Whitecaps' Champions Cup final run crests at a perfect time for Canadian soccer

New York Times

a day ago

Sam Adekugbe wants you to know that things in Vancouver, and maybe even Canada, are different than you'd expect.
Yes, the mountainous scenery and laid-back vibe makes the 2026 World Cup host locale one of the world's most livable cities. But perhaps you knew that already. According to the longtime Canada national team and Vancouver Whitecaps defender, there's more than just Instagram-worthy photo opportunities in the Pacific Northwest.
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'The coffee spots are hidden gems in this city,' Adekugbe boasts, his voice rising as he rapidly lists spots only locals would know. He swears they could compete with some of the better brews he's had playing in Europe.
Now that Adekugbe considers it, it might be time to let the secret out of the bag. There's more to Vancouver than meets the eye. That applies to its soccer as well. The Whitecaps have become the surprise in MLS this season. They sit atop the Western Conference and are now just one result away from becoming the first Canadian club to win the Concacaf Champions Cup. Sunday's final pits them against Mexican giant and six-time Concacaf champion Cruz Azul.
Vancouver has been building toward this, having won the last three Canadian Championships. Meanwhile, Canada's other two MLS sides, Toronto FC and CF Montréal, currently occupy the last two spots in the Eastern Conference, respectively.
It comes as no surprise to Adekugbe that the Whitecaps' ascent is paired with the cresting of the Canadian men's national team since Jesse Marsch took over in May 2024. Just over a year before Canada cohosts the World Cup, the national team has risen to a program-best 30th in FIFA's world ranking.
'We've been wanting to cement our legacy,' Adekugbe said, 'both with international football and club football.'
That's what makes the Whitecaps' appearance in Concacaf's biggest club game so significant for Canadian soccer. As the World Cup approaches, with Vancouver central to the country's role in hosting it, the Whitecaps are mirroring Canada's national team in more ways than one.
The Whitecaps certainly have a sense of timing.
Flash back to April 2015, when Montreal, then still known as the Impact, finished one of the most astonishing runs in Concacaf history, becoming the first Canadian team to make it to the Champions League final.
The previous year, the Impact finished dead last in MLS. En route to the final, they did not technically beat a Mexican side. Their two-leg quarterfinal win over Pachuca was due to the away goals tiebreaker, and after holding Club América to a draw in the first leg of the final at Estadio Azteca, they succumbed at home in a 5-3 aggregate defeat.
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Simultaneously, the Canadian men were ranked 114th by FIFA, one of their lowest in the program's history. Qualifying for a World Cup was a pipe dream.
Three years later, TFC's run almost cemented the Reds as the greatest side in MLS history. They set a league record (at the time) for most points in a season in 2017. With a team bolstered by great designated players, TFC got by Tigres UANL in the quarterfinals and América in the semis, but lost to Chivas in penalties in the final.
Consistently sold out, engaged crowds – plus the heightened media attention very few MLS clubs get – represented the golden era for a TFC side that has since tumbled hard from grace.
But it was also ahead of the curve. Elsewhere nationally, Alphonso Davies had only debuted for Canada in 2017 and was a Whitecaps prospect, not the household name he has grown to be. John Herdman took over the men's team early in 2018 and had only just begun building a Concacaf contender. By the time the 2026 World Cup was partially awarded to Canada that June, TFC had all but run out of steam in the aftermath of that Champions League run.
As part of his five-year plan following a necessary rebuild, former TFC president Bill Manning had wanted to capitalize on the World Cup coming to Canada. He envisioned the club as the go-to destination for Canadian national team players in MLS come 2026. Instead, Manning parted ways with the club in 2024 and TFC now has just two players who could crack the World Cup squad, both likely as bench players.
The Whitecaps' romp through Concacaf is different: it's both serendipitous but also reflective of a moment of change in Canadian soccer. They got through two Mexican sides (both on away goals tiebreaker, but doing so despite not winning the home leg) before steamrolling Lionel Messi's Inter Miami in the semifinals.
'After we won against Miami, I could feel it in my inbox,' Axel Schuster, Whitecaps sporting director and CEO, joked of the increased interest and curiosity around his team.
In a year or so, when the world descends on Canada, there will be a continued sense of curiosity.
Mexico and the United States' history in the game at the international and club levels makes them regional torch-bearers. Each has previously hosted a men's World Cup and is routinely expected to make it out of the tournament's group stage.
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As for Canada? So much of the history of the men's side is recent. So many of its soccer stories have yet to be told.
The Canadian Premier League has only been in existence as long as Schuster has been with the Whitecaps (2019). The men's national team rose toward the 2022 World Cup but sputtered in Qatar. Yet soccer continues to grow in popularity throughout the country. Come next summer, Canadian soccer will look for success stories to spark interest throughout the country.
'Every (World Cup) game is as big as the Super Bowl,' Schuster said. 'But in general, in North America, some people only now notice how big it will be.'
And so looking at the Whitecaps' run from 30,000 feet, it can be used to partly illustrate the tale of success on the men's side. That's why it matters in Canada. It's proof of concept for where the sport is at.
'Jesse (Marsch) and I speak, and he said, 'I love what you do. It's so easy to transition your players to the Canadian national team',' Schuster said. 'There are some synergies that are helpful.'
The Whitecaps and the men's team are built on similar styles of play. Under manager Jesper Sørensen, the Whitecaps may want to dominate possession more than Marsch's side. But in terms of their aggression, there's a similarity, as both Sørensen and Marsch want the game to be played at the highest of tempos.
'You've probably heard Jesse talk about it: definitely the physicality and aggression and the intensity that we want to play at,' Adekugbe said. 'With the Whitecaps, we try to play a possession game, but we're very intense with the way we want play. We're aggressive.'
Schuster insists there was no coordination between the Whitecaps and Marsch in terms of playing style, though 'it's obviously helpful' to the Whitecaps.
'The Canadian national team lately has been very clear,' Schuster said. 'The national team has now decided about their approach, style and that they want to go in one certain way.'
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Another synergy? Schuster and the Whitecaps' success has roots in a deep, balanced squad.
'When (Whitecaps ownership) picked me, we had the conversation before they made the decision,' said Schuster, who joined after leaving his post as a senior director at German club Schalke. 'I said, 'Look, if you want to go for the one-hit wonder, don't sign me. There's probably somebody who knows the league better. But if you want build something, if you want a foundation and if you want a build something sustainable, I'm here. But you also have to understand that it will take time'.'
While Schuster doesn't name TFC specifically, it's clear he didn't want to spend lavishly on the high-profile DPs some of his peers did. The Whitecaps' recent history shows they have spent lower on total team salaries than most MLS clubs. Their highest-paid DP, Ryan Gauld, had just the 23rd-highest guaranteed compensation of any MLS player last season, according to MLS Players Association figures ($2,985,000).
'I think a few years ago it was really about having the three best DPs and (MLS teams) would have a very successful team. I think now we are in a position to compete with the Mexican top teams now, because it's not about a one-off game where your best players are performing well. In terms of depth, our teams are now way better,' Schuster said.
Scouting for depth has led to some previously unheralded players such as 24-year-old American midfielder Sebastian Berhalter and 22-year-old Canadian winger Jayden Nelson elevating their games and becoming crucial pieces.
After joining TFC's academy at 14 and eventually becoming a regular starter in 2022, Nelson sought European opportunities in Norway and Germany's second division. He struggled, and his career looked like it might be derailed. But the Whitecaps saw talent, and Nelson has been a breakout star, punctuated by a one-goal, three-assist masterclass vs. Portland in February.
'Jayden's been a surprise, right?' Adekugbe said. 'We've always known his capabilities, but going abroad and coming back has given him a new mindset. You're seeing that ruthlessness as well.'
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Nelson has turned his strong performances into his first Canada call-up since 2023.
'I love the way they're playing,' Marsch said in April of Vancouver. 'I think it's very much aligned with the things in the principles and concepts that we value as a national team, and what we're trying to achieve.'
One of Marsch's goals is building out his team's depth. He knows who his high-end talent will be in 2026. He's still in the process of determining which players he can truly trust to take on supporting roles. Come 2026, Canada could learn there is more to the men's national team than European-based stars like Davies and Jonathan David.
The Whitecaps' Ali Ahmed, for example, is among the players who were hardly on the radar for the last World Cup but could wind up in an elevated position come 2026.
'The main thing with Ali, there's maturity that's come to his game,' Adekugbe said. 'You see a relentlessness or ruthlessness and aggression that I think Jesse has really pushed him to get to those levels, and I've seen it now in transpiring club football. He's very dynamic, he's aggressive, and I think as a winger, one of the best attributes you can have is to be very ruthless, and not stopping.'
It is the depth of the team – and the divergent stories each player has – that could become one of Canada's strengths. The Whitecaps are one and the same.
'We want to be the go-to place for domestic talent, and we want to be in the one place players pick to play for to develop into the next level,' Schuster said.
Becoming the first Canadian side to be crowned Concacaf's top team would help Schuster's cause.
And while he insists he hasn't allowed himself a moment to reflect on the Whitecaps run, he isn't afraid to say out loud what many in Canadian soccer already know: Vancouver looks more and more like the model for domestic success.
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When the World Cup kicks off in Canada in a year, the Whitecaps look closer than any other Canadian team of showing what club soccer – and perhaps the sport in general – is capable of. Boasting a continental championship would underscore that to the fullest degree.
'Soccer in Canada is growing and climbing up to the peak at exactly the right time,' Schuster said. 'It's one year before the World Cup, when we have to be at our peak.'