2024 Canadian Premier League final explained

2024 Canadian Premier League final
Event:2024 Canadian Premier League season
Team1:Cavalry FC
Team1score:2
Team2:Forge FC
Team2score:1
Man Of The Match1a:Tobias Warschewski
Man Of The Match1aname:CPL Finals MVP
Date:November9, 2024
Stadium:ATCO Field
City:Foothills County, Alberta
Weather:Cloudy
4°C
65% humidity[1]
Referee:Renzo Villanueva
Attendance:7,052
Previous:2023
Next:2025

The 2024 Canadian Premier League final was the sixth edition of the CPL Finals, the post-season championship of the Canadian Premier League, the top level of Canadian soccer, which determined the winner of the 2024 Canadian Premier League season. It was played on November9, 2024 at ATCO Field in Foothills County, Alberta between Cavalry FC and Forge FC. The 2024 final was a rematch of the 2023 final which was hosted and won by Forge FC.[2]

Cavalry defeated Forge 2–1 to win their first CPL title. Tobias Warschewski and Sergio Camargo scored first half goals to give Cavalry a 2–0 half-time lead; Alexander Achinioti-Jönsson responded for Forge in the second half. Following the match, Warschewski was named the inaugural CPL Final MVP. Cavalry was awarded the North Star Cup as CPL champion and earned a spot in the 2025 CONCACAF Champions Cup.[3]

Path to the final

See main article: 2024 Canadian Premier League season.

The 2024 CPL season was contested by eight teams. Each team played four games against each of the seven opponents for a total of 28 matches. The top-five teams from the regular season qualified for the playoffs which begin on October23. The playoffs featured a Page playoff format where teams entered in different rounds depending on their finishing position. All matches in the playoffs were played as single legs. The finals were contested by the winner of the playoffs' first semifinal and the winner of the second semifinal.[4]

Regular season standings

Notes

Playoff bracket

Background

Cavalry FC

Cavalry reached the CPL final for third time in six seasons.

Forge FC

Forge qualified for the CPL playoffs on September21[5] and clinched first place and the top seed in the playoffs on October6.[6]

Following a 1–0 win against Atlético Ottawa on November 2, Forge FC qualified for a record-extending sixth consecutive CPL final. Forge attempted to win their fifth CPL championship and tried to become the first CPL team to win the double by winning the CPL Shield and the North Star Cup in the same season.

Head-to-head

The 2024 CPL final was the sixth meeting of the season between these two teams and the twenty-sixth overall. Forge had the advantage in the 2024 regular season against Cavalry, leading the head-to-head with two wins, one draw, and one loss and finishing two points ahead in the standings. This was the second consecutive CPL final between Cavalry and Forge and the third overall. The previous occurrences in 2019 and 2023 were both won by Forge FC.

As the top-two teams in regular season, Forge hosted Cavalry in the first semifinal which was a non-elimination game. Cavalry won the game and earned the right to host the CPL final while Forge qualified to the second semifinal as losers. The match was the 29th of 31 games between the teams that was decided by one goal or fewer.[7]

Venue

ATCO Field in Foothills County, Alberta, home of Cavalry FC, was the host stadium for the final.[8] This was determined by the outcome of the playoffs' first semifinal on October27 between regular season winner Forge FC and second seed Cavalry FC; Cavalry won the match 1–0. ATCO Field has previously hosted the second leg of the 2019 Canadian Premier League finals.

Broadcasting

The CPL final continued to be broadcast on OneSoccer. On October9, the CPL and CBC jointly announced that the CBC would also broadcast the final for the first time since 2020 on its platforms CBC TV, CBC Gem, and cbcsports.ca.[9] [10]

Pre-match

As part of its broadcasting announcement, the CPL announced that the final would be played on November9 at 3:00pm ET. The CPL confirmed the date and time following Cavalry's win in the first semifinal.

Associated with the final, the annual Canadian Premier League Awards took place on November7 in Calgary.[11] Matchday will feature a "FanFest" headlined by singer Lu Kala.

Match

width=25!width=25
GK 1 Marco Carducci (c)
RB 33
CB 4
CB 3 Callum Montgomery
LB 5 Bradley Kamdem
CM 26 Shamit Shome
CM 27
RW 7 Ali Musse
AM 10
LW 11
CF 9
Substitutes:
GK 31 Joseph Holliday
MF 6
DF 12 Tom Field
FW 14
FW 17 Nicolas Wähling
MF 24
FW 80
Manager:
Tommy Wheeldon Jr.
<-- lineup file here -->
width=25!width=25
GK 16 Jassem Koleilat
RB 2
CB 13 Alexander Achinioti-Jönsson
CB 4 Dominic Samuel
LB 81 Malik Owolabi-Belewu
CM 10 Kyle Bekker (c)
CM 21 Alessandro Hojabrpour
RM 7 David Choinière
AM 22
LM 11
CF 39
Substitutes:
GK 29 Christopher Kalongo
FW 9 Jordan Hamilton
FW 14
DF 17
FW 19
MF 26 Orlendis Benítez
MF 64 Khadim Kane
Manager:
Bobby Smyrniotis
CPL Final MVP


Tobias Warschewski (Cavalry FC)[12]

Assistant referees


Marie-Han Gagnon-Chretien
Graham Forsyth
Fourth official


Yusri Rudolf

Match rules
  • 90 minutes
  • 30 minutes of extra time if necessary
  • Penalty shoot-out if score still level
  • Maximum of five substitutions, with a sixth allowed in extra time

Post-match

Following the match, Cavalry was awarded the North Star Cup and crowned CPL champions, while striker Tobias Warschewski was named the CPL Final MVP.[13] Although the CPL champion team is awarded a spot in the next year's CONCACAF Champions Cup, Cavalry had already qualified for the 2025 edition as a result of both them and Forge qualifying for the final.[14]

See also

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Calgary, Canada Weather History Weather Underground . 2024-11-09 . www.wunderground.com.
  2. News: Borges scores 'Olimpico' goal as Forge FC completes comeback to win 4th CPL title . Tim . Wharnsby . . . October 28, 2023 . October 8, 2024 . https://web.archive.org/web/20231108020648/https://www.cbc.ca/sports/soccer/cpl/canadian-premier-league-final-recap-forge-fc-cavalry-fc-oct-28-1.7011859 . November 8, 2023 . live.
  3. Web site: Jacques . John . November 9, 2024 . Cavalry Cruises To Historic CPL Championship Win . November 10, 2024 . Northern Tribune . en-CA.
  4. 2024 Canadian Premier League Playoffs: Matchups and Schedule Confirmed . Canadian Premier League . October 19, 2024 . October 20, 2024.
  5. Web site: Forge FC, Atlético Ottawa clinch 2024 CPL Playoffs spots, Cavalry one point away . Benedict . Rhodes . Canadian Premier League . September 21, 2024 . September 29, 2024.
  6. Web site: Recap: Valour FC 0-1 Forge FC — CPL Match #103 . Alexandre . Gangué-Ruzic . Canadian Premier League . October 6, 2024 . October 6, 2024 . https://web.archive.org/web/20241006200720/https://canpl.ca/article/recap-valour-fc-0-1-forge-fc-cpl-match-103 . October 6, 2024 . live.
  7. Web site: Tierney . Mitchell . Highlights: Cavalry FC vs. Forge FC (Oct. 14, 2023) . onesoccer.ca . October 23, 2023 . October 14, 2023 . October 25, 2023 . https://web.archive.org/web/20231025023145/https://onesoccer.ca/a/highlights-cavalry-fc-vs-forge-fc-oct-14-2023-presented-by-tonybet . live .
  8. Canadian Premier League Confirms 2024 Final Host, Remaining Playoffs Schedule . Canadian Premier League . Toronto, ON . October 27, 2024 . October 28, 2024.
  9. CBC Sports To Provide Broadcast Coverage of 2024 Canadian Premier League Final . . October 9, 2024 . October 9, 2024 . https://web.archive.org/web/20241009160459/https://www.cbc.ca/mediacentre/press-release/cbc-sports-to-provide-broadcast-coverage-of-2024-canadian-premier-league-fi . October 9, 2024 . live.
  10. Web site: CBC Sports Will Broadcast The 2024 Canadian Premier League Final . John . Jacques . Northern Tribune . October 9, 2024 . October 9, 2024 . https://web.archive.org/web/20241009160748/https://northerntribune.ca/cbc-sports-canadian-premier-league-final-broadcast-2024/ . October 9, 2024 . live.
  11. News: Canadian Premier League Final will be held in Alberta Nov. 9 . Remy . Greer . Lakeland Today . . October 28, 2024 . October 29, 2024.
  12. Web site: Cavalry FC's Tobias Warschewski named 2024 CPL Final MVP fuelled by Gatorade . Canadian Premier League . November 9, 2024 . November 13, 2024.
  13. News: Calgary's Cavalry FC dethrones Hamilton's Forge FC for 1st-ever Canadian Premier League title . Vicki . Hall . . . November 9, 2024 . November 11, 2024 . https://web.archive.org/web/20241111024035/https://www.cbc.ca/sports/soccer/cpl/cpl-final-forge-cavalry-recap-nov-9-1.7379399 . November 11, 2024 . live.
  14. Web site: Cavalry FC and Forge FC to play in CPL Final, Nov. 9 at ATCO Field . Canadian Premier League . November 2, 2024 . November 3, 2024.