Vancouver Whitecaps FC is a professional soccer team in Canada. FC stands for football club. Soccer is called football in much of the world. Also called the Caps, the team competes in the Western Conference of Major League Soccer (MLS), the top soccer league in the United States and Canada. The team plays its home games at BC Place Stadium in Vancouver, British Columbia.
The Vancouver Whitecaps franchise dates back to 1974, when it joined the North American Soccer League. The team folded with the league after the 1984 season. A new Canadian Soccer League franchise, the Vancouver 86ers, began play in 1987. The 86ers joined the American Professional Soccer League in 1992 (later called the A-League and then the United Soccer League’s First Division, or USL-1). The club reclaimed the Whitecaps name in 2000. Vancouver played its final minor league season in 2010 after being invited to join MLS.
The Vancouver Whitecaps played their first MLS match in 2011. The club made the MLS Cup Playoffs for the first time in 2012. Vancouver won the Canadian Championship, that country’s top professional tournament, in 2015, 2022, and 2023.
In 2017, the Whitecaps reached the semifinals of the CONCACAF Champions League. CONCACAF stands for Confederation of North, Central America, and Caribbean Association Football. The Champion’s League is an annual tournament among that region’s best professional clubs.
.
