On Wednesday, for the first time, Forge FC and the Halifax Wanderers face off in the Canadian Championship as they meet in the 2025 preliminary round.
Despite this being their first meeting in this specific competition, they will be incredibly familiar with one another when they take to the field at Hamilton Stadium. On Saturday, in Halifax, the two sides played to a 0-0 draw in Canadian Premier League action.
This time, there will have to be a winner, as if regulation once again solves nothing between these two sides, they will head to penalties.
The winner of Wednesday's match advances to take on CF Montréal in the two-legged quarter-finals. For Forge, in particular, this would be an incredibly familiar foe. Forge and Montréal have clashed in the past four editions of the competition.
Forge defeated Montréal for the first time last year, 3-2 on aggregate in the quarter-finals. It was part of an impressive run, that also saw them beat Toronto FC 2-1 at home during the first leg of the semi-final, only to be narrowly eliminated on away goals.
If Forge are to make a similar run this season, however, they will need new heroes. Last year's eight goals in the Canadian Championship came from the following sources: Jordan Hamilton had two, Kwasi Poku had a pair, David Choinière had two and both Béni Badibanga and Daniel Parra scored once each. Only Choinière has pulled on a Forge shirt this season.
For Halifax, this year's Canadian Championship is about redemption. Last year, they became just the second CPL club to lose to a League1 side, when they fell on penalties to Ligue1 Québec's CS Saint-Laurent in the preliminary round.
Patrice Gheisar is looking to advance for the first time in this competition as a manager, with Halifax also losing 3-1 to Atlético Ottawa in his first year as Wanderers head coach in 2023. He does have one Canadian Championship victory to his name, 1-0 over Halifax Wanderers in the second leg of the first qualifying round in 2019 while he was coach of Vaughan Azzurri. But Vaughan were ultimately eliminated on away goals and did not advance.
Halifax have still never won a match at Hamilton Stadium in their history, another part of their story they will be looking to change on Wednesday night. Forge, meanwhile, have never lost in regulation in ten matches at Hamilton Stadium in the Canadian Championship -- winning six of those contests. Their only home losses in the competition, in the 2020 final to Toronto FC and the 2021 semi-final to CF Montréal, came on penalties.
Neither side has lost a game yet against CPL opposition in 2025, with Halifax 3-2-0 to start the league season with 11 points and in second place, and Forge right behind them in third with nine points and a 2-3-0 record. Forge and Halifax are also the two best defensive sides in the league thus far this season, with just three and four goals conceded respectively through five matches.
Canadian Championship History
Last meeting: May 3, 2025 -- Halifax Wanderers 0-0 Forge FC (CPL regular season)
Forge FC:
All-time record: 7W-2D-6L
Best finish: Runners-up (2020) -- Lost 1-1 (4-5) to Toronto FC
Halifax Wanderers:
All-time record: 5W-1D-6L
Best finish: Third qualifying round (2019) -- Lost 5-4 on agg. to Ottawa Fury
Key Quotes
“When you play a team twice in succession, there's obviously scouting from the game before that you can look at. So we've got a couple of different options that we have based on what they may change or may not change.” – Forge FC manager Bobby Smyrniotis
“I don't want to discredit the teams that I had for the past two years. There were some terrific players, but I think this team just has more pride in the things that are going to help win an elimination game. Those things are, keeping a clean sheet, outworking your opponent, focusing on every pass, focusing on every minute, focusing on every half. ” – Halifax Wanderers manager Patrice Gheisar