It will not be an all-American MLS Cup Final. Instead, it will be the Southeast vs the Pacific Northwest, with Canada's Vancouver Whitecaps FC advancing to the title match after convincingly defeating San Diego FC, 3-1, in California.
The San Diego fans jam-packed into Snapdragon Stadium had little time to dream of their side reaching the final in their first season. Much like Inter Miami's 5-1 win over New York City FC in the Eastern Conference Final earlier tonight, the game moved quickly and decisively. A late San Diego goal became a consolation prize as a red card shown to goalkeeper Pablo Sisniega all but sealed the fate of the hosts.
Now, fans will enjoy Inter Miami vs Vancouver for a championship. Lower-seeded Vancouver will hope it will be a repeat of the 2025 Concacaf Champions Cup Semifinals earlier this year, when they summarily downed Lionel Messi and friends over two legs.
Andrew Leigh
No stains on white
Of course, it was the guy Red Bull New York wasted.
New Jersey native Brian White continued to etch his legacy in Vancouver lore with a first-half brace, with both of the forward's shots on target ending up in the back of the net.
The first goal started when a bad pass by San Diego in their own end allowed Vancouver's Andrés Cubas to run in near the left post. He sent the ball across the box past the diving Sisniega, where it was met by White, whose sliding finish opened the scoring in the 8th minute.
As the first half continued, San Diego tried to assert control by disrupting Vancouver's possession. The home side frustrated White, with the forward called for a sloppy foul in the 40th minute. But White later made up for it by scoring his second of the night.
A string of counterattacks led to Vancouver's Ali Ahmed playing around San Diego's Ian Pilcher, who looked as though he was going to spin like a top. Ahmed brought the ball to the left side of the box, then sent a cross that was chested down and into the net by White.
Since joining the club in 2021, White has become the essential Vancouver Whitecap. He not only led the team in goals this season, he is the club's all-time MLS leading goal scorer — an honor he accomplished last year against his former team in RBNY. White is now fourth in goals scored across all versions of a team that was established in 1973, passing club legend Carl Valentine earlier this year.
The world watches Thomas Müller, but Vancouver watches White.
Patchwork prevails
Speaking of Müller, he was asked after the game a simple question: “What makes this Whitecaps team great?”
His answer was just as simple: "Did you watch the game?”
Vancouver entered this match held together by duct tape. The 2025 MLS Defender of the Year, Tristan Blackmon, was suspended for this game after being shown two yellow cards against LAFC, last week in the Western Conference Semifinals. His backup, Belal Halbouni, was subbed into that game against LAFC, and tore his ACL not long after.
On Saturday, Vancouver coach Jesper Sørensen moved Mathias Laborda from the left-back position into center alongside Ralph Priso. The latter is already someone who usually plays in the midfield. Sørensen shifted rookie Tate Johnson to left back.
Somehow, this worked.
The 4-2-3-1, with Thomas Müller working the midfield, allowed the ball to move around the field with ease.
The former Bayern Munich man had a quiet night on paper, with no shots recorded and only one big chance created. Still, his presence was a key part of why the Whitecaps advanced.
He will now face Lionel Messi for the seventh time in his career between club and country. The German has the edge with five wins, and whoever comes out on top next weekend will be the first of the two to ever raise MLS Cup.
In the press conference following the game, Müller tried to play it off, joking that Apple TV probably expected him to say a hard line. But the competitor in him came through. "I wished for this final," Müller said.
Hudson River Blue Staff
San Diego: Shaken, seeing red
After White scored in the 8th minute, things looked bad for San Diego. By the 11th minute, it looked almost over, and a lot of that early struggle came down to younger players making mistakes.
It didn't help that the first goal came at the expense of San Diego's Pilcher. The right back, who was playing college soccer just one year ago for the University of North Carolina at Charlotte, was the one who gave up the ball to Cubas and set up the opener.
In the 11th minute, 19-year-old Luca Bombino was rounded by Emmanuel Sabbi of the Whitecaps to get into the box. After San Diego's Sisniega, filling in for goalkeeper Carlos Dos Santos after the first-choice No 1 was injured earlier this month, made the block, another attempt landed at the feet of 20-year-old center back Manu Duah, who was a freshman at UC Santa Barbara last fall. Duah tried to clear the ball, but it deflected off Sisniega and into the net for an own goal.
Statistically, San Diego had one of the youngest rosters in Major League Soccer this season. The team made a Cinderella run through the regular season and the playoffs, but their youth and inexperience caught up with them tonight.
The game was all but over when Sisniega charged out from his goal to commit a denial of an obvious goal-scoring opportunity against Vancouver midfielder Ryan Gauld in the 79th minute. That led to the MLS debut of third-string keeper Duran Ferree, a 19-year-old who joined from USL Champions side San Diego Loyal SC. Ferree made one save in his 10-minute cameo while not allowing any goals, but a San Diego reduced to 10 players had little hope for a comeback.
Rain City one win away from silverware
Vancouver will now play in their first MLS Cup since joining the league in 2011.
For the Whitecaps, the appearance in MLS Cup marks their first appearance in a league championship final since their days in the lower divisions of professional soccer. The last time they played for a title was in 2008, when the Whitecaps won the United Soccer League First Division championship over the Puerto Rico Islanders.
The most recent first-division championship match for the Whitecaps took place nearly five decades ago in the original North American Soccer League. In front of 50,000 fans in East Rutherford, NJ, two goals from Trevor Whymark led Vancouver to its first and only NASL SoccerBowl in 1979.
But the city of Vancouver already won two soccer titles this year. Vancouver Rise FC beat AFC Toronto to claim their first championship in the Northern Super League, the newly created top-flight professional women's league in Canada. And Vancouver Whitecaps won their fourth consecutive Canadian Championship last month by beating Vancouver FC of the Canadian Premier League.
Now the Whitecaps will look to bring home another piece of silverware to add to the trophy case.
