The 2026 Forge FC season is the eighth season in the history of Forge FC and the club's eighth season in the Canadian Premier League (CPL), the top flight in Canadian soccer. Forge are the two-time defending CPL Shield winners, having finished first in the 2024 and 2025 CPL seasons. The Hammers clinched its spot in the CPL Playoffs on September20.
In addition to the CPL, the club is competing in the Canadian Championship where it has advanced to the final. Forge also played in the CONCACAF Champions Cup, where it faced Liga MX side Tigres UANL in the first round.
Review Background Forge FC entered the 2026 Canadian Premier League season as the two-time reigning regular season winners after having finished first and claiming the CPL Shield in both the 2024 and 2025 CPL seasons. The 2025 shield was the club's third regular season title and seventh trophy in seven years. In the CPL playoffs, Forge were eliminated in the semifinals, making the 2025 CPL final the first in league history not to feature Forge.
The Hammers are also competing in the 2026 Canadian Championship, a domestic cup organized by the Canadian Soccer Association. In the 2025 edition, Forge advanced to the semifinal, defeating MLS side CF Montréal in the quarterfinal for the second year in a row, before being knocked out by the eventual champion Vancouver Whitecaps FC.
Forge qualified for the 2026 CONCACAF Champions Cup as 2025 CPL regular season winners. This was Forge's fourth appearance in the competition and third appearance in a row. In the 2025 edition, Forge faced Mexican side Monterrey in round one, losing 5–0 on aggregate.
Head coach and sporting director Bobby Smyrniotis returned for his eighth season with the club after signing a four-year contract extension in 2023.
Preseason Forge reported that it had opened its preseason in Hamilton with medicals on January12 before starting training the next day. The club was then scheduled to travel to Cancun for two weeks of training and to play friendlies against Liga Premier club Inter Playa del Carmen and MLS club Orlando City SC.
Current squad
No. Name Nationality Position Date of birth (age) Previous club Notes Goalkeepers 16 Dimitry Bertaud GK Montpellier HSC 33 Cuba Grant GK Indiana Tech Warriors 36 Dino Bontis GK Western Mustangs Defenders 3 Marko Jevremović DF Athens Kallithea F.C. 4 Daniël Krutzen DF Phoenix Rising FC 5 Daniel Nimick DF HFX Wanderers FC 8 Antoine Batisse DF FK IMT 24 Rezart Rama DF KF Egnatia 32 Zayne Bruno DF Sigma FC , 55 Manjrekar James DF Wellington Phoenix Midfielders 6 Ben Paton MF Ross County 22 Noah Jensen MF Oakland University 23 Anthony Aromatario MF Woodbridge Strikers 26 Aghilas Sadek MF CF Montréal Academy , 28 Keito Lipovschek MF Fleetwood United 87 Maxime Bourgeois MF Sherbrooke Forwards 7 Ismael Oketokoun FW CF Platges de Calvià 9 Brian Wright FW York United FC 11 Nana Opoku Ampomah FW Fortuna Düsseldorf 12 Maxime Filion FW Montreal Carabins 14 Levonte Johnson FW Colorado Springs Switchbacks 17 Hoce Massunda FW Sigma FC 18 Molham Babouli FW York United FC 19 Tristan Borges FW OH Leuven 20 Kevaughn Tavernier FW Sigma FC 90 Lucas Cavallini FW Puebla
Inactive list The following players are on the club's inactive list for the remainder of the season.
No. Name Nationality Position(s) Date of birth (age) Previous club 10 Kyle Bekker MF North Carolina FC 64 Khadim Kane MF CF Montréal U23
Contracts and transfers New contracts No.Pos.PlayerContract detailsDateSource11Multi-year contract (length undisclosed)20Undisclosed23U Sports contract23Multi-year contract (length undisclosed)12U Sports contract87U Sports contract12Multi-year contract (length undisclosed)87Multi-year contract (length undisclosed) beginning in 2027
In Transferred in No.Pos.PlayerFrom clubFee/notesDateSource4 Phoenix Rising FCFree7 CF Platges de CalviàFree23 York LionsShort-term replacement contract30 Mount Royal CougarsShort-term replacement contract8 FK IMTFree16 Montpellier HSCFree15 TMUShort-term contract87 SherbrookeShort-term contract12 Montreal CarabinsShort-term contract26 CF Montréal AcademyExceptional Young Talent contract Violette ACFree55 Wellington PhoenixFree90 PueblaFree33 Indiana Tech WarriorsShort-term replacement contract until October17
Loaned in No.Pos.PlayerFrom clubFee/notesDateSource14 Colorado Springs SwitchbacksOn loan until November 30, 2026
Draft picks Forge FC made two selections in the 2026 CPL–U Sports Draft on November28, 2025. Draft picks are not automatically signed to the team roster; only those who are signed to a contract will be listed as transfers in. RoundSelectionPos.PlayerNationalityUniversity18DFNoah BickfordTMU215MFMaxime BourgeoisSherbrooke
Out No.Pos.PlayerTo clubFee/notesDateSource81 Chesterfield F.C.Contract expired7 FC SupraContract expired27 Aris Petroupolis F.C.Contract expired39 Inter Toronto FCContract expired1 Birmingham Legion FCContract expired23 Cavalry FCContract expired29 Toronto FC IIContract expired8 Teungueth FCContract expired13 Raufoss ILContract expired21 FC EmmenUndisclosed99 Saronikos AnavyssosMutual contract termination
Club Prior to the season, the Hamilton Sports Group welcomed businessman and investor Angelo Paletta as a minority owner.
Kits In November 2025, Canadian Soccer Business announced a multi-year partnership with Hummel to be the CPL's new kit and apparel partner starting with the 2026 season, replacing Macron. In December, the league announced Moneris as the new sleeve sponsor for every CPL club.
On January6, Forge unveiled a black and orange third kit that pays homage to the defunct Hamilton Steelers (1981–1992) and made available only to the club's season seat members. Later in the month, Forge unveiled its new orange primary kit and dark gray alternate kit.
Competitions Matches are listed in Hamilton local time: Eastern Daylight Time (UTC−4) from March8 until November1, and Eastern Standard Time (UTC−5) otherwise.
Overview
Canadian Premier League
Table
Results by match
1 Matchday 13 (vs Pacific FC) was postponed due to poor air quality and later rescheduled to October 7.
Matches The Canadian Premier League announced its schedule on February2. The schedule included a pause starting June11 for the 2026 FIFA World Cup before resuming on June26.
Canadian Championship
The Canadian Championship draw was held on January17. As one of the four-highest ranked clubs based on the Canadian Championship Club Ranking Index, Forge were pre-seeded for the draw.
Preliminary round Canada Soccer announced the preliminary round schedule on February5.
Quarterfinals Canada Soccer announced the schedule for the two-legged quarterfinals on May13. The match time for the first leg in Laval was later rescheduled.
Semifinals Canada Soccer announced the schedule for the two-legged semifinals on July30.
Final
CONCACAF Champions Cup
The CONCACAF Champions Cup draw was held on December9, 2025, with Forge drawing Liga MX side Tigres UANL in round one. Having qualified as CPL regular season winners, Forge entered the competition in round one and began play in February.
Round one The round one schedule was announced on December12, 2025.
Statistics
Goal scorers RankNat.PlayerPos.CPLCPL PlayoffsCanadian ChampionshipChampions CupTOTAL1 Brian Wright FW 4 0 2 1 72 Antoine Batisse DF 3 0 2 0 5 Ismael Oketokoun FW 5 0 0 0 54 Tristan Borges FW 2 0 2 0 4 Hoce Massunda FW 4 0 0 0 4 Daniel Nimick DF 4 0 0 0 47 Nana Ampomah FW 2 0 1 0 3 Ben Paton MF 2 0 1 0 39 Maxime Bourgeois MF 2 0 0 0 2 Maxime Filion FW 2 0 0 0 2 Daniël Krutzen DF 1 0 1 0 2 Aghilas Sadek MF 2 0 0 0 213 Kyle Bekker MF 1 0 0 0 1 Lucas Cavallini FW 1 0 0 0 1 Manjrekar James DF 1 0 0 0 1 Noah Jensen MF 1 0 0 0 1 Marko Jevremović DF 1 0 0 0 1Totals38 0 9148
Clean sheets RankNat.PlayerCPLCPL PlayoffsCanadian ChampionshipChampions CupTOTAL1 Dimitry Bertaud 10 0 2 1 13Totals10 0 2113
Notes
References
Further reading