The 2024 Canadian Premier League final was a soccer match to determine the winner of the 2024 Canadian Premier League season. The match was the sixth edition of the CPL Finals, the post-season championship of the Canadian Premier League, the top level of Canadian soccer.
| Event | 2024 Canadian Premier League season | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| |||||||
| Date | November 9, 2024 | ||||||
| Venue | ATCO Field, Foothills County, Alberta | ||||||
| CPL Finals MVP | Tobias Warschewski | ||||||
| Referee | Renzo Villanueva | ||||||
| Attendance | 7,052 | ||||||
| Weather | Cloudy 4 °C (39 °F) 65% humidity[1] | ||||||
The match happened on November 9, 2024 and was hosted by Cavalry FC, winner of the CPL playoffs' first semifinal. Cavalry FC of the CPL final will be awarded the North Star Cup as CPL champion and earn a spot in the 2025 CONCACAF Champions Cup. The 2024 final was a rematch of the 2023 final which was hosted and won by Forge FC.[2]
Path to the final
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 October 23. The playoffs feature a Page playoff format where teams enter in different rounds depending on their finishing position. All matches in the playoffs are played as a single leg. The finals will be contested by the winner of the playoffs' first semifinal and the winner of the second semifinal.[3][4]
Regular season standings
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Playoff qualification |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Forge (S) | 28 | 15 | 5 | 8 | 45 | 31 | +14 | 50 | First semifinal |
| 2 | Cavalry (C) | 28 | 12 | 12 | 4 | 39 | 27 | +12 | 48 | |
| 3 | Atlético Ottawa | 28 | 11 | 11 | 6 | 42 | 31 | +11 | 44 | Quarterfinal |
| 4 | York United | 28 | 11 | 6 | 11 | 35 | 36 | −1 | 39 | Play-in round |
| 5 | Pacific | 28 | 9 | 7 | 12 | 27 | 32 | −5 | 34 |
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Total number of wins; 3) Head-to-head; 4) Goal differential; 5) Goals for; 6) Away goals differential; 7) Away goals for; 8) Home goals differential; 9) Home goals for; 10) Fewest disciplinary points;[a] 11) Most under-21 domestic player minutes; 12) Coin toss (tie between two (2) clubs) or drawing of lots (tie between three (3) or more clubs).[3]
(C) Champion (qualified to Champions Cup Round one); (S) CPL Shield winner (qualified to Champions Cup Round one)
Notes
- ^ Yellow cards count for one point and red cards (direct or accumulation of two yellow cards) count as three points.[3]
Playoff bracket
| Play-in round | First semifinal | Second semifinal | Final | |||||||||||||||
| October 27 | November 9 | |||||||||||||||||
| 1 | Forge FC | 0 | 2 | Cavalry FC | 2 | |||||||||||||
| 2 | Cavalry FC | 1 | November 2 | 1 | Forge FC | 1 | ||||||||||||
| 1 | Forge FC | 1 | ||||||||||||||||
| Quarterfinal | 3 | Atlético Ottawa | 0 | |||||||||||||||
| October 27 | ||||||||||||||||||
| October 23 | 3 | Atlético Ottawa (p) | 2 (5) | |||||||||||||||
| 4 | York United | 2 | 4 | York United | 2 (4) | |||||||||||||
| 5 | Pacific FC | 0 | ||||||||||||||||
Background
Cavalry FC
Cavalry reached the CPL final for third time in six seasons.
Forge FC
Forge qualified for the CPL playoffs on September 21[5] and clinched first place and the top seed in the playoffs on October 6.[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 will be the sixth meeting of the season between these two teams and the twenty-sixth overall. Forge had the advantage in the regular season against Cavalry, leading the head-to-head with two win, one draw, and one loss and finishing two points ahead in the standings. This will be the second concecutive 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, will be the host stadium for the final.[8] This was determined by the outcome of the playoffs' first semifinal on October 27 between regular season winner Forge FC and second seed Cavalry FC;[3][4] Cavalry won the match 1–0.[8] ATCO Field has previously hosted the second leg of the 2019 Canadian Premier League finals.
Broadcasting
The CPL final will continue to be broadcast on OneSoccer. On October 9, 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 November 9 at 3:00 pm ET.[9][10] The CPL confirmed the date and time following Cavalry's win in the first semifinal.[8]
Associated with the final, the annual Canadian Premier League Awards will take place on November 7 in Calgary.[8][11] Matchday will feature a "FanFest" headlined by singer Lu Kala.[8][11]
Match
| Cavalry FC | 2–1 | Forge FC |
|---|---|---|
|
Report |
Post-match
The winners will be awarded the North Star Cup, crowned CPL champions, and qualify for the 2025 CONCACAF Champions Cup.[3][9] However, as a result of both Cavalry and Forge qualifying for the final, Cavalry has qualified for the Champions Cup regardless of whether they win the final.[12][a]
See also
Notes
- ^ Forge had previously secured qualification for the 2025 CONCACAF Champions Cup as CPL Shield winners.[13]
References
- ^ "Calgary, Canada Weather History | Weather Underground". www.wunderground.com. Retrieved 2024-11-09.
- ^ Wharnsby, Tim (October 28, 2023). "Borges scores 'Olimpico' goal as Forge FC completes comeback to win 4th CPL title". CBC Sports. The Canadian Press. Archived from the original on November 8, 2023. Retrieved October 8, 2024.
- ^ a b c d e "2024 CPL Competition Guidelines". Canadian Premier League. April 12, 2024. Archived from the original on April 12, 2024. Retrieved April 12, 2024.
- ^ a b "2024 Canadian Premier League Playoffs: Matchups and Schedule Confirmed" (Press release). Canadian Premier League. October 19, 2024. Retrieved October 20, 2024.
- ^ Rhodes, Benedict (September 21, 2024). "Forge FC, Atlético Ottawa clinch 2024 CPL Playoffs spots, Cavalry one point away". Canadian Premier League. Retrieved September 29, 2024.
- ^ Gangué-Ruzic, Alexandre (October 6, 2024). "Recap: Valour FC 0-1 Forge FC — CPL Match #103". Canadian Premier League. Archived from the original on October 6, 2024. Retrieved October 6, 2024.
- ^ Tierney, Mitchell (October 14, 2023). "Highlights: Cavalry FC vs. Forge FC (Oct. 14, 2023)". onesoccer.ca. Archived from the original on October 25, 2023. Retrieved October 23, 2023.
- ^ a b c d e "Canadian Premier League Confirms 2024 Final Host, Remaining Playoffs Schedule" (Press release). Toronto, ON: Canadian Premier League. October 27, 2024. Retrieved October 28, 2024.
- ^ a b c "CBC Sports To Provide Broadcast Coverage of 2024 Canadian Premier League Final" (Press release). CBC. October 9, 2024. Archived from the original on October 9, 2024. Retrieved October 9, 2024.
- ^ a b Jacques, John (October 9, 2024). "CBC Sports Will Broadcast The 2024 Canadian Premier League Final". Northern Tribune. Archived from the original on October 9, 2024. Retrieved October 9, 2024.
- ^ a b Greer, Remy (October 28, 2024). "Canadian Premier League Final will be held in Alberta Nov. 9". Lakeland Today. Great West Media. Retrieved October 29, 2024.
- ^ "Cavalry FC and Forge FC to play in CPL Final, Nov. 9 at ATCO Field". Canadian Premier League. November 2, 2024. Retrieved November 3, 2024.
- ^ Jacques, John (October 7, 2024). "Forge Clinches CPL Shield". Northern Tribune. Retrieved October 23, 2024.