Eight games into this 2026 Canadian Premier League season, Vancouver FC had one win. At the beginning of June, they sat in seventh place with five points and five goals scored.
Nine points out of a playoff spot at the time, they could have unravelled; after missing the postseason each of their prior three seasons, they found themselves in an all-too-familiar position.
There was new hope around the club this season, though, with Martin Nash taking over permanently as head coach, and a squad filled with a little more veteran experience than in years past.
At that moment in June, the ball wasn't going in the net for VFC, but they led the league in shots and chances created. They had the second-most touches in the penalty area. No team in the CPL was underperforming their expected goals by more than VFC's tally of -8.
Mired in a run of frustrating results, it was hard to see the forest for the trees. As crazy as it sounded at the time, Vancouver were playing some of the best football in the league.
Midway through August, those performances have finally turned into points on the board. At time of writing, Vancouver sit in third place, with five consecutive league wins under their belt, including statement triumphs over Cavalry FC, Atlético Ottawa, and Forge FC.
Goalkeeper Callum Irving, who has captained the Eagles since the club kicked off in 2023, admitted recently that it wasn't easy to stay committed to the identity Nash preached earlier this season, but it's bearing fruit now.
"We're getting rewarded a bit for the effort and staying the course," Irving said after the win over Forge.
"It's tough to stay the course when it's not working, right? I think we were getting to that point where if a few more games went by and it wasn't happening for us, something was going to have to happen in terms of changing our style of play, rotating the lineup massively, trying to find something to change it. We all believed in what we were doing, but you can't keep knocking on the same door over and over again if nobody's responding. I'm glad we stuck with it because I think you can see, watching us in the league, that we're a team that has quality and can be enjoyable to watch as well."
Vancouver's rise up the table started in earnest on June 5. They beat Atlético Ottawa 2-1 at home, kicking off a run in which they've won seven out of eight games (not counting a hard-fought Canadian Championship tie against CF Montréal).
"When you look at the evolution of our team this season from the start we had, where we were giving up late goals, not quite getting those wins or even the draws we were looking for, to now having five [wins] in a row — seven in the last eight — we're finding ways to get over the line," Irving said.
The biggest driver of Vancouver's red-hot form has been the attack. Although they've been consistently creating chances all year, their stars are scoring.
Thierno Bah had one assist in his first 10 games, and has four in his last six. Lys Mousset has scored four goals and banked two assists in the last eight games. Mohamed Amissi has four goals since the start of July. Even midfielder Damiano Pecile has found some shooting boots, with three goals and two assists in the last four matches.
Other individuals are getting their due, as well. Kian Proctor was the CPL's U-21 Player of the Month in both June and July, and Nash won the Manager of the Month nod back-to-back as well.
What's most impressive about this Vancouver team, though, is the variety of ways they've been able to win. They have a few attacking deluges, like the 5-1 over Supra and the 4-0 over Inter Toronto. They've won ugly as well, though; 1-0 triumphs over Cavalry and Forge required some stiff defending and a few key saves from Irving.
"You can't always win pretty, but if you can find ways to win — which is what Forge and Cavalry seem to do a lot — you can stay in that mix, and we're trying to jump in that mix," Nash said after watching his side hold on against Forge.
Vancouver now have 26 points through 16 matches — a 45.5 point pace. In every 28-game CPL season played with eight clubs, 46 points has been enough to make the top four.
The Eagles have never made the playoffs before; in fact, they've never finished higher than seventh place.
If they continue playing the way they have been, they'll be in the postseason come October. At the moment, no CPL team would want them as an opponent, either; Vancouver's last three matches have been wins over the other three sides currently in the playoff picture.
Nash has spoken repeatedly since taking over about changing the mentality of this team. In other years, he's suggested, Vancouver might not have believed as strongly as they do now that they can beat anybody in the CPL.
A lot has changed for Vancouver since this time in 2025. They're a much more experienced side, with an average squad age of 25.2 (up from 21.2 last year). Nash brought in veteran players like Mousset, Tom Field and Morey Doner, who have complemented the likes of Nicolas Mezquida and Irving.
The squad has more big-game experience now, after last year's run to the Canadian Championship final and a Concacaf Champions Cup debut against Cruz Azul in February. All of that has resulted in a team that's more composed, confident, and capable of performing in big moments.
"It's part of the culture we built this year," Nash said. "When I came in last year, I think the culture and maybe the attitude of some wasn't quite right. A lot of that goes into this."
That culture will continue to be tested this year, when they face further challenges and have more frustrating moments. What turns a good team into a true title contender, though, is consistency, and the ability to find a happy medium. This is a Vancouver team still establishing itself. As Nash and Irving both pointed out, they haven't achieved anything yet; they're halfway to accomplishing their first goal.
While the team themselves won't rest on their laurels, there's no reason not to give them credit for the remarkable run of form they're enjoying. Halfway through the season, they already have more points than last year. Who's to say they can't keep going, and maybe even bring the North Star Cup to Langley?
That's certainly the goal. And there's no reason why the Eagles can't continue to soar.
