September 2nd Edition

As the calendar flips to September, international footy is back and CanMNT have two tasty friendlies to kick off their fall schedule.

Canada take on the United States this coming Saturday, and Mexico on Tuesday, in a pair of friendlies down south that are sure to bring the heat even if summer is nearing its end.

The NSL is standing on serious business in the last few months of 2024, with big announcements every week right now it seems like, and teasing some potentially even bigger ones.

Plus, the 2024 Canadian Championship final is set, CanMNT has a few new faces, Canadians are gonna face off in the Champions League, and more ahead on The Northern Pitch.

In this week's edition:

• 🏔️ Vancouver Rises & NSL updates

• 🍁 Canadian Championship final set

• 🇨🇦 CanMNT vs USMNT ‘Friendly’

• 🌍 Canucks Abroad

• 🏡 Canucks at Home

• 📰 Other News

• ✅ Northern Picks

NSL

🏔️ Vancouver Rises & more NSL updates

The Northern Super League continues to reveal its brand identities ahead of an ever-approaching league launch scheduled for April 2025, and the latest franchise to do so is Vancouver. The team, owned by Vancouver Whitecaps majority owner Greg Kerfoot, chose a unique colour scheme and a logo that while sharing similarities with the MLS club stands out on its own.

That leaves Montréal as the lone year-one NSL club that has yet to reveal its brand identity, although that is expected to be announced soon.

Vancouver Rise didn’t waste any time making an even bigger splash with a teaser post featuring the GOAT Christine Sinclair in a Vancouver Rise FC hoodie, and holding up a scarf, with the caption “Something BIG coming soon @sincy12”.

The involvement is exciting whether or not the 41-year-old—the greatest international goalscorer of all time—is joining the club as a player or in some other role. Having been born in Burnaby, joining NSL’s Vancouver Rise would be a perfect homecoming and raise the league's interest in its opening season.

In other NSL news, AFC Toronto have found a home at York Lions Stadium. The University stadium is also home to the Canadian Premier League’s York United FC, Toronto FC II, and as well as York University’s athletic teams.

Whether the stadium is the long-term home for the club remains to be seen, as everything they have posted so far reads ‘home for 2025’. York United’s new ownership has also been clear they are looking for a new soccer-specific home in coming years, so perhaps there is a further partnership to be developed somewhere there.

CanChamp

🍁 Canadian Championship final set

For the fifth time in CanChamp history, it is Toronto FC versus the Vancouver Whitecaps in the final on September 25 at BC Place in Vancouver.

The Whitecaps shot at a three-peat was confirmed when they defeated Pacific FC 1-0 (2-0 on aggregate) on Tuesday at BC Place in the second leg of the semifinal. Both goals in the series were scored by Ryan Gauld.

Vancouver are coming off victories in both the 2023 and 2022 finals, both of which were at home. They defeated Toronto FC in penalties during the 2022 final.

Toronto FC are looking to win their first proper Canadian Championship tournament since 2018, when it was them who got the better of the Whitecaps 7-4 on aggregate, courtesy of a Jozy Altidore hattrick in the second leg. They have been to the final three times since, and did win the pandemic-delayed 2020 edition in a penalty shootout against Forge, but that was just a one-game final and not a full CanChamp tournament.

It was Forge who they defeated again en route to this year’s final, albeit narrowly with a 1-0 victory on Tuesday courtesy of a Lorenzo Insigne goal (and some controversial beard-pulling) on away goals (2-2 on aggregate).

Both teams will be hungry to lift some silverware this season, and get themselves back into Concacaf competition. For Toronto FC, winning would mean their ninth title, while for the Whitecaps it would be just their fourth — but only the second time a team has won three straight since Toronto FC did it between 2016 and 2018.

CanMNT

🇨🇦 CanMNT vs USMNT ‘Friendly’

It’s a ‘friendly’ in name only any time Canada takes on the United States in international footy.

That’s especially true when Canada’s manager is an American thought to have been a favourite for the USMNT job, and someone who has been critical of US Soccer, while the United States are playing their first match under Mauricio Pochettino.

Put Saturday, September 7th (4:00 p.m. ET / 1:00 p.m. PT) in your calendar. Fireworks are incoming.

Jesse Marsch named his 23-player squad for the match, to be played in Kansas City, which included a pair of first-time call-ups. Dual national 20-year-old Niko Sigur received his first Canada callup after representing Croatia at the youth level, and Sporting Kansas City standout forward Stephen Afrifa is also in the group after a breakout MLS season. Meanwhile, 20-year-old CF Montréal midfielder Nathan Saliba also received his first call-up after Sam Adekugbe recently withdrew due to injury.

Canada will also play Mexico on Tuesday, September 10th in Dallas. Both matches will be excellent opportunities to test themselves against the top two ranked teams in the region (and two top 20 opponents in the FIFA rankings).

Canada are using these friendlies to prepare for November’s Concacaf Nations League quarter-finals. Canada lost to Jamaica in a home-and-away quarter-final during last year’s Nations League competition, and will want to be sure they can at least reach the final four again this time around. Testing themselves against Concacaf’s best is top preparation for that.

Canucks Abroad

🌍 Canucks Abroad

🏆 Canucks in the Champions League baby! Bayern Munich, Celtic, Inter Milan and Lille. Alphonso Davies, Alistair Johnston, Tajon Buchanan and Jonathan David. By now, everyone is informed of the Champions League's new league phase format and the increase from 32 to 36 teams. If you’re out of the loop, here’s a breakdown. The CanMNT players will not face each other in the league phase but will face big opponents. Phonzy will face PSG and Barcelona. AJ will play against Atalanta and Dortmund. If fit, TJ could play against Manchester City, Leipzig, Arsenal and Bayer Leverkusen. Finally, JD and Lille will play against Real Madrid, Liverpool, Juventus, and Atletico Madrid. Oof. A full list of matchups for these Canucks can be found here.

🏆 Canucks in the Europa League baby! If you’re a real hipster with a pretentious taste for coffee like the majority of Montrealers in the Plateau. Europa League is your black allongé. Just like the Champions League, the Europa League has been reformatted with a league phase as well. Porto, OGC Nice, and Union Saint-Gilloise are in the competition. Stephen Eustaquio, Moïse Bombito and Promise David. Porto and Staqs will play against Manchester United and Lazio. Bombito and Nice will play Rangers, Lazio, Real Sociedad and against fellow Canuck Promise David and Union Saint-Gilloise. Promise David, along with playing against Nice, will also face AS Roma, Rangers, Braga and Fenerbahçe. Full list of opponents and league phase explanation can be found here.

🍁 A Canuck in the UEFA Conference League baby! Zachary Brault-Guillard will be playing in the UEFA Conference League. The former CF MTL wing-back made the move to Swiss club Lugano earlier this summer, meaning he will play against MTL teammate Mathieu Choinière in the Swiss league. ZBG and Lugano will play against six clubs in the league phase, including KAA Gent and Legia Warsaw — check here for a quick recap.

🇨🇭 Mathieu Choinière (officially) joins Grasshopper. After what seemed like a good few months’ worth of speculation, Choinière finally gets his European move. The former CFMTL midfielder signed earlier this week, inking a three-and-a-half year deal with the Swiss club.

🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 Loan moves galore. With transfer windows wrapping up across Europe, teams have been doing some other last-minute shopping. This week, we saw moves to Watford and Ulm confirmed for Dan Jebbison and Jayden Nelson. Former CanPL striker Aribim Pepple also completed a switch from Luton to Southend, in the English fifth tier.

🇩🇿 Mo Farsi called up to Algeria. The Mohamed Farsi saga is over. His dreams have come to fruition. Algeria has finally called up the Montreal-born fullback for their Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers against Equatorial Guinea and Liberia. For any Montrealers, get ready to count the influx of Mo Farsi Algeria kits.

🇧🇪 Kwasi Poku featured in the starting lineup for RWD Molenbeek. The former Forge baller was named to the XI for RWD Molenbeek in a 2-1 win against Eupen. First start, first win.

📈 Jovan Ivanisevic on the rise. After getting his first first-team minutes in league action last week, the former TFC and current CanM20 centreback once again got the nod. Ivanisevic would go the full 90’ as Istra shut out Slaven Belupo, 1-0. Solid footing for the 19-year-old.

🌲 MLS Portlanada stands strong. Maxime Crépeau and Kamal Miller both started the Timbers’ Cascadia rivalry match against Seattle. The pair, plus James Pantemis on the bench, would help backstop a clean sheet and a 1-0 win, lifting the side to a point behind Vancouver in the table.

🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 Alistair Johnston’s early morning magic. Ali would once again conjure up something special for Celtic, as Canadians woke up on Sunday. Rangers supporters will probably want to look away, as the baller wheeled and dealed the assist on the hosts’ opener in a 3-0 Darby day win.

Follow Canucks Abroad on Twitter and Instagram.

Canucks at Home

🏡 Canucks at Home

🇨🇦 Stephen Afrifa to the CanMNT. Jesse Marsch has been moving heavily this past month. The gaffer has been tying down Canadian youths with dual nationalities. Now, he adds Stephen Afrifa to the fold. The Toronto-born Sporting Kansas City forward can also represent Ghana. Like Bombito, Afrifa flew under the radar and made the leap from college ball to MLS without many paying attention. For Marsch, this was another talent that would benefit Canada’s future.

🇨🇦 Nathan Saliba has been called up to CanMNT. There is some silver lining for CF fans. Homegrown talent Nathan Saliba has been called up to the national team, while club captain and teammate Samuel Piette has been left out for the upcoming friendlies. However, the Montreal midfielder is replacing Sam Adekugbe due to injury.

🏆 League 1 teams in the CanChamp. The champions of League1/Ligue1 in BC, Alberta, Ontario and Quebec have qualified for next year’s CanChamp. BC’s TSS Rovers and Quebec’s FC Laval make their return to the competition. Ontario’s Scrosoppi FC and Alberta’s Scottish United SC will make their debut in the Voyageurs’ Cup. It is a bigger deal for Scottish United, as they will be the first Albertan League1 club to feature in the CanChamp.

Follow Canucks at Home on Twitter and Instagram.

Other News

📰 In other news this week

🇧🇪 Sunusi Ibrahim to Standard Liège? The 21-year-old Nigerian forward has been a clutch performer for MTL this season. Ibrahim has registered six goals and an assist this season, and the Belgian club has been scouting him. The Belgian transfer market closes on September 6th. As reported by Nilton Jorge, Standard Liège are looking to loan Sunusi with the option to buy.

🌊 Vancouver continues to be Canada’s best team. While TFC have been mid and MTL have been depressing, the Whitecaps have been great. Vanni Sartini and the Caps travelled south to Austin. Despite the Verde sitting in 10th place, Vancouver had to work for their win. Brian White’s absence was a major factor in the Cap’s attacking prowess. However, this game has displayed that the Caps can still get the job done without White. The game's only goal came from a Pedro Vite banger assisted by Ryan Gauld. Vancouver leaves Texas with a 1-0 win.

🔴 A long night at BMO. DC United travelled to BMO Field in their quest to solidify a play-off spot. The first half was relatively uneventful, while all four goals came in the second half. TFC's defence continues to display frailties, with all the goals coming down from Toronto’s left-hand side. Bernadeschi’s absence has been felt in this game. There was a lack of creativity and an attacking threat coming down the wing. Insigne does not carry a team like Bernadeschi. TFC lost 3-1 at home. Cue the drones?

🔵 It’s getting worse for CF MTL. TFC supporters revel in the Titanic-like catastrophe that is CF Montréal. Bleu-blanc-noir travelled to second-place Cincinnati, a game in which Luciano Acosta was unavailable. This game summarized their season: shaky defending, difficulty finishing, and difficulty creating chances. The team's morale is at an all-time low. It is unfortunate for Laurent Courtois; his tactics were effective and pragmatic, but the personnel were not. The club needs a satisfying win to regain momentum if they want a play-off spot. But their defensive woes need to be solved, and with the second-worst goal differential in the league at -23, it’s not looking good. CFM return home losing 4-1 at Cincinnati.

🔱 It’s Noah Jensen’s world, and PFC was living in it. Let’s state this immediately: that half-volley in the 24th minute was art. Jensen’s second goal in the 58th minute was also art. Two absolute screamers defined this game. These are quality goals that most would dream of scoring in a single match—a true testament to his technical ability. Pacific FC’s defence was left to be desired as they left pockets of space that allowed Jensen to score those bangers. The game ended 2-0 for Forge.

🐎 Cavalry FC hosted Valour in a four-goal thriller. The first half was tense, as both teams attacked effectively but were unable to unlock each other. The second half was a different story. The Cavs scored first in the 56th and then in the 60th minute. Valour made a comeback starting in the 66th minute with a thumping header by Raphael Ohin. The Winnipeg club equalized in the 70th minute from another header by Abdul Binate. Cavalry conceded both goals from corner kick set-pieces. The game ended in a 2-2 draw.

🏟️ Ilias Iliadis, take a(nother) bow. Iliadis saw Noah Jensen’s work and thought “I could also do that”… or well, that’s how we like to think it went down in his head. Mostly because the Ottawa midfielder would officially score his second Olimpico of the month, with some help from off the Vancouver keeper. A three-game skid last month now solidly in the rearview mirror, that scoreline would stay the same the rest of the way for a 1-0 Ottawa win.

⚽️ Labour Day Classic on tap. But wait, there’s still more CPL action this long weekend! Now a CPL tradition, Halifax and York will play on the holiday Monday for the second year in a row, and third since 2021. The fixture tossed up an all-time 3-3 draw in the rain back in its first rendition. The Nine Stripes claimed three points in 2023, as then-skipper Roger Thompson scored his only league goal ever, the match-winner for the club in a 2-1 result.

✅ Northern Picks

This week’s picks come from Karim Mehdi (@karimmehdii). He’s currently doing his last year in Athletic Therapy and interning for CF Montreal.

🎧 What to listen to

The Sick Podcast - CF MTL Talk. Love him or hate him, Tony gives you the good and the bad regarding our city’s club. Personally, I find it a good listen when driving, and maybe you will too.

📺 What to watch

Rabona TV. A Canadian cult hero, Adrien makes the most boring football story an absolute tale of the tapes. Alongside a great storyline, you end up by learning so much about different sides of the game.

✅ Who to follow

@Versus on IG. The captions are unmatched, unrivalled and unbeaten. Seriously forgotten ballers end up getting the flowers they deserve alongside up and coming ballers.