It’s not Forge vs Cavalry—one of the most prolific domestic rivalries in the world—but for the Hammers, it’s quickly becoming the non-league equivalent.
When Forge visits Stade Saputo, hard by the Big Owe Olympic Stadium in north-east Montréal, for Wednesday night’s single-game final of the 2026 TELUS Men’s Canadian Championship (7 p.m. OneSoccer, TSN) it will be the sixth time in eight years that Hamilton has engaged CF Montréal in the national tournament.
And it goes without saying Forge would like to make it three years in a row that they’ve eliminated the MLS side. It’d be nice symmetry too, considering Montréal won three straight series prior to Forge’s huge upsets the past two years.
“This is a competition that we’ve been eyeing and that we obviously want to tick off our checklist,” says veteran Forge scorer Tristan Borges, a two-time CPL Player of the Year. “To be able to do that, you have to be able to beat the good competition. We’ve played Montréal a number of times now, and I think as you start to get familiar you gain confidence over the years and at some point, the games start to feel a little bit... natural, I’ll say.”
Despite an off-year, a really off-year, CF Montréal is favoured yet again in this one and maybe should be, given their payroll—six times that of Hamilton’s—their longer (founded 1993) history, and the international ranking of the MLS, widely considered a faster and better league than the rising CPL.
But who’s favoured doesn’t enter the mindset of Forge, other than as a little extra galvanizing boost for a side that already believes in itself. They’re aware of the potential of CFMT, their MLS-second-worst record notwithstanding, and the quicker pace at which Montréal is forced to act, think and move the ball in league play.
“I think about that,” concedes Forge goalkeeper Dimitry Bertaud, “but I also know what we can do as a team. We are ready for this, and we’ll play fast too.”
Bertaud, who is the only keeper in this year’s tourney with two clean sheets, returns to the Hammers after spending much of this month with the Democratic Republic of Congo’s national team in a series of friendlies in Johannesburg, South Africa during the soccer world’s international window. Backup Dino Bontis performed admirably in his absence as Forge won thrice and had a draw in their four CPL games, moving Hamilton into a tie for first with arch-rival Cavalry with one game remaining—on Saturday—in the regular season.
While many Forge players have annual experience with CF Montréal, this will be Bertaud’s first meeting with the former Impact as they seek to win their fifth national title and earn the accompanying berth to Concacaf Champions Cup play this winter.
“They have a dangerous attack with a great player like Sanchez, and we’re working on that with video study,” Bertaud says, referring to Alexis Sanchez, Montréal’s 37-year-old Chilean forward, who has starred in Europe for Barcelona, Arsenal, Inter Milan, Manchester United and even in Bertaud’s native France. “We know him, and he’s still a great player even at his age. He played at Marseille, so I know the player and how good he is. I don’t remember if I ever played against him, but he’s a star, and he’s a key to the team, so we need to focus on him.”
And Forge is assuming that hulkingly dominant Prince Owusu, the cornerstone of the Montréal attack, will be in the lineup despite missing training and games with a leg injury. Reports are that he has been training this week and will trigger the offence along with Sanchez, Noah Streit and young Ukrainian Hennadii Synchuk.
“I’m working on Owusu on video,” Bertaud says. “He’s a big guy, with a lot of fight, so we are ready for him. They want to save their season, and it’s an important game. And we want to win this title too.”
No CPL team has ever won the national championship, although Forge came closest, losing the official 2020 final in penalty shots to Toronto FC in a game postponed to 2022 because its original scheduled date fell at the height of the pandemic.
Although Bertaud grew up in Montpellier and played in the first division for his hometown team, usually as the No. 2, he is eligible for the DRC team because his grandfather emigrated to France from Congo. Bertaud spent time with the national team but wasn’t chosen for the 2026 World Cup squad because he hadn’t been getting enough first-team action at Montpellier, which is the main reason he landed in Hamilton over the winter.
With the DRC’s top goaltender down with injury, and Bertaud starting 22 games as the No. 1 keeper for Forge before this month’s friendlies, he’s moved up to No. 2 for DR Congo.
He played in two games in South Africa, both against Uganda, losing 2-0 and earning a 1-1 draw.
“I was very happy to be back with the national team,” he said after Tuesday afternoon’s final training session in Montréal. “We were good, but I’m not really happy with my game because I made some mistakes. It happens, and sometimes we need to work more to correct these mistakes. It gives me motivation.”
He’s not worried about being out of sync with his defensive front—Forge’s strong backline was one of the reasons he chose to come to Hamilton, as was the club’s history of appearances under the big-match spotlights— “because we’ve played so many games together and the guys know I’m ready for them.
“I came to Forge for a reason, and I’m very happy to be here because I’ve played almost all the games, which is what I needed. I came here for that and also to play in games just like this one in Montréal.”