2023 Canadian Championship final

The 2023 Canadian Championship Final was the deciding match of the 2023 Canadian Championship and was played on June 7, 2023.^[2] For the second year in a row, it was hosted at BC Place in Vancouver, British Columbia by defending champions Vancouver Whitecaps FC, who played CF Montréal.^[2]

Canadian Championship Final

BC Place in Vancouver, British Columbia hosted the match.
Event	2023 Canadian Championship
Vancouver Whitecaps FC CF Montréal 2 1
Date	June 7, 2023
Venue	BC Place, Vancouver, British Columbia
Player of the Match	Ryan Gauld (Vancouver Whitecaps FC)
Referee	Filip Dujic
Attendance	20,072
Weather	Mostly Cloudy 26 °C (79 °F) 34% humidity[1]
← 2022 2024 →

This was the third final played between Vancouver and Montreal, with the clubs having met in the 2013 and 2015 finals. This was also the first final since 2015 to not involve Toronto FC.

Vancouver Whitecaps won their third title following a 2–1 victory, qualifying them for the 2024 CONCACAF Champions Cup.

Teams

Team	League	City	Previous finals appearances (bold indicates winners)
Vancouver Whitecaps FC	Major League Soccer (West)	Vancouver, British Columbia	7 (2011, 2012, 2013, 2015, 2016, 2018, 2022)
CF Montréal	Major League Soccer (East)	Montreal, Quebec	6 (2013, 2014, 2015, 2017, 2019, 2021)

Background

This was the third time Vancouver Whitecaps FC and CF Montréal faced each other in the Canadian Championship final, with CF Montréal (then Montréal Impact) winning in 2013 and Vancouver Whitecaps FC winning in 2015.

In their most recent fixture earlier in 2023, Vancouver Whitecaps FC defeated CF Montréal 5–0 in the MLS regular season.^[3]

Path to the final

Further information: 2023 Canadian Championship § Bracket, 2023 Vancouver Whitecaps FC season, and 2023 CF Montréal season

Each tie of the four-round tournament was played as a single-leg fixture. Vancouver Whitecaps FC received a bye in the preliminary round for being a finalist of the 2022 tournament.^[4]

Vancouver Whitecaps FC		Round	CF Montréal
Opponent	Result		Opponent	Result
Bye		Preliminary round	Vaughan Azzurri	2–0 (H)
York United FC	4–1 (A)	Quarter-finals	Toronto FC	2–1 (A)
Pacific FC	3–0 (A)	Semi-finals	Forge FC	2–0 (H)

Match details

June 7

19:00 PT

Vancouver Whitecaps FC	2–1	CF Montréal
White 57' Gauld 65' (pen.)	Report	Ibrahim 83'

BC Place, Vancouver, British Columbia

Attendance: 20,072

Referee: Filip Dujic

Vancouver

Montreal

GK 18 Yohei Takaoka RB 23 Javain Brown CB 6 Tristan Blackmon CB 4 Ranko Veselinović LB 27 Ryan Raposo  59' RCM 19 Julian Gressel  90' CM 31 Russell Teibert (c)  59' LCM 20 Andrés Cubas RM 28 Levonte Johnson  73' LM 25 Ryan Gauld CF 24 Brian White  90' Substitutes: GK 1 Thomas Hasal DF 14 Luís Martins  59' MF 16 Sebastian Berhalteri  85'i  73' MF 29 Simon Becher MF 45 Pedro Vite  59' FW 7 Déiber Caicedo  90' FW 9 Sergio Córdova  90' Manager: Vanni Sartini

GK 40 Jonathan Sirois CB 25 Gabriele Corbo  78' CB 4 Rudy Camacho  59' CB 18 Joel Waterman RM 22 Aaron Herrera  67' CM 25 Mathieu Choinière CM 2 Victor Wanyama  67' LM 11 Ariel Lassiter  3' RF 14 Sunusi Ibrahim CF 7 Ahmed Hamdi  67' LF 9 Chinonso Offor  78' Substitutes: GK 41 James Pantemis DF 15 Zachary Brault-Guillard  67' DF 24 George Campbell MF 10 Bryce Duke  84' MF 19 Nathan-Dylan Saliba  67' FW 13 Mason Toye  78' FW 21 Lassi Lappalainen  67' Manager: Hernán Losada

Player of the Match: Ryan Gauld (Vancouver Whitecaps FC)[5]
Assistant referees: Micheal Barwegen Lyes Arfa Fourth official: Yusri Rudolf Fifth official: Michael Hood[6]	Match rules[7] 90 minutes Penalty shoot-out if score still level Minimum of three Canadian starters Maximum of five substitutions[a] plus two "concussion substitutions" if required

Post-match

Following the match, Vancouver Whitecaps FC's Ali Ahmed was presented with the Best Young Canadian Player Award and Julian Gressel with the George Gross Memorial Trophy as the most valuable player of the Canadian Championship.^[8] Ahmed missed the final as he continued to recover from a concussion suffered in the tournament's semifinal.^[8][9]

By scoring in the final, CF Montréal's Sunusi Ibrahim became the top goal scorer of the tournament with three goals.^[10]

Notes

1. Each team was given only three opportunities to make substitutions excluding substitutions made at half-time.