The soccer world was in Canada this week, as Vancouver hosted the 76th edition of the FIFA Congress.

But it certainly isn’t all celebrations for soccer in BC right now, as more concerning stories emerge about the future of the Vancouver Whitecaps.

Plus, a CanWNT baller reaches the UEFA Women’s Champions League final and plenty more ahead in this week’s edition of The Northern Pitch.

It started with a story published in The Athletic on Monday by two of the top MLS insiders, Tom Borgert and Paul Tenario, about the fact that MLS owners met in April to discuss the Whitecaps’ future, including relocation to Las Vegas.

This prompted a not-so-reassuring statement from the Whitecaps about how difficult it has been to make any progress in their mission to find a new ownership group that will keep the team in Vancouver.

Since then, it seems like all the players are now in the game. Local and provincial politicians are putting out statements and meeting with Major League Soccer officials. Concrete offers are coming in for those interested in Las Vegas.

As if the situation wasn’t already weird enough, someone also apparently hacked Don Garber’s Twitter account and used it to have a go at BC Premier David Eby who is a “liar, liar pants on fire”, apparently.

This all happened while the 76th FIFA Congress was in town, with #SavetheCaps protests going on outside the event.

With the World Cup coming to the city in just 40 days, this remains a sad story for the current kings of Canada, who on the pitch and in the stands remain one of the top sides on the continent.

Hopefully, this is the final wakeup call needed for Canadian soccer and sport, and corporate Canada to come together and unite behind this historic team to keep them where they belong. But it seems like the clock is ticking faster than ever.

Three CanWNT players and their clubs entered the semi-final round of the UEFA Women’s Champions League, but after this weekend, only one remains.

Despite losing 2-1 in the first leg, Ashley Lawrence and OL Lyonnes returned home and defeated Olivia Smith’s Arsenal 3-1 to advance 4-3 on aggregate. Lawrence went the full 90 for Lyonnes, while Smith was subbed out in the 71st minute.

Arsenal tied it late through Alessia Russo in the 76th minute, but in the 86th, Jule Brand, who scored Lyonnes’ only goal of the first leg, scored the series winner to eliminate the defending champs, Arsenal.

Then on Sunday, it was heartbreak for Vanessa Gilles and Bayern Munich, as they lost 4-2 to Barcelona at Camp Nou to fall 5-3 on aggregate in their semi-final. Gilles went the full 90 for Bayern, who could not recover from an Alexia Putellas brace.

Lyonnes are looking for their record ninth UEFA Champions League title, but for Lawrence it would be her first after she was a runner-up in the 2016-17 final while playing for PSG, losing to, as fate would have it, OL Lyonnes.

Their opponent, Barcelona, have won two of the last three Champions League finals, and was a finalist in 2025. So this is the best team in the competition’s history vs. the best team in recent history.

The final goes down on May 23 in Oslo, Norway.

The Canadian government announced this week that it is making a significant investment in Canadian soccer through the Build Communities Strong Fund to the tune of just over $9.8 million, to be allocated toward the construction of a National Training Centre.

The project aims to establish a world-class home for Canadian soccer, where there can be a centralized hub to bring together the country’s top players, staff and footballing minds.

There have been 18 different locations across Canada which have put forward requests for information proposals where this facility can be built. Canada Soccer is currently narrowing down that list. Public updates are expected to be provided.

Considering the national training centre is a foundational element of most top soccer nations, this will be a big step forward, and this funding is a big step in that direction.

🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 Cyle Larin on the double. This week featured not just one, but two Cyle Larin goals as Southampton wrapped up their season and finished in the promotion playoff spots. The Brampton Bagsman scored in the Saints’ 2-2 draw midweek against Ipswich and a 3-1 win over Preston on the final day.

🇪🇸 Tajon Buchanan pads the lead. Villarreal officially qualified for next season’s Champions League with a 5-1 win over Levante. The fourth of the Yellow Submarine’s goals came off the boot of TJ, who found the back of the net minutes after entering.

🇸🇪 Sam Salter off the mark. Sammy Saltbae opened his Swedish account, and what a match to do it in. He was mobbed by his teammates, including a couple of enthusiastic pats from fellow Canuck Matteo De Brienne, after making it 2-0 for GAIS against rivals Örgryte.

🦢 Nichelle Prince and BSG deliver. Boston Legacy picked up their first two results this week, a draw and a win, and the Canadians played their part. Midweek, Niche had not one, but two assists in a 2-2 draw against North Carolina. Then, both NP7 and BSG scored as the Legacy defeated Denver for their first-ever win on Sunday.

🌹 Mimi Alidou assist. Alidou gave the Thorns a helping hand on Wednesday with the assist on the insurance goal in a 2-0 win over San Diego. The win led the Thorns to a nine-point week owing to a quick turnaround.

🇮🇹 Évelyne Viens assist. Even a quiet week is not that quiet for Év. She turned in an assist as Roma downed Ternana, 2-0, in Serie A Femminile action.

🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 Olivia Smith doing Olivia Smith things. Arsenal took a quick break from their UWCL semi-final against Lyon on Wednesday to thrash Leicester City, 7-0. Smith had an assist in the rout, because, of course she did.

🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 Alistair Johnston assist. AJ’s back — and in a big way. He had his first start for Celtic this calendar year and took only 43 minutes to make an impact as he laced a cross that led to the opener. He also won his side a man advantage in a 2-1 win over Hibernian.

🩼 Ali Ahmed injured. Not good, guv’nah. Ahmed had to be taken off at half-time and was later seen limping onto the team bus after a hard challenge in a 2-1 loss to Liam Millar’s Hull City. Hopefully, it’s a quick one that AA21 can shake off.

🤕 Nathan Saliba injured. Aussi, c’est pas bon. Adding to Jesse Marsch’s ongoing injury migraine, Saliba was held out of Anderlecht’s match against Club Brugge due to a knock suffered in training. No news yet on whether this one could be big, either.

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🔴 Toronto held to a draw at home. TFC hosted the San Jose Earthquakes at BMO Field. TFC took the lead from a calm finesse finish at the far post by Daniel Salloi. San Jose equalized in the 14th minute. The game ended in a 1-1 stalemate.

🔵 Rough night in Georgia for MTL. Bleu-blanc-noir travelled south to face off against Atlanta United. Despite the positive last two games, this game was a reminder of CFM’s shortcomings: defensive mistakes and bad turnovers. Silly mistakes that compounded and lead to a 3-1 defeat for CF MTL.

🌊 No Muller, no party. The Caps travelled to LA to play against the Galaxy. Vancouver was without Thomas Müller, who was out due to illness. It was a tight affair, as neither team could truly break the other down. LA’s goal came from a mistake by Takaoka. The game ended 1-1 after Mathias Laborda converted a header from a free kick in the 82nd minute.

🧤 Maxime Crépeau had a good night. It was another Florida Darby, which also means a CanMNT goalkeeper Darby between Dayne St. Clair and Maxime Crepeau. This time around, Crepeau got the upper hand as Orlando defeated Miami 4-3. Max registered four saves, one of which was a save from Messi’s free kick.

Saturday, May 9
Toronto FC vs. Inter Miami CF (1:00pm ET @ BMO Field) CF Montreal vs. Orlando City (4:30pm ET @ Stade Saputo) San Jose Earthquakes vs. Vancouver Whitecaps (7:30pm PT)

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🏡 “If you need a home in the GTA,” we have the man for you, Tomasz Skublak. The Inter Toronto striker scored a brace against Atletico Ottawa and then went viral for showing his real estate business card. The biggest dub was with Inter Toronto as they defeated Atletico Ottawa 4-1.

⚓️ Halifax lose a second game straight. Vanni Sartini and the Wanderers hosted Forge FC and were handed a 3-1 loss. With this win, Forge have now secured their spot in first place. While Halifax now sit in 5th, picking up five point in the last five games.

🐴 Cavalry defeat Supra at Stade Boreale. The Cavs travelled for the first time to Laval to play against the league’s newest club. Supra played at Stade Boreale for the first time, sharing the venue with NSL club Roses de Montreal. This was a frustrating game for both sides as neither could finish their chances. Cavalry were given a bit of luck as they won and converted their penalty in the 88th minute. The game ended 1-0.

🦅 Vancouver take BC bragging rights. The Eagles arrived in Victoria and promptly defeated their SixFive sister club Pacific. Ex-Trident Terran Campbell came back to bite the hand that used to feed him, scoring the second-half brace that secured Vancouver’s 3-1 win. It also narrowed Pacific striker Alejandro Diaz’s all-time goals lead to two.

Wednesday, May 13
Forge FC vs. FC Supra du Quebec (11 AM ET @ Hamilton Stadium)

Sunday, May 17
Atletico Ottawa vs. Halifax Wanderers (1 PM ET @ TD Place Stadium)
Pacific FC vs. Inter Toronto FC (2 PM PT @ Starlight Stadium)
Vancouver FC vs. Cavalry FC (6 PM PT @ Willoughby Community Park)

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🪽 Seven goal thriller in Ottawa. The Ottawa Rapids hosted the Calgary Wild in their home opener at TD Place Stadium. This game was thoroughly entertaining with six goals in the first half. The game winner came in the 64th minute with a goal from Choo Hyo-Joo. The game ended 5-2 for the Ottawa Rapids.

🌹 The Roses come home with a bang. The Montreal Roses know how to entertain the home crowd. The Vancouver Rise visited Montreal at Stade Boreale, and left with a 4-0 defeat. The Roses exposed Vancouver’s backline and exploited every mistake. The Roses are enjoying a good start to the season.

🏟️ AFC Toronto held to a draw at BMO Field. AFC faced off against the Halifax Tides and were held to a 0-0 draw. This was a game that frustrated both sides. Halifax and Toronto had similar attacking stats but were unable to finish their chances. This was an offensive game without any payoff.

Wednesday, May 6
Ottawa Rapid vs. Vancouver Rise (7 PM ET @ TD Place)

Sunday, May 10
AFC Toronto vs. Montréal Roses (1 PM ET @ BMO Field)

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