Happy Monday!

The Canadian women’s national team are back in the goals and that has us feeling a lot more optimistic heading into an important year for Casey Stoney’s squad.

Plus, the Whitecaps look like they are going to be a problem again this year, both in the league and Champions Cup, a tough update on Promise David’s injury situation and plenty more in this week’s edition of The Northern Pitch.

Well, that’s a sigh of relief.

Following five losses to end 2025, all without a goal, Canada dropped four on Colombia to open the 2026 SheBelieves Cup with a statement 4-1 victory.

Vanessa Gilles finally ended Canada’s brutal goalless drought, scoring in the 31st minute on a lovely set-piece delivery from Janine Sonis — and that only seemed to ignite this Canadian team.

Sonis was pure class on the day, and added a second on a stunning free kick early in the second half.

The last two Canadian goals were a pair of feel-good stories. First, it was Sydney Collins getting her first international goal after a really difficult past few years with injury.

Then, Cloé Lacasse, who herself just returned from an ACL injury, assisted Nichelle Prince’s goal for Canada’s fourth on the day. The vibes couldn’t have been higher.

Are CanWNT back? We will probably get an even better idea on Wednesday when they take on World #2, the United States (6:45 p.m. ET) in Columbus. Canada were outclassed when they faced them in July, so it would be nice to see a far more competitive match this time around. This squad, however, seem up for it.

Four Canadian clubs kicked off the 2026 Concacaf Champions Cup, but after round one, only one remains.

After a competitive first leg, Atlético Ottawa were played off the park in Music City, losing 5-0 to Nashville SC. Former Forge baller Woobens Pacius scored again, while Mississauga’s Jordan Knight added his first professional goal. A lot to celebrate for Canadians despite the CPL champs getting trounced.

They joined fellow CPL sides Forge and Vancouver FC in an early exit. Still a lot to learn for Canadian Premier League sides in this competition.

The kings of Canada, however, continue to thrive on the continent as the Whitecaps advanced past Cartaginés. They won the second leg 2-0 on goals by Kenji Cabrera and Sebastian Berhalter.

Now, it’s a Cascadia clash in the round of 16. The Whitecaps take on the only MLS team to win the modern edition of this competition, the Seattle Sounders, starting on Thursday, March 12 at home, before heading down to Seattle for Leg Two on Wednesday, March 18.

Interestingly, the second leg will be played at One Spokane Stadium, a 5,000-seat stadium, due to Lumen Field’s World Cup prep. The Whitecaps know a thing or two about that.

Can we just bubble wrap the lads for the next few months, please?

Last weekend was a rough one for Canadians fans as they saw three players carted off the pitch — including Canadian women’s national team player Olivia Smith for Arsenal who has since missed out on the SheBelieves Cup.

The most concerning prognoses, however, is that of striker Promise David. After a scary collision in USG’s game against Royal Antwerp last weekend, David has since undergone surgery to repair a ruptured tendon connected to his quad.

The initial timeline given for his recovery is 3-5 months. The World Cup is in just over three. With that in mind, it seems incredibly unlikely that Promise David will be part of Canada’s squad, which is pretty heartbreaking on a number of levels.

The 24-year-old’s incredible rise saw him become the most effective Canadian striker this season at club level. Now, others are going to have to step up big time.

One good bit of news? After being helped off last weekend, Alphonso Davies is already back in training, and it looks increasingly possible that he will be fit and available for Canada’s March window.

After being unavailable for nearly an entire year as a result of an ACL injury, the return of Canada’s captain would be a big boost, especially with so many other injuries.

The competition for Canada’s striker positions is now a little bit more wide open — and March could be a crucial camp for a lot of players.

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🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 Ali Ahmed is loving life at Norwich. The CanMNT winger and Norwich travelled to the King Power Stadium to face off against struggling Leicester City. The Canaries dispatched the Foxes 2-0 with Ali Ahmed finding the net in the 78th minute.

🇮🇹 Ismaël Koné is THAT guy. Koné somersaulted his way to delivering Sassuolo a 2-1 win over Atalanta on Sunday, putting a deft little flick to open the scoring from a corner. Oh, and did we mention that was with Sassuolo down to ten men after 16 minutes? Baller.

🇸🇪 Sam Salter scored his first goal in Sweden. GAIS hosted Landskrona BoIS in the Svenska Cupen (Swedish Cup). GAIS defeated the away side 3-0 with Sam Salter finding the net in the 31st minute.

🇵🇹 Dieu-Merci Michel scores. It’s been a hot minute since DMM was touted to be the next big dual-national fight for the CanMNT to wage. Since then, he’s been quietly working away on loan at Leiria in the Portuguese second tier, where he scored his second goal of the season this week.

🇪🇪 Abdul Binate to Estonia. The CF Montréal graduate and former Valour FC player has signed for Estonian top-flight club Harju JK. Binate moved to Estonia after spending a season in Ligue 1 Québec.

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☀️ Stephen Eustaquio with a screamer. Staqs opened his LAFC account with a banger in a 2-0 road win against Houston Dynamo. The CanMNT midfielder scored the second of the night with a screamer from outside the box. Also, Mathieu Choinière came off the bench in the 84th minute, meaning both CanMNT midfielders were playing side-by-side for the last moments of the game. Also former TFC baller Marky Delgado scored a banger.

🌊 Are the Whitecaps cooking with oil or butter? Vancouver was cooking something nice, and Toronto FC had to eat it. Walker Zimmerman's late tackle on AZ led to a penalty that was converted by Thomas Müller. The Bavarian would score another goal in the 37th with Brian White finding the net in the 45th+2. The game ended 3-0 and TFC were thoroughly cooked. On the bright side for the boys in red, Djordje Milhailovic is proving to be their most important player. A real gem of a player with Montrealers missing him like the ex that got away.

🔵 Thomas Gillier deserved better. The CF MTL keeper had an incredible performance at Soldier Field against the Chicago Fire. The Chilean keeper made seven saves. However, the team in front of him had a depressing performance. Despite Chicago being given a red card in the 56th minute, CFM could not string more than three passes and made zero shots on target. MTL’s defence was equally shocking. The game ended 3-0 win for Chicago. CFM have conceded 8 goals in two games with zero scored goals.

🦩 Maxime Crépeau vs Dayne St. Clair. It went down in Florida as Orlando City hosted and were defeated by Inter Miami 4-2. This was a significant matchup between Canada’s rotating keepers. For Max, it was a solid first half performance as he denied Messi two 1-on-1 opportunities while St. Clair conceded two goals. The second half, it was something for Max to forget about and Dayne to celebrate. To summarize, Messi happened and that was that.

🎸 First pro minutes for Charles-Emile Brunet. Earlier this month, Nashville SC signed the former CF Montreal academy player in the MLS SuperDraft. This week, Brunet marked a major milestone as he came off the bench in the 64th minute and logged his first pro minutes against Atletico Ottawa.

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⚓️ Victor Akinwale signed with the Wanderers. The Haligonians have landed a major signing from the 21-year-old forward. The Crystal Palace and U18 England international will be in Nova Scotia through 2026, with options for 2027 and 2028.

🔱 Pacific was defeated by a university team. As the CPL season inches closer, clubs are getting ready through pre-season exhibition matches. Pacific FC played against the University of Victoria and were defeated 1-0. Not a good look. However, it is pre-season friendlies; it is an opportunity to try new tactics and tweak formations. Better to make mistakes now.

👏 David Norman Jr hangs up his boots. The former Cavalry, Pacific and Vancouver FC man called full time on his career this week, just days after checking off a Champions Cup appearance with VFC against reigning champions Cruz Azul. Norman Jr also played across the British Isles, lifting the FAI Cup with Irish club St Pat’s in 2023.

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This week’s FanDuel fan of the week is Racky Sow. We caught up with the brilliant Senegalese-Canadian Stylist and Creative Director in this week’s What’s it to Ya? Check out the full interview here