The 2025 Canadian Premier League season kicks off April 5, as Canada’s top-flight domestic league enters its seventh season.

In the lead-up to matchday one, we at CanPL.ca will have all you need to know about each of the league’s eight clubs. To see every CPL team’s season preview, click here.

In the second half of the 2024 Canadian Premier League season, Valour FC was one of the hottest teams in the country. Unfortunately, a slow 1-1-5 start away from home in league play during stadium renovations resulted in them missing out on the playoffs by six points.

One point from their final three matches didn’t help either as they had a late opportunity to control their own fate but could not reach the postseason for the first time in club history. Still, despite finishing eighth, there were flashes of excellence from Phillip Dos Santos’ men, who took points off every other team in the league after the calendar flipped to August.

The next evolution for the club is spreading out consistent form across the full season instead of the highs and lows that made 2024 a rollercoaster.

Story of 2024

• 2024 CPL regular season record (W-D-L): 7-7-14 (28 pts, 8th place)
• Goals scored: 31
• Goals against: 42
• Goal difference: -11
• Top scorer: Shaan Hundal and Jordan Swibel (7)
• Canadian Championship: Lost in the preliminary round to Atlético Ottawa

After starting their season with a rocky seven-game road trip during renovations at Princess Auto Stadium, Valour FC spent the entire season chasing the teams above them. A strong second half of the season saw them close in on their first-ever playoff spot, but another slide in the final three weeks of the season resulted in them missing out and claiming the wooden spoon as the last-place finisher.

Arrivals and Departures

While last year was about building a squad from scratch with most of the roster overturning, this year Valour has kept a large part of their core together. Returning are some of their key pieces from a year ago – starting goalkeeper Jonathan Viscosi, star left back Themi Antonoglou and striker Shaan Hundal among them.

The club also brought some of the top talent across the league to Winnipeg this winter. Among the players brought in are centre-back Rocco Romeo, right back Zach Fernandez and winger Kris Twardek, who are all considered among the best in the CPL in their positions. Portuguese midfielders Bruno Figueiredo and Xavier Venâncio join their compatriot Diogo Ressurreição in midfield as well, all bringing something different to the middle of the park, but how Phillip Dos Santos finds a way to fit in them, Dante Campbell and Raphael Ohin into one team will be fascinating to watch.

Kian Williams will be like a new signing as well, with Valour’s 2023 joint-leading scorer returning to the club after missing the entire 2024 season with a long-term injury. Valour is turning to some promising young Canadian talent for their attacking depth, after Myles Morgan and Erik Pop joined the club this winter as well.

This Valour side has depth, something they have perhaps lacked at times over the past few seasons, and they will be hoping that translates to increased success on the pitch in 2025.

2025 Outlook

Valour FC is one of two active CPL clubs, alongside Vancouver FC, who are yet to reach the Canadian Premier League playoffs. With every year that goes by there is increased pressure on the club from its fans to finally make it happen, and that is no different in 2025. 

That will again be the key target for the club this season, and if they can finish in the top four and potentially host a playoff game in Winnipeg, it could be the start of them pushing to join the league’s elite. The start of a new season is a blank slate for every club to write a new chapter in their story, and Phillip Dos Santos’ men try to make it the best one yet.

They have the talent to make a run at the playoffs, but will need a much better start to the season than they had last year, before they look to sustain their success like they did in the second half of the 2024 campaign.

Valour will also have a chance to get redemption against League1 BC club TSS Rovers when they meet in the Canadian Championship preliminary round, two years after the semi-professional club famously knocked out their CPL opponents.

What They’re Saying

“We know that [making the playoffs] is something we want to achieve, the process has started already. We have to take care of today and can’t be thinking too far ahead. We know what our objectives are, we said that very clearly from day one. We just need to keep working, knowing that there’s going to be moments of adversity, moments where we’ll have to weather a storm or two, that happens with every team and it’s how we respond to those moments that’s going to be important.” — Phillip Dos Santos, head coach

“I think a big part of [success] is knowing what type of team we are. I think in the second half of the [2024] season, we realized that we’re a team that can counter well, stay in a nice block and just kind of suffer our way to wins – just take all that pressure until we get that one goal and take the lead and leave with a point or three. This year, I think we’re a different team than that, I think we just need to get to know our teammates and see what works and what doesn’t work, and once we get that down, I think it’s just about getting in a rhythm and staying consistent.” — Shaan Hundal, forward

Projected Starting XI

(4-4-2) Viscosi; Fernandez, Romeo, Facchineri, Antonoglou; Twardek, Campbell, Ressurreição, Faria; Hundal, Williams

Several players in this team are locks to start when available, while the rest of the squad will likely shape up as the season progresses. Phillip Dos Santos used a 4-4-2 formation for a lot of last season, but expect the team to try a few different things as they look to figure out which identity can bring them sustained success. 

Jonathan Viscosi returns as the club’s starting goalkeeper after closing out the 2024 campaign in good form. He really grew into the season to lock down his spot in the starting lineup, and will start 2025 between the sticks as well. 

Left back Themi Antonoglou was a Defender of the Year nominee at left back in 2024, leading the league in interceptions and tying for the league lead in assists as part of a standout campaign for the young Canadian. Joining him in the backline at the other fullback position will likely be Zachary Fernandez, a new recruit long considered one of the best in the CPL in his position, but Roberto Alarcon is no slouch there either. In between them, Rocco Romeo was brought back to the club this winter and will almost certainly start the majority of the games at centre-back, potentially alongside 2024’s breakout player Gianfranco Facchineri. 

Midfield is where this side might have the most depth, with returning key players Raphael Ohin, Dante Campbell, Safwane Mlah and Diogo Ressurreição joined by Ressurreição’s fellow Portuguese midfielders Bruno Figueiredo and Xavier Venâncio. In attack, last year’s leading scorer Shaan Hundal will lead the line again, and is expected to be joined by returnees Kian Williams and Jordan Faria, as well as a handful of young recruits. 

This team is deeper than it was last year, which can only be a good thing as they look to make the playoffs for the first time in club history.

Roster Notes