Pacific FC, awarded an opening-round bye into the quarter-finals, will get to cool its cleats and thoroughly scout its first opponent in the Canadian Championship.
The defending Canadian Premier League champion Tridents will play the winner of an opening-round game between fellow CPL clubs Atlético Ottawa and York United in the quarter-finals. PFC will host its quarter-final fixture at Starlight Stadium between May 24 and 26.
Also receiving first-round byes are 2021 Canadian Championship winner CF Montréal of Major League Soccer and 2021 finalist Toronto FC of MLS, the latter which beat Island-based PFC 2-1 in the semifinals last fall at BMO Field.
The draw for the 2022 Canadian Championship tournament for the Voyageurs Cup, which is sa国际传媒 Soccer’s equivalent of the FA Cup in England, was made online Wednesday from Montreal.
It is part of the organic nature of soccer’s ecosystem, in which almost all national federations host similar cup competitions featuring teams of all pro levels, sometimes leading to monumental giant-killer outcomes. One of those occurred last year when PFC stunned the Vancouver Whitecaps of MLS at a raucous and jammed Starlight Stadium in the opening round of the 2021 Canadian Championship.
The Whitecaps, who were also beaten by Cavalry FC of the CPL in 2019, open in this year’s first round against CPL club Valour FC of Winnipeg in a game to be played at sa国际传媒 Place. The winner of that game advances to the quarter-finals to meet the winner of an all-Alberta opening-round fixture between CPL clubs Cavalry FC of Calgary and FC Edmonton. That is on the same side of the draw as PFC, leaving open the possibility of a semifinal match-up between the Tridents and Whitecaps.
Other opening-round match-ups feature Hamilton’s Forge FC of the CPL against Première ligue de soccer du Québec champion CS Mont-Royal Outremont, with the winner advancing to meet CF Montréal of MLS in the quarter-finals, and the Halifax Wanderers of the CPL versus defending League1 Ontario champion Guelph United, with the winner gaining a quarter-final berth against Toronto FC of MLS.
The inaugural champion of the new sa国际传媒 League1, which begins operations this year with the Victoria Highlanders a charter member, will receive a berth in the 2023 Canadian Championship tournament.
The 2022 Canadian Championship first-round will be conducted May 10-12, the quarter-finals between May 24-26, the semifinals between June 21-23 with the final in July on a date to be decided. The format is one-game, single knockout.
The 2022 Voyageurs Cup champion will receive an automatic berth in the 2023 CONCACAF Champions League.
The 2022 Canadian Championship draw was held during the pre-game events Wednesday night of CF Montréal’s quarter-final game at Saputo Stadium against Cruz Azul of the Mexican Premiership Liga MX in the 2022 CONCACAF Champions League, for which CF Montréal qualified by lifting the 2021 Voyageurs Cup.
CORNER KICKS: PFC, preparing for its CPL opener on April 10 against Forge FC, plays the University of Victoria Vikes in a friendly Friday night at 7 p.m. at Centennial Stadium.
