stella Downing scored her first, and DB Pridham notched the league’s first-ever hat-trick for a 4-0 trouncing.

🌹 Montréal reclaim top spot. The parity between the top five is real. After falling to a four-game winless streak, the Roses flew out of the gates coming back from the international break. Roses defender Stephanie Hill had what could be the goal of the week, turning two Vancouver players inside out before unleashing a screamer, the first in a 2-0 victory. That win saw them reopen a three-point lead over Ottawa, Calgary and Vancouver all level for second, with Toronto just a point behind.

🌎 17 players wrap up international duty. Earlier in the week, the 17 NSLers called up by their national teams also made their ways back to their clubs.

• Australia’s Kahli Johnson added an assist to her debut goal, though suffered a potential leg injury and missed out of the Wild’s win over Halifax.

• Milly Clegg scored for New Zealand in a 2-1 win over Venezuela, but didn’t make it back on time to feature for the Tides on the other side. Meikayla Moore and Ally Green did, however, make it back in time to suit up for Calgary.

• Ottawa’s Polish-Canadian dual-national Kayla Adamek featured as Poland secured their spot in UEFA WNL League A for 2027. Adamek was also named to Poland’s 2025 Women’s EURO squad.

• Tides goalkeeper Anika Tóth was on hand as the backup as Slovakia also ascended back to League B with a 2-1 win over the Faroe Islands.

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