The 2025 Canadian Premier League final was the seventh edition of the CPL Finals, the post-season championship of the Canadian Premier League, the top level of Canadian soccer, which determined the winner of the 2025 Canadian Premier League season. It was played on November9, 2025 at TD Place Stadium in Ottawa, Ontario between Atlético Ottawa and Cavalry FC. The hosts, Atlético Ottawa, clinched their first league championship.
Amid snowy conditions that caused the national women's league playoffs to be postponed, the decision was made to proceed with the final. The weather resulted in the match being stopped five times during regulation time to clear away snow, and the start of extra time was delayed by an hour to allow snowplows to clear more of the pitch. Ottawa won 2–1 with two goals from David Rodríguez. The match attracted significant international media coverage both for the wintery weather and for Rodríguez's first goal, a bicycle kick that was widely dubbed the "icicle kick".
Path to the final
The 2025 CPL season was contested by eight teams. Each team played four games against each of the seven opponents for a total of 28 matches. The top-five teams from the regular season qualified for the playoffs, which begin on October22. The playoffs featured a Page playoff format where teams entered in different rounds depending on their finishing position. All matches in the playoffs were played as single legs. The final was contested by the winners of the first and second semifinals.
Regular season standings
Playoff bracket
Background
Atlético Ottawa
Atlético Ottawa reached the CPL final for the second time in its six seasons of play. Ottawa lost its previous final in 2022.
Cavalry FC
Cavalry FC was the defending champion, having won the league for the first time in 2024. It reached the CPL final for the third year in a row and the fourth time in its seven seasons of play.
Head-to-head In the 2025 regular season, Ottawa defeated Cavalry three times (3–1 on April 26, 2–0 on June 28, and 3–0 on September 27) and the teams drew once (2–2 on August 23). This was the first time that the teams met in a postseason.
Venue TD Place Stadium in Ottawa, Ontario, home of Atlético Ottawa, was the host stadium for the final. This was determined by the outcome of the playoffs' first semifinal on October26 between regular season winner Forge FC and second seed Atlético Ottawa; Atlético Ottawa won the match 2–1.
The match took place in heavy snowfall and subzero temperatures. Play was paused several times to clear snow from the field, resulting in the match taking over three hours to complete including extra time. During regular time only the lines and penalty areas were able to be kept clear, but the snowfall lessened as the match went on and the field was made nearly snow-free for extra time.
Broadcasting The CPL final was broadcast on OneSoccer and TSN in Canada and Fox Sports 2 in the United States.
Pre-match Associated with the final, the annual Canadian Premier League Awards took place on November7 at the Canadian Museum of History in Gatineau, Quebec.
Match
GK 29 Nathan Ingham (c) CB 18 Roni Mbomio CB 23 Noah Abatneh CB 28 Loïc Cloutier RM 19 Kévin Santos CM 2 Juan Castro CM 10 Manny Aparicio LM 11 Gabriel Antinoro AM 7 David Rodríguez AM 13 Ballou Tabla CF 9 Samuel Salter Substitutes: GK 1 Tristan Crampton DF 4 Tyr Walker DF 20 Joaquim Coulanges MF 6 Kevin Ortega MF 21 Alberto Zapater MF 33 Aboubacar Sissoko FW 12 Monty Patterson Manager: Diego Mejía GK 1 Marco Carducci (c) RB 33 Fraser Aird CB 4 Daan Klomp CB 12 Tom Field LB 19 Mihail Gherasimencov CM 24 Eryk Kobza CM 26 Shamit Shome RW 7 Ali Musse AM 9 Tobias Warschewski LW 20 Goteh Ntignee CF 14 Caniggia Elva Substitutes: GK 21 Joseph Holliday DF 5 Bradley Kamdem DF 15 Levi Laing MF 10 Sergio Camargo MF 27 Diego Gutiérrez MF 55 Michael Baldisimo FW 25 Ayman Sellouf Manager: Tommy Wheeldon Jr.
CPL Final MVP: David Rodríguez (Atlético Ottawa)Assistant referees: Twayne Anderson Graham Forsyth Fourth official: Ben HoskinsMatch rules 90 minutes 30 minutes of extra time if necessary Penalty shoot-out if score still level Maximum of five substitutions, with a sixth allowed in extra time
Post-match Following the match, Atlético Ottawa was awarded the North Star Cup and qualified for the 2026 CONCACAF Champions Cup, the first time doing so in the club's history. Ottawa's attacking midfielder David Rodríguez was named the Finals Most Valuable Player.
See also Canadian Premier League Finals 2025 Canadian Championship final
Notes
References