History
C.F. Montréal, originally known as the Montréal Impact, were announced as the 19th club in Major League Soccer in 2010. Their inaugural season was in 2012, where they finished 7th in the East, but things would improve the following year.
In the 2013 season, Montreal would finish in 5th place to earn their first-ever playoff berth as well as won the Canadian Championship, an annual tournament consisting of only professional Canadian clubs.
But the 2014 season would be one to forget, as Montreal finished with the worst point total in the entire league. However, they made history in the 2014 – 15 CONCACAF Champions League, being only the 2nd MLS team to advance to the final and the first Canadian team to do so.
Montreal lost 5 – 3 on aggregate against North American giant, Club América. They built off their CCL success by signing Ivory Coast and Chelsea legend, striker Didier Drogba, which aided them in their push to a playoff spot.
They finished 3rd in the Eastern Conference, the best regular season finish in their history, but only managed to get past the first round. They would make the playoffs once again in 2016, this time progressing even further in MLS Cup reaching the semifinals but were bested by rival Toronto FC.
Montreal would miss out on playoffs for the following two seasons, but after the appointment of French international, Thierry Henry, they would make the playoffs the playoffs once again in 2020.
Henry would resign in 2021 and be replaced by his assistant Wilfried Nancy who was initially just going to be an interim coach. Off the pitch, 2021 would also bring significant changes to the organization as they rebranded from the Montréal Impact to C.F. Montréal.
In Nancy’s first year, they finished in 10th place in the East but the front office could see the foundation he was building at the Club and offered him the full-time head coaching position.
Present
Montreal has been rewarded for their faith in Nancy’s project as this season Montreal looks like genuine MLS Cup contenders. After a rough start to the season, mostly due to having to balance CCL and MLS, Montreal is currently sitting 3rd in the East.
Since their match against Atlanta United on March 19th, they have gone seven games straight unbeaten, five of those wins. They are deadly in transition, scoring 18 goals in their previous seven matches.
Key Players
Djordje Mihailovic: MLS MVP contender, Mihailovic, is the face of Montreal and for good reason. The 23-year-old, American attacking midfielder has five goals and four assists so far this season and doesn’t look to be slowing down anytime soon.
Victor Wanyama: After arriving from Tottenham Hotspurs two seasons ago, Wanyama has established himself as one of the best defensive midfielders in the league. Not only contributing with tackles and interceptions but also distributing the ball around the field.
Kamal Miller: The Canadian center back has just helped his national team finish first in World Cup Qualifying has been a key figure in Montreal's success this season. You could make the argument that he is currently one of the best central defenders in the league. He's not only good defensively but also is a tool on offense to help progress the ball forward. Miller has also directly contributed to three goals this year.
