The first quarterfinal of the 2026 Canadian Championship is upon us, as CS Saint-Laurent hosts Forge FC in the only quarterfinal featuring a semi-pro side.

Here’s everything you need to know heading into tomorrow’s match.

How CS Saint-Laurent come into the match

Currently sitting second in Ligue1 Québec, CS Saint-Laurent enter this clash with an eight-match unbeaten run across all competitions.

Their most recent outing saw them win 2-0 at home against Celtix Haut-Richelieu, with goals from Zakaria Bahous and Younesse Chibane.

They qualified for the quarterfinals after a 1-0 win over Inter Toronto. Can CS Saint-Laurent take down another CPL side in this cup?

How Forge FC come into the match

Sitting at the top of the CPL standings, the Hammers enter this round as arguably the CPL's best chance to lift that Voyageurs Cup for the first time in league history.

The Hammers were in Québec for their most recent match, where they took down FC Supra by a 2-1 scoreline, with Dan Nimick and Maxime Filion getting on the scoresheet to cancel out Loïc Kwemi's equalizer.

They qualified for this stage after a 4-0 win at home over the Halifax Wanderers, and they come into this match as the favourites once more, but will they prove it tomorrow?

Head-to-head

This will be the inaugural meeting between these two sides, but both of them have a history against other CPL and PSLQ sides.

Forge FC have previously taken on two PSLQ sides, having defeated CS Mont-Royal Outremont in 2022 by a 2-0 scoreline, thanks to goals from Terran Campbell and Woobens Pacius. The following year, Forge defeated FC Laval by a 3-0 scoreline after a Noah Jensen brace was capped off by another goal from Pacius.

CS Saint-Laurent have taken on two CPL sides in the past, as in 2024, they took down the Halifax Wanderers after goals from Dan Nimick, Mamadou Kane, Loïc Kwemi, and Ryan Telfer made it 2-2 after regulation time. CS Saint-Laurent got the victory after a penalty shootout. This year, they defeated Inter Toronto by a 1-0 scoreline thanks to a Younesse Chibane goal.

Players to watch

The standout performer from CS Saint-Laurent's cupset was their goalkeeper, Martin Cantona. The nephew of the great Eric Cantona had an outstanding performance against Inter Toronto, making an absurd 14 saves, with ten saves coming from shots inside his box. In Ligue1 Québec, Cantona has played twelve games, earning six clean sheets. CS Saint-Laurent will be looking towards him to stop Forge's stacked attack.

From one goalkeeper to another, 28-year-old Congolese international Dimitry Bertaud has been nothing short of excellent in his debut campaign for the Hammers. He's earned seven clean sheets in twelve games in league play, and a further two clean sheets in three games across the Canadian Championship and Concacaf Champions Cup. It may not be a busy day for Bertaud, but if Forge can learn anything from Saint-Laurent's matches against CPL opposition, it's that they must be on their toes, and Bertaud will likely be ready to stop any sort of attack from the Québec-based side.

Projected XIs

CS Saint-Laurent (4-3-3): Martin Cantona; Samir Morsli, Cédric Toussaint, Nathan Goulet (c), Tarek Ghamraoui; Rayan Mlah, Zakaria Bahous, Saad Chaouki; Martin Cantavalo, Younesse Chibane, Étienne Tremblay

Forge FC (4-3-3): Dimitry Bertaud; Marko Jevremovic, Daniel Krutzen, Dan Nimick, Maxime Bourgeois; Ben Paton, Kyle Bekker (c), Noah Jensen; Hoce Massunda, Maxime Filion, Nana Ampomah

Game information and how to watch

📆 Wednesday, July 8, 2026
⏰ 3:00 pm ET / 12:00 pm PT
📺 OneSoccer
🧑‍⚖️ Mathieu Souaré
🏟 Stade Boréale, Laval, Canada