Vancouver FC looking forward to rubbing shoulders with CONCACAF’s elite

Vancouver FC's Kunle Dada-Luke, left, and Vancouver Whitecaps' Ali Ahmed (22) vie for the ball during the first half of the Canadian Championship final soccer match, in Vancouver, on Wednesday, October 1, 2025. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Ethan Cairns

Despite finishing last in the Canadian Premier League, an unlikely Canadian Championship run has Vancouver FC preparing to rub shoulders with CONCACAF’s elite in the CONCACAF Champions Cup.

Vancouver, which finished bottom of the eight-team CPL at 4-15-9, will find out what lies ahead in the Dec. 9 tournament draw.

Vancouver joins Forge FC (winner of the CPL Shield as regular-season leader) and Atletico Ottawa (winner of the North Star Cup as playoff champion) in the 27-team CONCACAF club championship.

Vancouver finished 21 points below Ottawa and 37 below Forge.

While Vancouver FC lost 4-2 to the Vancouver Whitecaps in the Oct. 1 Canadian Championship final, the Whitecaps qualified for the CONCACAF tournament by virtue of finishing fifth in the MLS Supporters’ Shield standings. So, Vancouver FC got the Canadian Championship invite.

“The opportunity is massive,” said Vancouver FC interim coach Martin Nash. “I think every player is just looking forward to getting back and getting started already.”

Time is of the essence with Nash moving up the start of training camp to early January, facing an early February start due to the CONCACAF competition rather than early April when the CPL season kicked off this year.

Other MLS teams in the CONCACAF field are FC Cincinnati, Inter Miami, Los Angeles Galaxy, Nashville SC, Philadelphia Union, San Diego FC and the Seattle Sounders.

Liga MX entries include CF Monterrey, Club América, Cruz Azul, Deportivo Toluca FC, Pumas UNAM and Tigres UANL.

Nash took over as Vancouver interim coach on July 23 when Afshin Ghotbi, the team’s coach since Day 1, was fired with the team at 1-9-5. Nash was also appointed head of Vancouver’s academy.

At the time, Vancouver had recorded just one win in regulation in its past 26 matches across all competitions. The club had made it to the Canadian Championship semifinals, however, dispatching Pacific FC and Cavalry FC in penalty shootouts.

It was a rocky start under Nash with the team losing six of its first seven matches (1-6-0). But the team ended the season unbeaten in its last six league matches (2-0-4).

Vancouver closed out the regular season by defeating Halifax and York and drawing Forge, Atletico Ottawa and Cavalry, all five playoff teams.

“It took me a little bit of time to get the team as organized and as fit as I wanted,” said Nash.

“But the players were great from Day 1,” he added. “They were willing to learn, they were working hard and they were taking on board everything I was trying to get across to them. And you saw the rewards of that at the end of the season. It just took a bit of time, because I didn’t really have a pre-season to work with. I was just thrown into games two days after I arrived.”

Under Nash, Vancouver edged Atletico Ottawa 3-2 in the two-legged semifinal to reach the Canadian Championship final.

The 2025 final marked the third time Nash had faced the Whitecaps in the Canadian Championship as a head coach. At the helm of York United, he lost to Vancouver in the 2022 semifinals and 2023 quarterfinals.

Given the fact, he played for the pre-MSL Whitecaps from 2004 to 2010 and his older brother Steve, a former NBA MVP, is part of the Whitecaps ownership group, the ties run deep.

“Ultimately, we lost, but I thought we put in a good performance,” Nash said. “We scored a couple of goals and we did better than some MLS team had done against them, to be honest.”

It was also “a good measuring stick” for the club and for he players, to see where they’re at against one of the top teams in MLS and CONCACAF.

“There’s a lot of really good young talent here. And it’s a good group to build on,’” Nash said.

The Whitecaps reached the final of the 2025 CONCACAF Champions Cup, losing 5-0 to Cruz Azul.

Forge has made three appearances in the CONCACAF Champions Cup, while Cavalry has qualified twice.

Vancouver FC will enter in the first round, the first of five knockout rounds in the tournament. The opening four stages are contested over two home-and-away legs, with the competition concluding in a single-match final on May 30 — 14 days before the first game Vancouver hosts at the 2026 World Cup.

CONCACAF Champions Cup Entries (and how they qualified)

Canadian Championship (1): Vancouver FC.

Canadian Premier League (2): Forge FC; Atlético Ottawa.

CONCACAF Caribbean Cup (2): Mount Pleasant FA (Jamaica); O&M FC (Dominican Republic).

CONCACAF Central American Cup (6): Club Olimpia (Honduras), Club Xelajú (Guatemala); CS Cartaginés (Costa Rica); LD Alajuelense (Costa Rica); Real CD España (Honduras); Sporting San Miguelito (Panama).

Leagues Cup (3): Inter Miami CF; L.A. Galaxy; Seattle Sounders FC.

Liga MX (6): CF Monterrey. Club América; Cruz Azul; Deportivo Toluca FC; Pumas UNAM; Tigres UANL.

MLS (4): FC Cincinnati, Philadelphia Union, San Diego FC and Vancouver Whitecaps FC.

U.S. Open Cup (1): Nashville SC.

TBD (2): MLS Cup winner and the 2025 CONCACAF Caribbean Cup third-place finisher, either Defence Force FC (Trinidad and Tobago) or Cibao FC (Dominican Republic).

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This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 11, 2025

Neil Davidson, The Canadian Press