2021 Canadian Premier League final

The 2021 Canadian Premier League Final was a soccer match which determined the winner of the 2021 Canadian Premier League season. It was played on December 5, 2021, in Hamilton, Ontario, between Forge FC and Pacific FC. Those teams qualified as the winners of their first round playoff matches.^[2] Forge FC were the defending champions.

2021 Canadian Premier League Final

Event	2021 Canadian Premier League season
Forge FC Pacific FC 0 1
Date	December 5, 2021
Venue	Tim Hortons Field, Hamilton, Ontario
Man of the Match	Alessandro Hojabrpour (Pacific FC)
Referee	Yusri Rudolf
Attendance	7,488
Weather	Cloudy / Windy 1 °C (34 °F) 75% humidity^[1]
← 2020 2022 →

Pacific FC defeated Forge FC 1–0 to claim their first CPL title.^[3] Alessandro Hojabrpour scored the game's only goal in the 59th minute and was named man of the match.^[4] Winning the championship earned the club the right to compete in the 2022 CONCACAF League where they ultimately reached the round of 16.^[5]

Path to the Final

Main article: 2021 Canadian Premier League season

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Forge (S)	28	16	2	10	39	24	+15	50	Advance to playoffs
2	Cavalry	28	14	8	6	34	30	+4	50
3	Pacific (C)	28	13	6	9	47	34	+13	45
4	York United	28	8	12	8	35	39	−4	36
5	Valour	28	10	5	13	38	36	+2	35
6	HFX Wanderers	28	8	11	9	28	34	−6	35
7	FC Edmonton	28	6	10	12	34	41	−7	28
8	Atlético Ottawa	28	6	8	14	30	47	−17	26

Updated to match(es) played on unknown. Source: CanPL.ca
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) total wins.^[6]
(C) Champions; (S) Regular season winner

Playoff semi-final results

Team 1	Score	Team 2
Cavalry FC	1–2 (a.e.t.)	Pacific FC
Forge FC	3–1	York United FC

Forge FC

Further information: 2021 Forge FC season

Forge FC entered the Final as the two-time defending league champions, having defeated Cavalry FC in the 2019 Finals and HFX Wanderers FC in the 2020 Final. On October 26, Forge clinched a playoff berth while inactive and then secured 1st place in the regular season following a win on November 9.^[7] Forge advanced to the finals by defeating 4th ranked York United FC at home in the semi-finals.^[2]

Pacific FC

Further information: 2021 Pacific FC season

This was Pacific FC's first Final, improving from a fourth place finish in 2020. On October 24, they became the 2nd team to qualify for the playoffs by virtue of a York United draw against Atlético Ottawa. Pacific finished 3rd in the regular season and advanced to the finals by defeating 2nd ranked Cavalry FC on the road in the semi-finals.^[8]

Head-to-head

This was the fourth meeting of the year between the two clubs with Forge having won all of the previous three games. Forge had the advantage in the all-time series with 8 wins, 1 draw, and 0 losses.^[9]

Forge earned the right to host the Final by having the better overall record in the regular season.^[10] Pacific entered the match on two weeks of rest since their previous match in the CPL semi-final. Forge had played two CONCACAF League matches following the semi-final, including an away match in Honduras four days before the CPL Final.^[9]

Match details

Summary

Details

December 5

4:30 pm EST

Forge FC	0–1	Pacific FC
	Recap Report	Hojabrpour   59'

Tim Hortons Field, Hamilton, Ontario

Attendance: 7,488

Referee: Yusri Rudolf

Forge

Pacific

Forge FC: GK 1   Triston Henry RB 8   Elimane Cissé   58' CB 23   Garven-Michée Metusala   76' CB 4   Dominic Samuel LB 6   Kwame Awuah CM 13   Alexander Achinioti-Jönsson CM 10   Kyle Bekker (c) RW 99   Omar Browne   17'   90+1' AM 19   Tristan Borges   68' LW 18   Molham Babouli CF 14   Emery Welshman   68' Substitutes: GK 31   Baj Maan MF 7   David Choinière   68' FW 11   Chris Nanco DF 15   Maxim Tissot FW 17   Woobens Pacius   68' MF 24   Paolo Sabak   90+2' FW 25   Joshua Navarro   76' Manager:   Bobby Smyrniotis

Pacific FC: GK 13   Callum Irving RB 2   Kadin Chung CB 6   Lukas MacNaughton CB 26   Thomas Meilleur-Giguère   31' LB 3   Jordan Haynes DM 21   Alessandro Hojabrpour   90+2'   83' RW 11   Josh Heard   76' CM 22   Jamar Dixon (c) CM 34   Manny Aparicio LW 14   Terran Campbell CF 24   Gianni dos Santos   63' Substitutes: GK 31   Isaac Boehmer MF 8   Matthew Baldisimo   76' MF 10   Marco Bustos DF 12   Kunle Dada-Luke   63' MF 19   Matteo Polisi MF 20   Sean Young   90+2'   83' MF 23   Ollie Bassett Manager:   Pa-Modou Kah

Man of the Match:^[4] Alessandro Hojabrpour (Pacific FC)
Assistant referees: Gabrielle Lemieux Stefan Tanaka-Freundt Fourth official: Pierre-Luc Lauzière	Match rules^[11] 90 minutes 30 minutes of extra time if necessary Penalty shoot-out if scores still level Maximum of five substitutions, with a sixth allowed in extra time

See also

• Canadian Premier League Finals
• 2021 Canadian Championship Final

References

1. "Weather History for CYHM". Weather Underground. The Weather Company. December 5, 2021. Retrieved December 6, 2021.
2. Jacques, John (21 November 2021). "Forge Hammers Way To Final In Playoff 905 Derby". Northern Tribune. Retrieved 22 November 2021.
3. O'Connor-Clarke, Charlie (December 5, 2021). "HIGHLIGHTS: Pacific FC crowned Canadian Premier League champions with 1-0 win vs. Forge". canpl.ca. Canadian Premier League. Retrieved August 23, 2022.
4. @CPLsoccer (December 6, 2021). "The @Gatorade Man of the Match is @ahojabrpour" (Tweet). Retrieved December 6, 2021 – via Twitter.
5. O'Connor-Clarke, Charlie (August 23, 2022). "RECAP: 10-man Pacific fall to Herediano on penalties in gutsy Concacaf League performance". canpl.ca. Canadian Premier League. Retrieved August 23, 2022.
6. Jacques, John (24 October 2021). "Pacific Procures Back-To-Back Playoff Positions". Northern Tribune. Retrieved 24 October 2021. With the CPL tiebreaker defaulting to the number of wins
7. Urciuoli, Anthony (November 10, 2021). "Vying for 3rd straight title, Forge FC Hamilton guaranteed home-field advantage throughout Canadian Premier League playoffs". insauga. Retrieved December 5, 2021.
8. Jacques, John (November 20, 2021). "Pacific Powers Way To 2021 CPL Final". Northern Tribune. Retrieved November 23, 2021.
9. O'Connor-Clarke, Charlie (4 December 2021). "PREVIEW: Forge FC vs. Pacific FC -- 2021 CPL Final". Canadian Premier League. Retrieved 5 December 2021.
10. "CPL reveals 2021 season format: 28-game schedule to conclude with four-team playoff for championship". Canadian Premier League. June 24, 2021. Retrieved June 24, 2021.
11. "2021 CPL Final: Tentative dates set for championship match next weekend". Canadian Premier League. November 17, 2021. Retrieved November 18, 2021.