CF Montreal looks to dig out of Canadian Championship hole against Hamilton's Forge FC

Daniel Rainbird · The Canadian Press

· Posted: Jul 09, 2025 11:44 AM EDT | Last Updated: July 9

CF Montreal and Forge FC participate the 2nd limb of their Canadian Championship quarterfinal with antithetic outlooks.

Montreal hosts Forge astatine Stade Saputo connected Wednesday nighttime aft falling down 1-0 to the lower-tier Canadian Premier League broadside successful the archetypal limb astatine Hamilton Stadium connected May 20.

Mired astatine the bottommost of Major League Soccer's Eastern Conference with a 3-13-5 record, Montreal needs a effect astatine location to salvage immoderate realistic accidental of winning a trophy this season.

"It's a final," interim caput manager Marco Donadel said. "It's a ace important crippled for us, wherever each item volition beryllium important. Every stop, each situation, each acceptable piece. The archetypal minute, the past minute, the overtime volition beryllium similar a final.

"It's the cleanable nighttime present astatine location to amusement what we tin do."

While Montreal treats this arsenic a do-or-die match, Forge caput manager Bobby Smyrniotis wouldn't see it a monolithic disappointment if his squad can't implicit the upset.

"We're not playing successful a last connected Wednesday," helium said. "It's not for a trophy, it's conscionable a circular that we request to get past and thing is guaranteed successful these types of games.

"Your play is not based connected this 1 game."

Hamilton's Forge FC is 2nd successful the CPL

In league play, Forge ranks 2nd successful the CPL standings with a 7-0-6 grounds for 27 points, 1 little than Atletico Ottawa.

The four-time league champions — and six-time finalists successful six seasons — stunned Montreal with a 2-1 triumph astatine Stade Saputo past year, advancing to the cupful semifinal 3-2 connected aggregate.

No CPL team, however, has ever won the Canadian Championship, which guarantees a spot successful adjacent year's CONCACAF Champions League.

"It's thing that Forge volition triumph astatine immoderate point, hopefully portion I'm here, but if not astatine immoderate clip it volition travel and it volition for a squad successful the Canadian Premier League, that's for sure," Smyrniotis said. "If that could beryllium this twelvemonth that's great, but we don't deliberation excessively acold ahead.

"We've got to beryllium astatine our champion against a squad that's playing for introduction successful the Champions League arsenic well... here's your quickest way to bash it for each the teams progressive successful this competition, truthful we're going to get the champion of CF Montreal."

The three-time defending champion Vancouver Whitecaps big Valour FC astatine BC Place Stadium successful Wednesday's different quarterfinal aft a 2-2 gully successful the archetypal leg.

Montreal and Forge, contempt playing successful antithetic leagues, are acquainted opponents. The 2 sides person met successful the Canadian Championship for 5 consecutive years, with Montreal winning the archetypal 3 matchups earlier past year's disappointment.

Brian Wright's 78th-minute extremity gave Forge the 1-0 vantage successful the archetypal limb connected a nighttime Montreal centre backmost Joel Waterman described his team's first-half show arsenic "unacceptable."

"They were amended connected 2nd balls, amended astatine battles," said Waterman connected Tuesday aft precocious playing for Canada astatine the Gold Cup. "I felt similar we were second-best astatine everything.

"Tomorrow it can't beryllium that way."

Forge is 'very, precise good coached' Montreal subordinate says

Not lone has Waterman met Smyrniotis's squad portion playing for Montreal, the 29-year-old from Langley, B.C., besides witnessed the opening of Forge's dynasty erstwhile helium played for Cavalry FC successful the CPL's inaugural season.

Waterman became the archetypal subordinate to transportation from CPL to MLS successful 2020, and helium says the league has lone grown since.

"You spot the spread getting smaller and smaller each year," helium said. "(Forge have) been 1 of the champion teams successful the CPL since the precise beginning.

"They inactive person a batch of the aforesaid core. They're very, precise good coached. That's wherefore they've had a batch of occurrence successful a batch of antithetic tournaments and successful the league, truthful we cognize what they're about."

Montreal was the dense underdog this past play erstwhile Lionel Messi enactment connected a amusement with 2 spectacular goals successful a 4-1 Inter Miami triumph connected Saturday.

On Wednesday, Montreal volition boast the stronger broadside connected paper, but Donadel said that won't substance if his radical doesn't dainty it similar a must-win game.

"At the opening of the game, we are each 11 (versus) 11. It's a batch astir desire. Desire to amusement and tendency to win," helium said. "Tomorrow is simply a crippled wherever yes, we person the prime to win, and we request to amusement that we privation to win."