SAN DIEGO – Vancouver Whitecaps FC had to fly far from home, and Snapdragon Stadium was full, fierce and loud as San Diego FC fought for their Audi 2025 MLS Cup Playoffs lives to the very end.
Yet the ‘Caps remained vibrant, and stunningly, chillingly businesslike in Saturday's 3-1 Western Conference Final victory, in no small part because they’d already had to do so in Saprissa, Torreón, Mexico City and Miami – with jaunts to Winnipeg and Hamilton mixed in as well – en route to this year's Concacaf Champions Cup and Canadian Championship finals.
The first tournament inflicted grievous heartbreak, while the second reaped a trophy. All of it combined, plus a certain August newcomer from Germany, has pushed them to MLS Cup 2025 presented by Audi at Inter Miami CF on Dec. 6 (2:30 pm ET | MLS Season Pass, Apple TV; FOX, FOX Deportes; TSN, RDS).
“We've been through a lot this year,” said striker Brian White, scorer of six goals in ConcaChampions, after his match-winning brace saw off San Diego. “We've gone to tough environments. We've played in these big games already.
“There's been a lot of moments where we've had to really test ourselves and learn about ourselves, going down to Mexico twice, Miami in Concacaf, and then having guys out and guys with injury, or national teams, and everyone stepping up. … We’re just a really cohesive unit, and everyone is bought into the ultimate goal.”
Sørensen Ball
Head coach Jesper Sørensen's assertive game model, so transformative in both individual and collective improvement, fueled the fusion of a sturdy unit, and powered it through devastating bouts of shorthandedness and adversity – chief among them a gut-punch 5-0 defeat to Cruz Azul in a bruising final back in Mexico City on June 1.
“It's been incredible. There's been a lot of games,” Designated Player Ryan Gauld told MLSsoccer.com. “A lot of different obstacles, I'd say, with injuries, suspensions and a lot of highs, and then the lows that we had, like losing the Champions Cup final.
"It's been a bit of a roller coaster this year, but it feels good tonight.”
Finding a way
Nightmares like that have historically been backbreakers for MLS sides, leaving exhaustion and emotional wreckage that can scupper entire seasons.
Piloted by a new coach with no MLS experience, the Whitecaps found a way to process and transcend the experience, even as a continuous trickle of injuries and international call-ups severely tested depth and prompted positional shifts.
“Working with this group has been absolutely amazing for me as a head coach,” said Sørensen. “Coming in, I didn't know much about the group and about the players because I didn't follow MLS that closely. It's a group where they like each other off the pitch. They also want to work hard, and they're very disciplined, and everybody is open to coaching and how we would like to do it.
“Everybody is just doing everything they can every day to put the work in, and are so motivated.”
It helps they’ve already beaten Lionel Messi & Co. this year, by a lopsided 5-1 aggregate score in the CCC semifinals. They know both what it means and what it takes.
“You have to imagine that's the biggest success for the franchise since a long time – in the modern MLS era, it's our biggest achievement,” said Thomas Müller, whose late-summer arrival from Bayern Munich turned out to be a vital catalyst for this stretch run.
“But the boys are calm. Boys are calm. We know that there is one more step to go.”
Battle tested
Thanks to North America’s sweeping scale, the Whitecaps usually stack up ample annual frequent-flyer miles just in MLS play, and a memorable CCC journey multiplied it exponentially in 2025. Stunning upsets of CF Monterrey and Pumas UNAM, followed by a jaw-dropping semifinal demolition of this very Inter Miami squad, built belief in both comrades and concepts.
“When we had that Concacaf run,” said White, “that was some special games, some special moments, and we really tested ourselves against some really good teams and tough environments. So I think being successful on that stage gave us a lot of confidence to go on and push in the league and now push in the playoffs.”
Their commitment to this daring, demanding style of play did not waver. It worked, backed by a long-term roster build that left Sørensen eager to credit his VWFC predecessors, as well as his own squad’s mentality, resilience and adaptation.
“That's the thing,” said Sørensen. “When you qualify for a big moment, you have the opportunity to succeed. … There's also a probability that you can fail, but that just makes it even better when you prevail the next time.”
One more game
Vancouver's celebrations of Saturday’s victory were exuberant but time-capped. In essence, they see this as a semifinal step, despite the Western Conference hardware involved. In the process, the ‘Caps made dropping four of six points to San Diego in their regular-season fixtures more of a motivator than a vulnerability.
Even if it undoubtedly has been a historic season in Vancouver – one that opened with news that the club would be put up for sale – they’re not ready to call it such before it’s over. They're now focused on leaving the club's first MLS Cup with the Philip F. Anschutz Trophy in hand.
“It's nice to win the West when a lot of people had us in the bottom positions,” said Gauld, “and starting the season, we didn't know – really, there was so much rumors within the club, with leaving Vancouver, with all these different things thrown at us.
"It feels good just now, but there's still a big game to go next week, and then after that, we'll know if this season, if we can say we're truly satisfied.”
