What's fueling Canada MLS teams' superior Concacaf record? | OneFootball

The Vancouver Whitecaps are into the first continental final of their club's history following their dazzling display over Inter Miami across two legs, concluding with their 3-1 victory in South Florida on Wednesday night.

To which fans of Toronto FC and CF Montreal could say: "It's about time."

While the Whitecaps are covering new ground in club history, the greater story of MLS' triumphs and near misses in Concacaf can not be written without the presence of Canadian clubs.

Both Montreal in 2014-15 and Toronto in 2018 gave two of the most credible continental performances in league history, with the latter only losing their final on penalties to CD Guadalajara following a 3-3 aggregate draw.

And while the 2018 Toronto team in particular was coming off one of the best stretches of league play in MLS history, it's also possible that continental results reflect a difference in attitude between American and Canadian clubs.

To some extent, Canadian teams in general are more bought into the idea of foreign competition as a necessity in pro sports, given that their most popular sports entities mostly compete against American opposition in baseball, basketball, ice hockey and soccer. Canadian Football is the lone exception, and while it is a big one, the NFL also has a sizable Canadian following.

So perhaps it's reasonable that Canadian clubs would look upon other international competitions with greater reverence than MLS teams, consciously or subconsciously. After all, it is uniquely American to do things like crowning the World Series and Super Bowl winner the "World's Champion," even if those teams are very likely the best on earth.

Our story traffic numbers also suggest that the continental exploits of the Whitecaps were drawing far more interest from their fanbase than that of most other competing clubs.

Experience also counts

That said, the experience factor also can't be discounted, given how important repeated continental experience proves to eventual success.

And by nature of their nationality, those three Canadian clubs arguably have had an easier route into Concacaf play than their American MLS cohorts. (That's changed somewhat with the tournament's expansion over the past two seasons.) Vancouver, like the Canadian sides in Concacaf before it, qualified via their 2024 Canadian Championship victory. Their MLS play was irrelevant.

Of the 30 teams in MLS, 11 have made at least five appearances in Concacaf's top tournament, including both Vancouver and Toronto. (Montreal has four all-time appearances.) Of those 11 clubs, six have reached a final.

The group includes all three previous MLS champions: the 2022 Sounders -- who remain the only MLS team to win the honor since the knockout stage switched primarily to the home-and-home, aggregate goals format in 20022 -- as well as 1998 D.C. United and the 2000 LA Galaxy.

While Jesper Sorensen has improved the results across the board at Vancouver this year, the experience in the previous two years playing in this competition under former Whitecaps boss Vanni Sartini has also undoubtedly helped.