AGR: What can Canadian Premier League sides learn from 2026 Concacaf Champions Cup woes?
Despite having a record three participants in the Concacaf Champions Cup for the first time, the 2026 tournament didn’t go as planned for the Canadian Premier League’s trio of entrants in the competition, unfortunately.
Across six total matches, all three teams combined for just one draw and five defeats, losing by a combined score of 19-1. By comparison, despite having just two entrants in 2025, the CPL teams combined for a victory and three defeats in four matches, in which they were outscored 8-2.
Naturally, there are reasons why things didn’t go very well for them this year - two of the three teams, Vancouver FC and Atlético Ottawa, had never participated in this competition before, while all three teams, Ottawa, Vancouver, and Forge FC, were all drawn against strong Liga MX and MLS sides in Nashville SC, Cruz Azul and Tigres UANL, respectively.
For three teams all still in preseason mode, with the CPL season not set to kick off until April, that was always going to be a tough mountain for any of those sides to climb, and it showed. 
Yet, that shows the challenge that CPL teams face going forward. Under the current format, there is always going to be a strong possibility of tough first-round matchups for these less-experienced Canadian teams as long as they remain in pot 2 for the tournament draw.
With most Liga MX and MLS sides having strong rankings due to a multitude of factors, such as history, that puts a high percentage of their participants into pot one, meaning that any pot two teams are virtually guaranteed to face teams from either of those two leagues - that’s been the case in each of the last three editions of this tournament, at least.
That’s not a bad thing, per se - it’s been good for CPL teams to test themselves against some of the top teams in the region over the last few years, something that has proven to be quite beneficial for sides who have been able to return to this competition multiple times, such as Forge and Cavalry FC.
Those experiences have helped them massively domestically in the CPL, and in a competition like the Canadian Championship whenever they’ve faced off against Canadian MLS teams - it’s even paid off for them in this tournament, as Cavalry beat Liga MX side Pumas UNAM in the first leg of their 2025 first round tie (before losing on aggregate), while Forge drew Liga MX side Tigres this year (before losing on aggregate).
Because of that, the true value of this tournament for Ottawa and Vancouver will only be seen if they can find a way to return to participate again in the future, which will allow them to build on the harsh lessons they learned from this maiden voyage.
GOAL🔵🔵🔵🔵🔵
— OneSoccer (@onesoccer) February 13, 2026
It goes from bad to worse for Vancouver FC, as Nicolás Ibáñez takes advantage of a gift in the box to make it 5-0 for Cruz Azul
🔴Watch #ConcaChampions on OneSoccer pic.twitter.com/4z4tcMoDvc
At the same time, how things went for CPL teams this year has opened up some interesting questions, namely, about what value this tournament truly provides these teams going forward. For example, while any side will welcome the value of testing themselves against giants of the region, there is the worry that repeatedly suffering big defeats in these matches could harm the reputation of the league.
Of course, to suggest that wouldn’t be fair to those teams, as it must be remembered that these games come at a terrible time for them, with it still being the CPL offseason, which has had a big impact on teams' ability to put their best foot forward in this competition.
That’s not to say that these teams would’ve fared better results-wise if these games were played in August with the CPL teams fully in midseason mode, but you can only wonder how much more competitive these Champions Cup ties would’ve been had they had at least a full preseason and a couple of more league games under their belt.
GOAL 🐯🐯🐯🐯
— OneSoccer (@onesoccer) February 11, 2026
Tigres UANL make it 4-1 late in this match vs. Forge FC, who concede from another set piece as their #ConcaChampions journey looks to come to an early end 😔
🔴 Watch #ConcaChampions on OneSoccer pic.twitter.com/Td2EelLrcM
This isn’t a new discussion, though - for years, there were debates about whether or not MLS teams were once at a similar disadvantage when playing Liga MX sides in this tournament, which comes right in the middle of Liga MX’s season but at the beginning of MLS’s campaign.
Now, with the growth of MLS and the experience gained by teams that have played in this competition, some of those debates have gone away, but it’s always a lingering talking point when a Liga MX team comfortably dispatches an MLS team (although results like that have been a lot more rare in recent years, especially with how much less likely it is for MLS and Liga MX teams to meet in the early rounds of this tournament in its current format). What that shows, though, is that the benefit that CPL teams will get from these games will only be felt over time as the league grows, and MLS's development over the last few decades is a prime example of that.
Speaking of MLS, though, it’s worth noting that the future of that league could have a huge impact on what’s next for this competition. As many will know, MLS will no longer operate on a spring-to-fall calendar after this season, as they’ll switch to the fall-to-spring model used by many leagues around the world, including Liga MX, in time for the 2027-2028 season.
That’s going to have huge ramifications on this competition, given that MLS and Liga MX are the two biggest leagues in the region. Given that these games are played in what is the busiest portion of their respective seasons (once MLS’s calendar shifts, that is), you wonder if that could lead to some alterations as they push to avoid cramming the marquee section of their calendar in the spring with extra games.
For example, one change could be to start this competition in the fall, as it used to be. Before, teams used to play a group stage in the fall, before playing knockout matches in the spring, something they could bring back - you'd have to think that lower-ranked sides would welcome the opportunity to take on top clubs on a group stage instead of immediately being thrust into a tough knockout matchup.
Or, to build off that, they could stick with this current format, but just move the dates so that the first rounds are played in the fall, which shouldn’t affect the Liga MX and MLS teams too much (if this tournament starts in September or October, they’ll still be well into their season), while providing a big benefit to leagues on a spring-to-fall calendar like the CPL, as they’d at least get to play these tough early-round games while their seasons are in full swing.
GOAL 🎸🎸🎸🎸🎸
— OneSoccer (@onesoccer) February 25, 2026
Ahmed Qasem makes it 5-0 (7-0 agg.) as Nashville SC start to toy with the Atlético Ottawa backline 🥲
🔴 Watch #ConcaChampions on OneSoccer pic.twitter.com/8P7b0t6jbg
Otherwise, another tweak that could make sense, especially if a calendar switch occurs, is to change the format so that higher-ranked teams skip a round or two, allowing the lower-ranked teams the chance to play other teams of a similar ranking before diving into matches against the bigger heavyweights, which would at least allow them to ease into this tournament without immediately being thrust against a heavyweight side.
For context, that’s not uncommon to see that sort of format in other continental competitions around the world - for example, in the UEFA Champions League, league rankings play a big role in whether teams qualify directly for the group stage, or if a side has to play extra qualifiers against teams of a similar ranking to reach the tournament proper.
Granted, Concacaf has sort of implemented that, as teams from Central America and the Caribbean actually qualify for the Champions Cup based on results in the Central American Cup and Caribbean Cup tournaments, which ensures that the teams that qualify out of those regions are indeed the best on offer.
Heck, even the Liga MX and MLS teams get the chance to qualify for the Champions Cup through a secondary regional competition of their own, as they play together in the Leagues Cup, which offers three berths into this tournament.
Yet, that’s where the CPL teams get stuck, as they don’t have a similar competition to play in (with the trade-off being that two of the eight teams in the league instead directly qualify for this competition). At least for teams in Central America and the Caribbean, who have also struggled massively in this tournament in recent years (since 2024, only two Central American and zero Caribbean teams have advanced from matchups against Liga MX and MLS sides), they can harbour hope that the long-term development of the Central American Cup and Caribbean Cup tournaments will improve their results in the Champions Cup long-term.
Well... that didn't go as planned 🥲
— OneSoccer (@onesoccer) February 25, 2026
What went wrong for @AtletiOttawa as they crash out of their #ConcaChampions debut 7-0 to Nashville SC? 😬#CPLsoccer pic.twitter.com/mLCa0WI8U4
Plus, for those teams, they can look at those smaller tournaments as a key opportunity for their clubs to get used to continental competition while chasing a trophy, which is a nice bonus.
Instead, for CPL teams, they have to settle for the Champions Cup as their lone opportunity to play continental competition, which is perhaps why this year’s tough results have seemed to hit their teams a lot harder than most teams (although FC Cincinnati’s 13-0 demolition of Dominican side O&M and the Philadelphia Union’s 11-0 decimation of Trinidadian side Defence Force have further opened the discussions about what to do with the format of this tournament at large). 
Especially when reflecting on the loss of the old Concacaf League, which had grouped Central America and the Caribbean teams along with CPL sides in a secondary continental competition, you can’t help but wonder if there’s a better solution for CPL sides out there, as the Concacaf League had seemed to provide fantastic benefit for the teams that got to play in it in Forge and Pacific FC.
Concacaf needs to bring back the Concacaf League, a secondary continental competition.
— Ben Steiner (@BenSteiner00) February 26, 2026
Atlético Ottawa lost 7-0 on aggregate to Nashville — and now FC Cincinnati just beat the DR’s O&M FC 13-0.
The Champions Cup early rounds don’t benefit many teams.
pic.twitter.com/rSrmGIWQLa
Certainly, though, there’s no doubt that the start to this year’s tournament, for both the CPL teams and for the other leagues that aren’t Liga MX and MLS, has opened questions about what’s next for the Champions Cup and its ongoing development.
No matter if those questions prompt the unlikely return of Concacaf League, or create another alteration to the Champions Cup (which has seen a few of them over the last decade), one can’t help but feel that changes appear to be on the horizon, and hopefully that can help benefit the CPL sides.
Until then, however, they'll have to continue to make do with this current format, and try to extract as much value as possible from the opportunity to play in these sorts of top-level continential matches - perhaps, with more experience, results like the ones suffered this year can be left in the past.
