AGR: What can unprecedented 2026 preliminary round results can do for the growth of the Canadian Championship?
The 2026 Canadian Championship has started with a bang, as the preliminary round certainly lived up to expectations, with a swatch of intriguing storylines emerging from the seven first-round games that were played over the past week.
The tone was set early, as Atlético Ottawa pulled off a shocking upset over eight-time Canadian Championship winners, Toronto FC, in the first match of the preliminary round, and the fun continued into the weekend, with CS Saint-Laurent’s upset of Inter Toronto FC the standout storyline from the rest of the games.
The opening round of the TELUS #CanChamp DELIVERED 🤯
— OneSoccer (@onesoccer) May 11, 2026
Cupset drama, GREAT goals and Quebec dominance kicked off the Battle for the North – here's where things stand 🇨🇦 🏆 pic.twitter.com/m3l2JY0NXz
All of a sudden, that’s completely blown up the tournament bracket, as the door is now open for a few surprise teams to reach the final, especially when remembering that this tournament won’t have the re-draw for the semi-finals that shook up the tournament last year.
While that re-draw set up a world where the Vancouver Whitecaps faced Vancouver FC in the final, the original bracket would’ve set up that local derby in the semi-finals instead, and a tasty Forge vs. Atlético Ottawa clash - a byproduct of the regional draw from earlier in the tournament. On paper, those would’ve been 2 tantalizing clashes that would’ve yielded an entertaining final (even if the all-Vancouver final ended up being a lot more competitive than many expected).
Returning to this year’s tournament, however, one can only highlight how impressive some of the results were, especially when considering how unprecedented they were.
For example, when seeing that there were two ‘upsets’ in the same round, that’s uncharted territory - when looking back at the past six editions of the tournament, this was the first time that there were two such upsets in the same round.
CUPSET ✅
— OneSoccer (@onesoccer) May 6, 2026
With Atlético Ottawa's 3-1 win over Toronto FC, #CPLsoccer teams have now eliminated all 3 Canadian MLS clubs from TELUS #CanChamp tournaments 🇨🇦 🏆 pic.twitter.com/spiqpinAm0
That’s worth noting, as there have been some impressive upsets over the past half-decade, such as when Pacific FC shocked the Vancouver Whitecaps in 2021, when the TSS Rovers shocked Valour FC in 2023, when Forge defeated CF Montréal in 2024 and 2025, and when CS Saint-Laurent upset the Halifax Wanderers in 2024, but typically those results have occurred in different rounds, in isolation of each other.
Yet, that shows why this 2026 preliminary round was so intriguing, as for whatever reason, the matches were all quite competitive, aside from an expected 5-0 win by CF Montréal against Alberta Premier League side Calgary Blizzard. Other than that, and a surprising 4-0 win by Forge against fellow Canadian Premier League side Halifax Wanderers, all of the other ties were decided by two goals or fewer.
That’s huge, as sometimes these preliminary round games can be a bit of a slog, with most teams cruising through without much worry. In 2025, for example, there were no preliminary round upsets despite there being four potential cupsets, with those matchups being won by an average of 14-0 by the favourites (in that case, those matchups were all between CPL teams and PSL Canada teams).
Of course, the 2025 tournament then got ignited by Forge’s victory over CF Montréal in the next round, setting up a chaotic final four after a tame start - that shows that a straightforward preliminary round doesn’t always yield a chalk tournament.
The Canadian Championship quarter-finals are set 🇨🇦🏆 #CanChamp #VWFC #CFMTL #CanPL pic.twitter.com/Ff1CGP9lns
— TrueNorthFoot ⚽️🇨🇦 (@truenorthfoot) May 11, 2026
Therefore, the reverse isn’t impossible this year - on paper, the three potential quarter-final cupsets will be quite difficult to pull off, which could lead to a rather routine next round of this 2026 tournament - but that’s why the bracket already being decided is so important.
As it stands, one of Forge, CS Saint-Laurent, FC Supra du Québec or Atlético Ottawa will reach the final for the first time, meaning that the CPL is either going to have its second-ever finalist from a full tournament after Vancouver made it last year, or that PSL Canada will have its first-ever finalist if Saint-Laurent can pull off a miracle. 
Then, on the other side of the bracket, while most are expecting the Vancouver Whitecaps to cruise past Cavalry FC, they’ve had their difficulties with Tommy Wheeldon Jr.’s side in the past, as they were eliminated by them in 2019, only beat them on penalties in 2022 and only beat them on away goals in 2024. And, of course, while CF Montréal will hope to beat Vancouver FC, their back-to-back defeats with Forge will linger, with Vancouver eager to use what they learned from their run to last year’s final and pull off their first cupset.
Because of that, while most are at least expecting a Whitecaps vs. CF Montréal semi-final matchup as one certainty to emerge from these quarter-final matchups, even that’s not written in stone, by any means.
Yet, that shows why TFC’s first-round loss, in particular, has shaken up this tournament so much. As the only MLS team on their side of the bracket, they had looked likely to reach the final, given that they had never been eliminated from this tournament by a CPL team.
Instead, Atlético Ottawa were able to catch them by surprise, and it’s completely changed the equation.
CUPSET 😎🟠
— OneSoccer (@onesoccer) May 10, 2026
CS Saint-Laurent eliminate Inter Toronto FC from the TELUS #CanChamp 🔥 pic.twitter.com/dUBFXZGAVI
What this all shows, though, is the continued progression of this tournament - there are no longer many guarantees for the teams who enter. Even if some things are more likely to happen than others - anyone but the Whitecaps winning a fifth straight Voyageurs Cup this fall will be seen as a big shock, even if it’s five-time winners CF Montréal - what used to be certainties, such as MLS teams cruising to the final four, and CPL teams handling PSL Canada teams with ease, have started to disappear.
Now, after having had years of experience in this tournament, certain ceilings are being broken, which is opening the door for more teams to believe in what’s possible. With every cupset, that offers belief to another team that they can repeat that feat, and that can be contagious.
Therefore, even if this tournament ends up ending rather predictably after this shocking start, don’t discount how important this preliminary round can be for the future of this tournament. At the very least, it’ll change the calculus of how seriously teams take this tournament, especially in the earlier stages, which will only make it more and more competitive from top to bottom.
And that’s the beauty of the cup. There’s a reason why the ‘magic of the cup’ remains a mythical phrase, and the Canadian Championship is starting to get its own sprinkling of the magic dust, which will remain pivotal to further jumpstarting and accelerating its growth, on and off the field.
