2026 CPL Season Preview: Atlético Ottawa

Atlético Ottawa's 2026 Canadian Premier League season kicks off Saturday, April 4 at Forge FC. Their home opener is Sunday, April 26 vs. Vancouver FC. Secure your tickets today.

The 2025 CPL champs begin their title defence with several new faces and a big target on their back following a historic season. 

The architect of the Icicle Kick, David Rodríguez, is gone, so is CPL all-time leading scorer Sam Salter, and captain Nate Ingham. 

If they want a similar result in 2026, then, it will require new stars to step forward and new leaders to emerge from within. 

Story of 2025

2025 CPL regular season record (W-D-L): 15-11-2 (56 pts, 2nd place)
Goals scored: 54
Goals against: 28
Goal difference: +26
Top scorer: Sam Salter (19 goals)
Canadian Championship: Lost in the semifinal to Vancouver FC

There is no way to summarize Atlético Ottawa's 2025 season other than historic. 

They won their first-ever CPL title in an incredibly dramatic fashion, at home, in a manner that went viral around the world. 

But they also made the deepest run in club history in the Concacaf Champions Cup, reaching the semifinal round, and set a CPL regular season record for most goals scored with a stunning 54. They lost just three matches in all competitions all season — and went undefeated during the calendar year at home.

Arrivals and Departures

Atlético Ottawa will look fairly different this season as the CPL Champions lost a number of key players from the 2025 Championship-winning team. In particular, goalkeeper Nathan Ingham headed west to join rivals Cavalry FC, Final MVP David Rodríguez, and the league's Player of the Year, and single-season record goalscorer, Sam Salter moved to Swedish club GAIS. 

Atleti has done some significant recruiting over the past few months, however. That included bringing in another pair of promising loan players from Atlético San Luis, attackers Jonantan Villal and Emiliano Garcìa.  They also added Haitian international goalkeeper Garrisone Innocent, former Pacific attacker Kamron Habibullah, Mexican midfielder Daniel Aguilar and Norwegian striker Erling Myklebust. 

3 Players to Watch

DF - Noah Abatneh

In his first season in the nation's capital, Abatneh took a big next step in his progression as a player. In the middle of an incredibly young Atleti back three, he thrived, finishing the year nominated for the league's Defender of the Year and Best U-21 Canadian Player of the Year awards. He also earned his first Canadian senior national team call-up in January. 

MF - Manny Aparicio

One of the top players in the league's history, Aparicio has been the focal point of the Atlético Ottawa midfield for the past three seasons. Last year, he finished third in the league in passes completed, won the second-most duels, won the third-most tackles and second-most interceptions. 

FW - Ballou Tabla

Tabla had arguably his best CPL season yet in 2025, scoring 11 goals and adding four assists. With the departures of Salter and Rodríguez, Tabla takes on an even bigger role in 2025 as the key returning player in the club's attack.

2026 Outlook

With so many key players gone, it is hard to know exactly what Atlético Ottawa will look like in 2026. Perhaps their biggest return, however, is that of head coach Diego Mejía, whose style and footballing philosophy were critical to the club's success in 2025. Now he and his players face another challenge in replicating that style and success now that it will no longer catch the league by surprise. 

While the team's attack remains a bit of question mark, they have kept some key pillars of their success, particularly in midfield with the double-pivot of Manny Aparicio and Juan Castro, and their talented young backline. Getting back to the summit, of course, will require many of these young players taking another step forward, while having newcomers step into some big shoes across the pitch. 

U-21 Spotlight

Another area where Atlético Ottawa led last season was in domestic U-21 minutes, with 8,575. Their three leaders in this category in 2025,however, Noah Abatneh, Gabriel Antinoro -- both of whom were nominated for the CPL's Best U-21 Player of the Year Award -- and Loïc Cloutier, have now aged out of the category. 

But Atleti still have an incredibly strong contingent of U-21s, led by Canadian youth international Sergei Kozlovskiy. The 17-year-old central defender was exceptional in his first professional season and will be a key contributor once again. Both Ralph Khoury, 18, and Joaquim Coulanges, 19, both started for Atleti in the first leg of their Concacaf Champions Cup matchup against Nashville SC. Newcomer Tim Arnaud, meanwhile, is a 19-year-old midfielder from the CF Montréal system.  

Projected XI

(3-4-3): Innocent; Kozlovskiy, Abatneh, Cloutier; Garcia, Aparicio, Castro, Antinoro; Villal, Ennin, Tabla 

Roster Notes

2026 Kit

Atlético Ottawa's 2026 kits by hummel are available for purchase here.