Despite each receiving FIFA-affiliated status in 1913, both the United States and Canada have lacked a consistent, multi-division soccer system until recently. Consequently, the determination of champions has been problematic at times. The United States did not have a truly national top flight league until the FIFA-sanctioned United Soccer Association and the "outlaw" National Professional Soccer League, which had a network television contract, merged in November 1967 to form the North American Soccer League (NASL). The NASL considered the two pre-merge forerunner leagues as part of its history.

Before 1967, there were several regional and city leagues of various levels of quality. For example, the first and second incarnations of the American Soccer League constituted the premier level of professional soccer in the Northeastern United States, but they and teams from the St. Louis Soccer League would regularly defeat the best the other had to offer. These are only two of the most notable leagues of the regional era, as there were professional and amateur competitions in Chicago, California, the greater Western United States, Ontario, and Western Canada, among several other regions.

While the creation of the NASL in 1968 brought bonafide top-flight competition to the U.S. and Canada, its collapse in 1984 saw a temporary return to the fragmented regional structure. The merger of the Western Soccer League and third iteration of the American Soccer League created a national second division in the U.S. known as the American Professional Soccer League (APSL) in 1990. The APSL later absorbed the Canadian Soccer League, which at the time was an attempt at a wholly first division within Canada.

It was not until the establishment of Major League Soccer (MLS) in 1996 as part of FIFA's agreement to award the United States the 1994 World Cup that there was again a truly national, sanctioned first division in either country. Top Canadian teams resided at the second division until MLS expanded to Canada in 2007.

Given the tumultuous history of professional soccer in the United States and Canada, there is a broad history of champions of various kinds in both countries, both in leagues that comprised both nations and cups that were held in only one. This article takes into account all these competitions to compile an accurate listing of American and Canadian soccer champions with an eye towards maintaining continuity.

Background

For teams in the United States and Canada, there are three major domestic trophies.Marketing the US Soccer MajorsMLS Trophy Case

The primary focus is the league championship, a postseason knockout tournament held between the best teams from the regular season. This is presently determined via the MLS Cup. American and Canadian sports leagues typically have such playoff systems. These have their roots in long travel distances common in U.S. and Canadian sports; to cut down on travel, leagues are typically aligned in geographic divisions and feature unbalanced schedules with teams playing more matches against opponents in the same division. Due to the unbalanced schedule typical in U.S. and Canadian leagues, not all teams face the same opponents, and some teams may not meet an even number of times during a regular season, if at all. This results in teams with identical records that have faced different opponents differing numbers of times, making team records alone an imperfect measure of league supremacy. The playoffs allow for head-to-head elimination-style competition between teams to counterbalance this.

Secondary is the recognition of the best regular season record (an accomplishment known as the league premiership in Australia and New Zealand, countries with similar league structure to the U.S. and Canada). The MLS team with the highest point total during the regular season is awarded the Supporters' Shield.

Thirdly, there are the two countries' respective domestic cup competitions: the U.S. Open Cup and the Canadian Championship. These tournaments are unique to soccer among professional sports in the U.S. and Canada, as no other major team sport conducts competition outside of regular league play.

Additionally, American and Canadian clubs participate in the CONCACAF Champions Cup, a continental club competition in which the United States is allocated four qualification spots and Canada one. For American clubs, the winners of the MLS Cup, Supporters' Shield, and U.S. Open Cup all qualify, along with the regular season conference champion that does not win the Shield. The lone Canadian berth is determined by the Canadian Championship. Finally, there is the world championship as determined by the FIFA Club World Cup, a berth to which is earned by winning the Champions Cup.

American and Canadian soccer clubs exist in a franchise system, rather than a promotion and relegation system. As a result, teams do not systematically move between levels each season. This is standard among American and Canadian major and minor sports leagues and is part of the franchise rights granted by the leagues. Recently, a trend has developed where a club from the lower divisions may be "promoted" via an expansion franchise awarded by Major League Soccer.

The results in this article come from the United States Soccer Federation,United States Soccer Federation – Open Cup the Canadian Soccer Association,Canadian Soccer Association – Competitions the Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation,RSSSF – United States/Canada and the American Soccer History Archives.

Major titles

American competitions

At various times, Canadian clubs have competed in the top-tier of American soccer, either in place of or alongside a Canadian top-tier league. Currently, three Canadian clubs compete in Major League Soccer.

United Soccer Association (1967)

Year Champions Runners-up Regular season Runners-up Leading goalscorer(s) Goals1967 Los Angeles Wolves Washington Whips Washington Whips Los Angeles Wolves Roberto Boninsegna (Chicago Mustangs)10

National Professional Soccer League (1967)

Year Champions Runners-up Regular season Runners-up Leading goalscorer(s) Goals1967 Oakland Clippers Baltimore Bays Oakland Clippers Baltimore Bays Yanko Daucik (Toronto Falcons)20 Oakland also won the NPSL Commissioner's Cup nine days after winning the NPSL Finals.

North American Soccer League (1968–1984)

Year Champions Runners-up Runners-up Leading goalscorer(s) Goals1968 Atlanta Chiefs San Diego Toros San Diego Toros Oakland Clippers John Kowalik (Chicago Mustangs)301969 N/A N/A Kansas City Spurs Atlanta Chiefs Kaizer Motaung (Atlanta Chiefs)161970 Rochester Lancers Washington Darts Washington Darts Atlanta Chiefs Kirk Apostolidis (Dallas Tornado)161971 Dallas Tornado Atlanta Chiefs Rochester Lancers Atlanta Chiefs Carlos Metidieri (Rochester Lancers)191972 New York Cosmos St. Louis Stars New York Cosmos St. Louis Stars Randy Horton (New York Cosmos)91973 Philadelphia Atoms Dallas Tornado Dallas Tornado Philadelphia Atoms Warren Archibald (Miami Toros) Ilija Mitic (Dallas Tornado)121974 Los Angeles Aztecs Miami Toros Los Angeles Aztecs Miami Toros Paul Child (San Jose Earthquakes)151975 Tampa Bay Rowdies Portland Timbers Portland Timbers Tampa Bay Rowdies Steve David (Miami Toros)231976 Toronto Metros-Croatia Minnesota Kicks Tampa Bay Rowdies New York Cosmos Derek Smethurst (Tampa Bay Rowdies)201977 Cosmos (2) Seattle Sounders Ft. Lauderdale Strikers Dallas Tornado Steve David (Los Angeles Aztecs)261978 Cosmos (3) Tampa Bay Rowdies Cosmos (2) Vancouver Whitecaps Giorgio Chinaglia (Cosmos)341979 Vancouver Whitecaps Tampa Bay Rowdies New York Cosmos (3) Houston Hurricane Giorgio Chinaglia (New York Cosmos)261980 New York Cosmos (4) Ft. Lauderdale Strikers New York Cosmos (4) Seattle Sounders Giorgio Chinaglia (New York Cosmos)321981 Chicago Sting New York Cosmos New York Cosmos (5) Chicago Sting Giorgio Chinaglia (New York Cosmos)291982 New York Cosmos (5) Seattle Sounders New York Cosmos (6) Seattle Sounders Ricardo Alonso (Jacksonville Tea Men)211983 Tulsa Roughnecks Toronto Blizzard New York Cosmos (7) Vancouver Whitecaps Roberto Cabanas (New York Cosmos)251984 Chicago Sting (2) Toronto Blizzard Chicago Sting San Diego Sockers Steve Zungul (Golden Bay Earthquakes)20

– The 1969 season featured no playoffs; the league title was awarded to the team with the most points in the season. – The New York Cosmos dropped "New York" from name for the 1977 and 1978 seasons, then returned to the full name in 1979 season.

Major League Soccer (1996–present)