You can’t have club success with a team full of individuals. Having strong chemistry between players is crucial for any club, especially amongst the stars who are expected to step onto the pitch week in and week out and perform to their very best. Several such partnerships are reuniting this off-season around the Canadian Premier League, as clubs start to announce players ahead of the 2025 campaign, with some players returning to their former clubs and others moving on to new opportunities. With that in mind, here are six of the best partnerships we have seen in the CPL through the league’s first six seasons.
Kyle Bekker and Tristan Borges, Forge FC
Forge FC’s Killer Bs — Kyle Bekker and Tristan Borges — were the CPL’s first pair of superstars in the inaugural 2019 season, and heading into season seven in 2025 they are still two of the league’s best players. Combined they have won three of the CPL’s six Player of the Year awards (Borges in 2019 and 2024 and Bekker in 2020), and been nominated seven times — Borges the two times he won and Bekker in five of six seasons. They have both been near the top of Players’ Player of the Year voting as well since that award was introduced, and Borges cleaned up at the 2019 CPL Awards, also winning the Best U-21 Canadian Player and Golden Boot honours. Forge FC has been the league’s first dynasty, and these two have been front and centre since day one. >
Marco Bustos and Kadin Chung, Pacific FC
A lot has been said over the years about Pacific FC’s star-studded 2021 roster, which won the 2021 CPL title, but one duo in particular always stood out above the rest: right back Kadin Chung and winger Marco Bustos. The pair had a sixth sense for knowing where each other will be on the pitch, and that led to Bustos in particular being one of the best attacking players in the CPL and a Player of the Year contender during his time on Vancouver Island. Both left the club — Chung to Toronto FC in 2022 and then Vancouver FC in 2023 and Bustos to Sweden’s IFK Värnamo in 2023. They both announced returns to the Tridents last week, however, as the club looks to get the band back together and move up the standings from their fifth-place finish in 2024. If Bustos and Chung can recapture any of that same magic, there is a very strong possibility of doing just that.
Daan Klomp and Ali Musse, Cavalry FC
Being good in set-piece situations, both offensively and defensively, is crucial for any team that wants to contend for trophies, and for years Daan Klomp was arguably the best in the CPL at that. Part of the reason for Klomp’s success on attacking set-pieces in particular was Ali Musse’s deliveries into the box. Every time Cavalry had a chance to play a ball into the penalty area from a set piece, you knew exactly who was taking it and who it was aimed at. The result was Klomp leading the CPL in headed goals in each of the past two seasons, and part of the reason why both have been regularly being ranked among the very best players in the league. In 2023 Klomp won the Player and Defender of the Year awards and Musse took home Players’ Player of the Year after a dominant season for the Cavs. This future of this partnership is up in the air with Klomp’s status uncertain ahead of the 2025 campaign, but for years they were two of the best players in the league, connecting perfectly nearly every week.
Ollie Bassett and Ballou Tabla, Atlético Ottawa
While Bekker and Borges were the original “Killer Bs”, Atlético Ottawa had a formidable B duo of their own in Ollie Bassett and Ballou Tabla. The 2022 season saw Atlético Ottawa go from worst to first, becoming the first side to be officially crowned regular season title winners. This pair was front and centre, among the best players in the league on a team that only lost five times in the regular season before advancing to host the CPL Final that year. Bassett took home both the Player of the Year and Players’ Player of the Year awards at the end of the season, while Tabla was also among the finalists for both. Tabla left for the 2023 season and Ottawa missed the playoffs, but he returned as part of Ottawa’s “super team” in 2024, which led the league for much of the year and returned to the playoffs. The pairing was again broken up this off-season as Bassett left for pastures new with the Tampa Bay Rowdies.
Easton Ongaro and Tobias Warschewski, FC Edmonton
The Eddie Kruegers, the Twin Towers — whatever you called the FC Edmonton attacking duo of Easton Ongaro and Tobias Warschewski in 2021, one thing was certain: they were consistent goal threats and two of the bright spots in the Alberta capital. The lone season which they played together saw Ongaro find the back of the net 12 times, two back of the Golden Boot winner, while Warschewski had a league-high seven assists, many of them to the towering striker. Ongaro’s finishing ability, mixed with Warschewski’s playmaking skills from both wide areas and central positions, made them a formidable duo. Ongaro, who spent several years in Edmonton and one with Pacific FC, is still among the league’s all-time record goalscorers, while Warschewski returned to the CPL in 2024 after a year away and helped Cavalry FC charge to the North Star Cup, winning the Golden Boot and Final MVP.
Mo Babouli and Brian Wright, York United FC and Forge FC
As a key player, moving to your club’s biggest rival will always be controversial to many, but bringing a second player with you as well? That could turn you both into enemies. That is the case in Hamilton this off-season, after Forge FC scooped up former York United star duo Mo Babouli and Brian Wright ahead of the 2025 season. Babouli is returning to the club where he had success across the 2020 and 2021 seasons. He went overseas in 2022 before returning later that year with York United. Wright joined York in 2023 after two seasons with Atlético Ottawa, and he and Babouli developed into a formidable attacking duo. That was especially clear in 2024 when they combined for 16 goals and eight assists in CPL action, with Wright going on to win Players’ Player of the Year. Forge were looking to address their attack this winter, and by poaching arguably the top duo in the league last year from a direct rival, look set to challenge for silverware once again in 2025.
