In 2019, Forge FC became the Canadian Premier League's first Champions.
They won the Covid-19 bubble Island Games the following year, and the CPL Final in 2022. When the league unveiled the North Star Cup in 2023 as the new trophy for its playoff winner, they were the first to lift that as well. The past two seasons, they've hoisted the CPL Shield as regular season winners.
But heading into Wednesday's TELUS Canadian Championship final at Stade Saputo against CF Montréal (7 p.m. ET / 4 p.m. PT OneSoccer, TSN & RDS), there is one domestic cup competition that so far has eluded them: the Voyageurs Cup. Being the first CPL club to hoist it would only add to their penchant for making history.
"This is a competition that at the end of it you can say you're the best team in Canada," said Forge FC attacker Tristan Borges to media on Tuesday.
Forge have come close before. They lost on penalties in the 2020 final, were within an 11-round penalty shootout of reaching the 2021 final, and made the semifinals again in 2023, 2024 and 2025.
The eventual champions eliminated them in three of the past six years. But each setback, as well as each triumph, against MLS opposition in this tournament has made them more confident in their ability to compete.
"Each year that we're playing these MLS teams, it's a little bit of a different feeling coming from the group," said Borges. "It's a little bit more of a familiarity and an understanding that we've gotten results. So it's not just about getting results in terms of winning a game, it's about winning the whole thing."
Since its inception, Forge has built a winning culture. Many of their squad have pulled on the team's colours in finals before. Even the newer recruits, like Lucas Cavallini and Levonte Johnson, have played in Canadian Championship finals before during their respective stints with the Vancouver Whitecaps.
But there is also a healthy dose of youthful exuberance in the group, who will bring a different kind of energy and maybe even helpful naivety to Wednesday's match. Players like Québecois duo Maxime Bourgeois and Aghilas Sadek, who in their first pro seasons get the opportunity to play in a national final in their home province.
"We've got a lot of experience playing in these games," said Forge FC head coach Bobby Smyrniotis. "But as a team we've got guys who have experience, we've got guys who are living this for the first time, and I think that's a positive thing. We need a little bit of a mix of everything."
They face a Montréal club that they have played in each of the past five editions of the Canadian Championship, with Forge eliminating them in the past two meetings.
It has been a tough year for the Québecois club, which sits at the bottom of the MLS Eastern Conference with just six wins in 30 league matches. But they know they can salvage their season with a win on Wednesday.
"We know we're going to see the best version of Montréal, we know we're going to see probably the best version of their supporters," said Smyrniotis. "But that's a great experience."
Forge started this year with a trip to El Volcán in Mexico to face the mighty Tigres. Over the past few years, they've played in CPL Finals and in some of the biggest stadiums on the continent -- including five that hosted matches at this summer's World Cup. They've learned a lot of lessons along the way, and they hope to put all of those into practice on Wednesday night.
"These games aren't about three points, they're not about next week," said Smyrniotis. "They're about what the result is at the final whistle. And that's the one thing we understand how to manage as a group."
Or, as Borges puts it: "There's one goal, and one goal only, and it's at the end of the game to be the one lifting the trophy."