| Soccer in Canada | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Country | Canada |
| Governing body | Canadian Soccer Association |
| National teams | Men's team Women's team |
| First played | 1876 |
| Registered players | 689,938 (2022) |
| Clubs | 1,200 (CSA)[1] |
| National competitions | |
Men's competitions FIFA World Cup CONCACAF Gold Cup CONCACAF Nations League Copa América(by invite) Women's competitions FIFA Women's World Cup Summer Olympics CONCACAF W Gold Cup CONCACAF W Championship | |
| Club competitions | |
Men's cups Women's cups Men's leagues
Women's leagues
| |
| International competitions | |
Women's competitions | |
| Audience records | |
| Single match | 71,619 (1976)East Germany vsPoland (Olympic Stadium,Montreal) |
InCanada,soccer is the most popular sport in terms of participation rate; according toCanada Soccer, there are nearly 1 million registered players in Canada.[1] Professional soccer in Canada is played in theCanadian Premier League, theNorthern Super League andMajor League Soccer. Canada also has many semi-professional and amateur soccer leagues. Canada'smen's andwomen's national soccer teams are ranked 31st and 6th respectively in theFIFA World Rankings as of November 28, 2024.[2][3]
A 2017 survey bySportsnet found that soccer is the fourth most popular among Canadians when asked their most-watched sport. Of all respondents, 7% of chose soccer, trailingice hockey with 40%,Canadian football with 10% andbaseball with 8%.[4] According to a Business in Vancouver survey, 15% of Canadians began considering themselves soccer fans after 2022.[5]
Soccer is played in Canada according to the rules of association football. What is called soccer in Canada today was generally known as football in Canada in the early days of the sport as it is known in much of the rest of the world today.
The British Columbia Football Association was the first provincial football association formed in Canada in 1891.[6] This was followed by the Manitoba Football Association in 1896, the Ontario Football Association in 1901, the Saskatchewan Football Association in 1906, the Alberta Football Association in 1909 and the Province of Quebec Football Association in 1911.
The Dominion of Canada Football Association was formed in 1912. The game's governing body retained that name until it was changed to The Football Association of Canada on June 6, 1952. The Association later changed its name to the Canadian Soccer Football Association in 1958 and then to the Canadian Soccer Association in 1971.
One of the earliest soccer games was played in Toronto in 1859 between the St. George's Society and a team of Irishmen. Games were played inNew Westminster in 1862 and inVictoria in 1865. The first game played under modern rules took place in Toronto in 1876, after which the Dominion Football Association, the first recordedfootball association outside theBritish Isles,[7] was formed in Toronto in 1877 to foster competition between local sides.[8][9]
In 1880, theWestern Football Association was formed in Berlin (nowKitchener), Ontario[10] and played a major role in the subsequent development of the sport throughoutsouthern Ontario. In the time around 1900, the WFA had teams throughoutWestern Ontario in various municipalities includingSeaforth,Mildmay,Listowel,Woodstock,Ingersoll,Brussels,Dundas,Aylmer,Ayr,Tavistock,Preston,Galt andBerlin.
In 1885 and 1886, the Western Football Association sent teams toNew Jersey to play both indoor and outdoor matches against teams representing theAmerican Football Association, then the unofficial governing body of soccer in the United States. In the first unofficial international between the two countries in 1885Canada defeated theUnited States 1–0 inEast Newark,New Jersey. A year later the American side won 3–2 on the same field. Teams from the two organizations played one another on both sides of the border regularly in the years that followed.
In 1896, the Newfoundland Football League was founded on March 15 inSt. John's.[11] TheManitoba Football Association was formed that same year on March 19 inBrandon.
In 1901 theOntario Football Association was formed inToronto and competition for theOntario Cup began.Galt F.C. won the first edition of the tournament that is still running. They represented the WFA at the1904 Olympic Games inSt. Louis, Missouri, winning the gold medal. Only two other teams participated, both American clubs.[12]
In 1905, theSaskatchewan Football Association was formed in the province ofSaskatchewan, and by 1911 theProvince of Quebec Football Association was formed inMontreal withFrank Calder, first president of theNational Hockey League, playing a leading role in the PQFA's formation. TheAlberta Football Association was incorporated in the same year.
The first ever professional game was played inVancouver between the Callies and Rovers in 1910. The "Dominion of Canada Football Association", today known as the "Canadian Soccer Association was founded inWinnipeg,Manitoba in July 1912. "At the meeting, the Manitoba Football Association joined with the provincial associations of Ontario, New Ontario, Quebec, Saskatchewan and Alberta to form the national association."[13][14] The organization became a member ofFIFA December 31, 1912. In 1926, theNational Soccer League was formed with teams in Ontario and Quebec. On June 21, 1926, the DCFA resigned from FIFA and remained outside the world governing body, following the example of British associations in a dispute over broken time payments to amateurs. Hamilton'sWhitey McDonald was signed by Scottish clubRangers in the 1920s, who spotted him while on tour in North America.
TheGreat Depression of the 1930s meant that the DCFA struggled financially and could not afford to hold annual meetings in 1932 and 1933 and from 1935 to 1940. In those years, business was conducted by mail. At one point, presidentLen Peto of Montreal loaned the DFA a considerable sum of money to stave off bankruptcy. The money was later repaid in full. Despite the hard times,Montreal-born goalkeeperJoe Kennaway signed for Scottish giantsGlasgow Celtic in 1931 and was an immediate success.Toronto Scottish won a North American club championship in 1933 by beating holders and U.S. championsStix, Baer and Fuller F.C. at Chicago'sSoldier Field by a score of 2–1.
In July 1946, the Dominion of Canada Football Association held reorganizational meetings in Winnipeg, Manitoba. On July 24, 1948, the Association again became a member of FIFA. On June 6, 1952, the Association officially changed its name to the Football Association of Canada. In 1958, the Association again changed its name, this time to the Canadian Soccer Football Association. It would change its name one more time in 1971, at that time becoming the Canadian Soccer Association.
In 1957, Canada entered qualifying for theFIFA World Cup for the first time and met theUnited States andMexico in qualifying for thefinals inSweden in 1958. Canada won its first World Cup qualifying game 5–1 against the U.S. in Toronto, but played Mexico twice inMexico City and lost 2–0 and 3–0. In the final group game, Canada beat the U.S. 3–2 inSt. Louis, but group winners Mexico advanced to the Finals.
From the 1940s through 1960s, Canada's four major leagues were thePacific Coast League (re-established in 1939–40), theNational League of Ontario/Quebec (re-established in 1947), theEastern Canada Professional League (established in 1961), and theWestern Canada League (established in 1963[15]).[16] Canadian teams also played in the American-basedNorth American Soccer Football League in the late 1940s. The Western Canada League was the first-ever league to feature teams across three and then four provinces, although the league folded in 1971.
During the 1960s there was a concerted effort to push professional soccer in Canada. The Eastern Canada Professional Soccer League was formed in 1961 and featured teams in Toronto, Montreal, Hamilton, and (for one season) Buffalo, New York. One club,Toronto City, even featured some very prominent British soccer stars during its inaugural season, includingNorthern Ireland internationalDanny Blanchflower,England internationalsStanley Matthews andJohnny Haynes andScottish internationalsJackie Mudie andTommy Younger. This is also notable as the last time that the England, Scotland and Northern Ireland captains all played on the same side together.
Following a rise in the popularity of the game after the global broadcasting of the1966 World Cup, theNorth American Soccer League was formed in 1968. The league primarily based in the United States also had clubs in Canada and used many European professionals brought in to supplement domestic talent. Throughout the 1970s and 1980s, Canada was represented by professional teams playing inMontreal,Toronto andVancouver with short-lived teams inCalgary andEdmonton. The NASL had a stormy relationship with FIFA and the USSF and their clubs did not compete in theCONCACAF Champions' Cup.[17]
The Olympic Summer Games were held in Montreal in 1976, but the soccer tournament featured only 13 teams instead of the normal 16 after the African nations boycotted the games in protest againstSouth Africa'sapartheid policies. Canada opened against theSoviet Union in theOlympic Stadium, losing 2–1. Canada lost its second game in Toronto againstNorth Korea and was eliminated from the tournament. The same year,Toronto Metros-Croatia won theSoccer Bowl, theNorth American Soccer League championship. The final was held in Seattle, where the Toronto side defeated Minnesota 3–0 with a squad featuringEusébio, strikerIvan Lukačević, Canadian defenderRobert Iarusci and goaltenderŽeljko Bilecki.Vancouver Whitecaps won the 1979Soccer Bowl, beatingTampa Bay Rowdies 2–1 in the final atGiants Stadium in New Jersey.
In 1983,Toronto Blizzard reached the final atB.C. Place Stadium inVancouver but lost 2–0 to theTulsa Roughnecks. Also in 1983 theCanadian Professional Soccer League played one shortened season after two years of aborted attempts to find enough clubs to play. Canada also lost the bid to host the 1986 World Cup in 1983 when Mexico was awarded the World Cup. Toronto Blizzard returned to theNASL Finals in 1984, but in losing to theChicago Sting, came up short for the second consecutive year. The league folded prior to the 1985 season. Despite these misfortunes, Canada qualified for the1984 Los Angeles Olympics soccer tournament played throughout the United States. In the first round, they drew withIraq, lost toYugoslavia and beatCameroon to qualify for the quarter finals. After taking an early lead againstBrazil, Canada were defeated on penalty kicks.
The1985 CONCACAF Championship was the fourth edition that doubled as qualification for theFIFA World Cup. Continuing in its good phase, Canada secured qualification for the1986 World Cup after beatingHonduras 2–1 inSt John's, Newfoundland on September 14, 1985[18] atKing George V Park in front of over 13,000 people. Canada had bid to host the final tournament, but their application was rejected in favour ofMexico, who qualified automatically as hosts, with Canada earning the remainingCONCACAF spot and winning theCONCACAF Championship (now theGold Cup) for the first time. At theWorld Cup, Canada were drawn inGroup C and lost 1–0 toFrance and 2–0 to bothHungary and theSoviet Union.
Also in 1986, four Canadian national team players were guilty of taking bribes in a match-fixing scandal at theMerlion Cup in Singapore. The Canadian Soccer Association suspendedChris Cheuden,Hector Marinaro,David Norman andIgor Vrablic for one year each. Marinaro and Norman were reinstated and resumed play for Canada. In the wake of Canada's World Cup appearance, theCanadian Soccer League began operations in 1987 with teams in eight Canadian cities.[19] In 1989 the Canadian Soccer Referees' Association was founded.[20]
TheVancouver 86ers of the CSL won the1990 North American Club Championship, beatingMaryland Bays 3–2 in the final inBurnaby, British Columbia. The same year, Canada's national side took part in theNorth American Nations Cup, hosting the three-team tournament.[21] Canada wonthe tournament after a 1–0 win over theUnited States on May 6 and a 2–1 win overMexico on May 13, all three goals scored byJohn Catliff, the tournament's top scorer. In 1991, Canada took part in the championship for the second time as defending champions. Mexico won the1991 North American Nations Cup with Canada finishing in third place.
After the 1992 season, the CSL was forced to end operations withVancouver 86ers andMontreal Impact joining the United States'APSL. In January 1993, theToronto Blizzard also joined the APSL. TheWinnipeg Fury, not meeting USSF Division 1 market size standards, andNorth York Rockets joined the National Soccer League, which changed its name to theCanadian National Soccer League in 1993.[22]
TheCanadian women's national team benefited from a surge in youth participation throughout the 1980s, and in 1995 Canada qualified for theFIFA Women's World Cup for the first time. Canada lost toEngland andNorway and drew withNigeria at the tournament played inSweden. Canada again qualified forFIFA Women's World Cup 1999 played in the United States, again going winless after drawing withJapan and losing toNorway andRussia.
In 2000, Canada's men's team won theCONCACAF Gold Cup for the first time. Canada had finished in a tie in group play withSouth Korea, but won the tie-breaking coin toss to advance to the quarter-final, where they beatMexico 2–1 on an extra-timegolden goal. In the semi-final, Canada beatTrinidad and Tobago 1–0, and beat invited sideColombia 2–0 in the final.[23] As a result of being named CONCACAF champions, Canada travelled to the2001 Confederations Cup in Japan, earning a memorable 0–0 draw with Brazil thanks to a stellar performance from Gold Cup Most Valuable Player, goalkeeperCraig Forrest.
At the nextGold Cup in 2002, Canada reached the semi-final for the second time but lost to the United States, on penalty kicks, who would go on to win the tournament. Despite their success in the Gold Cup, Canada's senior men's side failed to qualify for either the 2002 or 2006 World Cup.[24]
Also in 2002, Canada hosted the first everFIFA U-19 Women's World Championship with games inEdmonton,Victoria, andVancouver. The final between Canada and the United States was played at Edmonton'sCommonwealth Stadium, with the U.S. winning on agolden goal. CanadianChristine Sinclair received the tournament's Golden Ball as MVP and Golden Boot as leading goal-scorer. Rounding out 2002, Canada's senior women's team, with several players from the U-19 squad, met theUnited States in the2002 CONCACAF Women's Gold Cup final, where the U.S. won on yet another golden goal. Still later that year, Sinclair led the U.S.NCAADivision I in goals scored as she helped theUniversity of Portland win thenational championship.
The senior women's side again qualified for the2003 FIFA Women's World Cup. In the group stages they lost toGermany before beatingJapan andArgentina for their first wins in World Cup history (men or women). In the quarter-finals, Canada upsetChina 1–0 before losing toSweden in the semifinal. They were again beat by old rivals the U.S. in the 3rd place game. The under-19 women's side qualified for the 2004 world championship inThailand, losing in the quarterfinals to China. For the second straight tournament, a Canadian won the Golden Boot, withBrittany Timko the top-scorer. Sinclair set an NCAA Division I record in 2005 with 39 goals as she led Portland to another NCAA title and earned a second straight Hermann Trophy. In the wake of her record-setting season at Portland, Sinclair won theHonda-Broderick Cup in 2006 as the outstanding female athlete at a U.S. university. Also in 2006, long-serving CSA Chief Operating Officer Kevan Pipe was fired from his duties. The CPSL re-branded as theCanadian Soccer League.
In 2007,Toronto FC began play inMajor League Soccer as its first franchise located outside the United States.[25] Canada's national team reached the semi-final at the2007 CONCACAF Gold Cup, losing again to the U.S. who would again win the tournament as in 2002. Dale Mitchell was named coach of Canada's senior men's team, to begin duties after the2007 FIFA U-20 World Cup, held in Canada. The host went out without scoring a goal and losing all three matches. The final was held in front of 20,000 people atBMO Field in Toronto, withArgentina beating theCzech Republic 2–1.
In May 2008, the CSA inaugurated theCanadian Championship – adomestic cup competition open to professional clubs in Canada. The Montreal Impact won the inaugural season and qualified for the2008–09 CONCACAF Champions League season.
In women's soccer, Canada qualified for theWomen's Olympic Football Tournament for the first time. The team came within an extra-time goal of knocking off number-one ranked U.S. in the quarter-final. At the youth level, Canada won its secondCONCACAF Women's U-20 Championship. In March 2011, it was announced Canada would host the2015 FIFA Women's World Cup for the first time, where they reached the quarterfinals.[26]
On January 31, 2013, the Canadian Soccer Association announced they were withdrawing sanctioning of theCanadian Soccer League (CSL) as a division 3 league following the 2013 season as the CSA board of directors adopted a new soccer structure in Canada based on the Easton Report.[27][28] Prior to being de-sanctioned, the CSL had been involved in a match-fixing scandal and a majority of the teams reportedly did not meet CSA requirements in the 2012 season.[29][28] The league was founded in 1998 after a merger between theCanadian National Soccer League with the stillborn Ontario Professional Soccer League and previously featured academy clubs of Toronto FC and Montreal Impact.[30][31] The CSL continued to play following the creation of their own soccer federation in 2014 which was unsanctioned byFIFA.[32][33]
On June 10, 2013, theCanadian Soccer Association suspended theQuebec Soccer Federation over its refusal to letturban-wearing children play.[34] Quebec's premierPauline Marois announced her support of the Quebec Soccer Federation's ban and suggested that the CSA has no authority over provincial organizations.[35]
In 2014, the QSF removed the ban after a ruling from FIFA that turbans are allowed for male players.[36]
On May 6, 2017, the creation theCanadian Premier League was unanimously approved and sanctioned by the Canadian Soccer Association as a division 1 league.[37] On December 9, 2017, Toronto FC became the first MLS team to complete adomestic treble with their 2–0 win over theSeattle Sounders FC in theMLS Cup, as well as the first Canadian team to win the MLS Cup.[38] On June 13, 2018,Canada, Mexico and United States joint bid was chosen to co-host the2026 FIFA World Cup 69 votes ahead of Morocco 134–65 at the FIFA Congress in Moscow. Canada will host 10 matches in Vancouver and Toronto.[39][40] Thefirst match of theinaugural season of the Canadian Premier League took place betweenForge FC andYork9 FC atTim Hortons Field on April 27, 2019, and resulted in a 1–1 draw.[41]
On August 6, 2021, the women's side won their first Olympic gold medal, at the2020 Summer Olympics.[42]
On March 27, 2022, the men's side defeated Jamaica4–0 on Matchday 13 to qualify for the2022 FIFA World Cup. This ended a 36-year drought since the first time Canada played in the FIFA World Cup, in1986.[43] In the tournament, as part ofGroup F, Canada suffered three defeats again, being 1–0 forBelgium, 4–1 forCroatia (in which he scored his first goal in the tournament's history, withAlphonso Davies) and 2–1 forMorocco.
Canada will co-host the2026 FIFA World Cup, along with theUnited States andMexico.
As in otherEnglish-speaking nations outside the United Kingdom,association football (soccer) has been traditionally overshadowed by a rival code of the game with explicitly local roots.[44] As in Australia, whereAustralian rules football took hold; and Ireland, whereGaelic football is played; while in New Zealand,rugby holds greater popularity;[citation needed]Canadian football usurped association football. In 1869, the founding ofHamilton Football Club, who played what would become Canadian football, helped make that sport the dominant football code in Canada by the dawn of the twentieth century.
Despite the difference in popularity of their respective professional leagues, soccer overtook ice hockey in the 1980s and 1990s as the sport with the most registered players in the country. In 2008, there were 873,032 soccer players,[45] compared to 584,679 registered hockey players in Canada in 2008–09.[46]
The following is a list of fully professional teams in Canada:
TheCanadian Premier League (CPL) is the highest level of professional soccer in Canada. The tier 1 soccer league began play in 2019 and includes nine Canadian teams, includingAtlético Ottawa (Ottawa, Ontario),Cavalry FC (Foothills County, Alberta),Forge FC (Hamilton, Ontario),HFX Wanderers (Halifax, Nova Scotia),Pacific FC (Langford, British Columbia),FC Supra du Québec (Laval, Quebec),Valour FC (Winnipeg, Manitoba),Vancouver FC (Langley, British Columbia), andYork United FC (Toronto, Ontario). The CPL has announced conditional expansion clubs to Saskatoon and Windsor.[47][48] The stated goal of the league is to develop Canadian soccer talent, and as such will have a minimum number of Canadian players on each roster and an annualdraft of U Sports players.
Major League Soccer (MLS) is the highest level of professional soccer in the United States. There are three MLS teams located in Canada.Toronto FC became the first Canadian club in 2007. An MLS franchise was awarded toVancouver in 2009 and began play in the 2011 season. An MLS franchise was awarded toMontreal in 2010 and began play in the2012 season. Both the Vancouver and Montreal clubs were long-time organizations that had played in USSF-sanctioned Division 2 leagues —North American Soccer League and theUSL Championship.
In 2022, Toronto FC II and Whitecaps FC 2 began play inMLS Next Pro, aUnited States Soccer Federation-sanctioned division 3 league and the reserve league ofMLS. Toronto FC II had played in the division 2 USL Championship until 2018 and in the division 3 USL League One from 2019 to 2021.
Semi-professional leagues have been operated by provincial soccer associations since 2012 and have been designated as pro-am by theCanadian Soccer Association. Currently four such leagues exist:Ligue1 Québec,League1 Ontario,League1 British Columbia, andLeague1 Alberta[49] — all operating men's and women's competitions. The champions of the four men's leagues are given berths into theCanadian Championship.[50] Starting in 2022, the champions of the three women's leagues, along with a second team from the host league, compete at a single location in an interprovincial championship.[51] In 2022,League1 Canada was launched as an alliance forLigue1 Québec,League1 Ontario andLeague1 British Columbia to unify and elevate the sport of soccer at the pro-am level through sharing of resources, best practices, and coordination of national commercial partnerships.[52]
USL League Two is a U.S.-based, men's amateur league. For the 2024 season,Thunder Bay Chill, based inThunder Bay, Ontario, is the only Canadian team in the league. Four Canadian teams have previously won the league championship:
TheNorthern Super League is a fully Canadian women's pro league.Halifax Tides FC,Montreal Roses FC,AFC Toronto,Calgary Wild FC,Ottawa Rapid FC, andVancouver Rise FC are the teams in the league.
United Women's Soccer is a U.S.-based, women's pro-am league.Calgary Foothills WFC is the only Canadian team in the league.
Many of the provincially sanctioned amateur leagues have league cup competitions. Some such as the ones inBritish Columbia have significant history.
Themen's national soccer team have appeared in three senior FIFA tournaments: the1986 FIFA World Cup in Mexico, the2001 FIFA Confederations Cup in Japan and the2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar. Thewomen's senior national team have appeared in ten senior FIFA tournaments: sevenFIFA Women's World Cups and threeWomen's Olympic Soccer Tournaments.
AQuébec official soccer team has representedQuebec andFrench Canadians in non-FIFA tournaments.
ManyCanadian football stadiums andmulti-use stadiums are utilized for soccer.
With the growth ofMajor League Soccer, theCanadian Premier League and the three Tier 3 provincially-based soccer leagues, Canada has a number ofsoccer-specific stadiums.
| Rank | Stadium | City | Capacity | Opened | Surface | Professional teams |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Commonwealth Stadium | Edmonton, Alberta | 56,302 | 1978 | Turf | Edmonton Elks (CFL) |
| 2 | Olympic Stadium | Montreal, Quebec | 56,040 | 1976 | Turf | None[a] |
| 3 | BC Place | Vancouver, British Columbia | 54,500 | 1983 | Turf | BC Lions (CFL) Vancouver Whitecaps FC (MLS) |
| 4 | Princess Auto Stadium | Winnipeg, Manitoba | 32,343 | 2013 | Turf | Valour FC (CPL) Winnipeg Blue Bombers (CFL) |
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