2024 has come to a close, and what better way to recap the year than by highlighting its most memorable matches?

Without further ado, the list. (In no particular order)

France 1-2 CanWNT
2024 Summer Olympics
July 28, 2024



Perhaps the most memorable match the Canadian footy season saw. The Canadian Women’s National Team had been handed a 6-point deduction by FIFA for the illegal use of drones to spy on opponents’ training sessions. This penalty dropped their tally to -3 points, despite earning 3 points earlier with a 2-1 victory over New Zealand.

Heading into the match, Canada faced a must-win scenario. Anything less than a victory—a draw or a loss—would crush their hopes of advancing to the knockout stage.

Marie-Antoinette Katoto put France ahead at the cusp of halftime, and 'Les Rouges' needed to score at least two goals.

In the 58th minute, Jessie Fleming tied things up and gave us a lifeline.

In the 12th minute of injury time, Vanessa Gilles was left wide open, tapping in a rebound to give Canada the win and stay alive in the competition.

HFX Wanderers 2-2 CS Saint-Laurent (3-5 pens.)
Canadian Championship
May 2, 2024



Who doesn't love upsets?

CS Saint-Laurent, a semi-pro team from Ligue1 Québec, pulled off a stunning upset by eliminating professional side Halifax Wanderers in the Preliminary Round of the Canadian Championship. Their victory earned them a two-legged showdown with none other than Toronto FC.

The Wanderers initially took the lead through Dan Nimick, but the Montréal-based side quickly tied things up thanks to Mamadou Kane's penalty.

In the second half, Loïc Kwemi—now a Valour player—put Saint-Laurent ahead with 25 minutes remaining. However, Ryan Telfer scored a late equalizer in the dying minutes, sending the match to a penalty shootout.

Saint-Laurent scored all five of their penalties, while the Wanderers scored three. They became the 2nd ever semi-pro team to knock a professional side out of the Voyageurs Cup.

CF Montréal 1-2 Forge FC
Canadian Championship
May 22, 2024

For the fourth consecutive season, Forge faced CF Montréal in the Canadian Championship.

The first three encounters had gone Montréal’s way, with the 'Impact' eliminating the Hammers each time. However, heading into this match, the odds seemed to favour Forge, despite being a Canadian Premier League side and playing away. Montréal was struggling with poor form, while their supporters’ group, boycotted parts of the game and displayed banners criticizing the players and ownership.

The pressure on Montréal was immense—being eliminated in the quarter-finals by a CPL team would only worsen their woes.

After 90 minutes of play and nearly two hours of weather delays, Forge finally overcame an MLS opponent, securing a 2-1 victory on Montréal’s home turf. Daniel Parra and Kwasi Poku scored for the Hamiltonians.

The win booked them a two-legged tie against Toronto.

Peru 0-1 CanMNT
Copa América
June 25, 2024



One for the history books.

Canada defeated Peru in matchday 2 of the 2024 Copa América group stage, earning their first-ever victory and goal in the competition.

Jonathan David grabbed the game-winner late in the 2nd half in a scorching hot Kansas City.

These crucial 3 points were what qualified les 'Rouges' to the knockout stages.

York United FC 4-1 Atlético Ottawa
Canadian Premier League
July 26, 2024

When Martin Nash was dismissed as York United’s head coach, the team was sitting in sixth place, and their chances of making the playoffs were slipping away. It felt like the same story every year—lack of ideas and a mid-table finish.

Then came a new manager.

Enter Benjamín Mora, whose impact was immediately evident in the Nine Stripes’ performances.

York United started racking up wins, including a rare but reassuring victory over Cavalry on their home turf—only the second time in club history. But the match that truly put York United in the spotlight was their 4-1 victory over Atlético Ottawa.

Elijah Adekugbe, Juan Córdova, Mo Babouli, and Brian Wright all found the back of the net in a statement performance.

Cavalry FC 2-1 Forge FC
Canadian Premier League final
November 9, 2024



For those who follow the Canadian Premier League, this one doesn't need an explanation.

Despite consistently finishing at the top each season, Cavalry just couldn’t break their playoff curse. First, they were eliminated by Forge in 2019, then again by Forge in 2020, followed by Pacific in 2021, Forge once more in 2022, and, predictably, Forge again in 2023.

So, when Cavalry defeated the Hammers in the first semifinal of the 2024 playoffs—securing their spot in the final and confirming they’d host it—it felt like their best chance yet to finally claim the trophy they’d been chasing since the league’s inaugural season.

Cavalry had a golden opportunity for revenge—not just for the 2019 and 2023 finals but for all the other times Forge had knocked them out.

And this time, they made it count.

Cavalry defeated Forge 2-1 in the final, earning the right to call themselves Canadian Premier League champions for the first time in their history.

Two quick first-half goals from Tobias Warchewski and Sergio Camargo sealed the deal, ending years of playoff heartbreak.

Atlético Ottawa 2-2 York United FC (5-4 on pens.)
Canadian Premier League playoffs
October 27, 2024



What started as an extremely dull first half ended up becoming one of the matches of the season.

Atlético Ottawa held a 1-0 lead heading into the final minutes of the match, with York struggling to find a way through. Then, in the dying moments of injury time, 16-year-old Shola Jimoh found himself with the ball inside the box and smashed it into the top corner, rescuing a dramatic equalizer and sending the match to extra time.

Ottléti wasted no time in the additional 30 minutes, immediately winning a penalty and converting it through Rubén del Campo. York, however, responded swiftly as Mo Babouli headed in an equalizer, with a brilliant assist from 16-year-old Shola Jimoh, leveling the game at 2-2.

The game then went to penalties, where the only miss of the shootout came from Mo Babouli, sending Atlético Ottawa to the 2nd semifinal.

Venezuela 1-1 Canada (3-4 on pens.)
Copa América quarterfinals
July 5, 2024



Canada defeated Venezuela in the Copa América quarterfinals and secured a spot in the semis in its first-ever participation.

In what looked like a Venezuelan home match, but the CanMNT prevailed on penalties.

The day all of the Americas got to know Jacob Shaffelburg.