Edmonton returns to Canadian Championship, meet CPL champions in opening round

Edmonton Scottish playing a game in May 2024. (Photo Credit: X/@scottishunited)

By CityNews Staff and the Canadian Press

Posted December 13, 2024 10:24 am.

Last Updated December 13, 2024 10:26 am.

The Canadian Championship soccer’s top prize in Canada. The annual tournament has featured professional teams from the MLS since 2008, from the Canadian Premier League (CPL) since its inaugural season in 2019, and semi-pro teams.

Now for the first time since FC Edmonton had a team in 2022, the city of Edmonton will once again be in the national competition.

How was this achieved? In 2024, League1 Alberta played its first official season after running some exhibition seasons, with seven clubs in Calgary, Edmonton, and St. Albert.

Additionally, League1 Alberta would also join League1 British Columbia, League1 Ontario, and Ligue1 Quebec under the League1 Canada umbrella to develop soccer players across the country.

Under League1 Canada, the champions of all four leagues also earn the right to join the three MLS teams and eight CPL teams in the Canadian Championship.

Due to this, the 2025 tournament features its biggest-ever field with 15 teams, with League1 Alberta becoming the latest league to join the competition.

League1 Alberta’s inaugural spot is filled by their 2024 champion — Edmonton Scottish United FC.

Thursday, the Canadian Soccer Association hosted the draw for the 2025 tournament, which resulted in a lot of provincial matchups.

For Edmonton Scottish’s first trip to the competition, they did not draw an easy opponent, as they will be heading down the QEII to take on the 2024 CPL champions — Cavalry FC.

The matchup marks the first meeting between the two, and the first time the Calgary-based side has seen a team from Edmonton since 2022.

Making things even tougher for the Edmonton Scottish, not only are the Cavalry CPL champions, but their home venue, ATCO Field at Spruce Meadows, is known to be one of the toughest places to play in the CPL, and the Cavalry have never lost to an Edmonton-based team.

Other provincial matchups in the tournament include, Pacific FC meeting Vancouver FC and Atletico Ottawa taking on League1 Ontario champion Scrosoppi FC, a Milton-based side making its tournament debut.

The other first-round games are Forge FC versus Halifax Wanderers FC, Valour FC versus League1 B.C. champion TSS Rovers, and York United FC versus Ligue1 Quebec’s FC Laval.

As for the MLS teams — Toronto FC and CF Montreal, who have combined to win 13 of the 17 previous tournaments, will square off in the first round of the expanded 15-team Telus Canadian Championship in 2025.

The all-MLS showdown will take place at BMO Field, some time in April or May, with one of the cup’s biggest names exiting at the first hurdle.

The defending champion Vancouver Whitecaps received a bye into the quarterfinals. The Whitecaps have won the last three editions of the tournament — and lifted the trophy four times in total with seven runner-up finishes.

The Whitecaps will await the winner between Valour and TSS Rovers, who meet in a repeat of their 2023 first-round encounter won 3-1 by the semi-pro B.C. side.

The Toronto-Montreal winner will move on to play either Forge or Halifax in the quarterfinals while the Pacific-Vancouver winner will meet either Cavalry or Edmonton Scottish.

The first round is in the form of single-elimination knockout games with the quarterfinals and semifinals two-legged affairs. The championship game reverts to a one-off meeting.

A secondary draw will be held later to determine the semifinal matchups and pathway to hosting the final.

The last team standing hoists the Voyageurs Cup and advances to the CONCACAF Champions Cup, the region’s elite men’s club competition.

The 2024 tournament saw semi-pro CS Saint-Laurent defeat Halifax and Forge oust CF Montreal. The Whitecaps downed Toronto in a penalty shootout after the final finished knotted at 0-0.