February 2 Canadian Premier League side Forge FC have played in four Champions Cups and each time have been dumped out of the competition by a Liga MX. Few will be betting that their home opening day fixture tomorrow against UNAL Tigres, playing in their 12th Champions Cup, will see them overcome their Mexican blackspot.
Tigres have made 11 appearances in the Concacaf Champions Cup/Champions League. They have reached the final four times (2015-16, 2016-17, 2019, 2020), winning the title once in 2020. They are looking to become the ninth Mexican team to win the title more than once.
Tigres qualified for the 2026 Champions Cup as one of the best-performing teams in the 2024–25 Liga MX overall standings, securing their place as the second-highest ranked club, ensuring a pre-seeded spot for the 2026 competition.
Their success came under Guido Pizarro who was appointed in March 2025, transitioning immediately from captaining the team on the pitch to leading it from the dugout. He brought immediate tactical changes built on defensive strength.
The club’s talisman up front has been the physically dominant, 40-year-old Frenchman Andre-Pierre Gignac who is the club’s all-time top scorer with more than 220 goals and is still banging them in. Alongside him are Diego Lainez who lead in scoring and attacking stats, and Angel Correa.
Defensively Joaquim, Juan Jose Purata, Jesus Garza and Osvaldo Rodriguez reflect the non-negotiable defensive obduracy Pizarro displayed as a player.
Hamilton based Forge, under the management of Bobby Smyrniotis since they began in the CPL in 2018, have dominated their league, but need to show they can make take the next step up.
In the 2025 season Forge has a number of league stand-out players including CPL Best XI selections goalkeeper Jassem Koleilat (Golden Glove winner, led the league with 13 clean sheets but not at the club this season), defender Daniel Nimick (Defender of the Year), defender Rezart Rama, and midfielders Nana Ampomah and captain Kyle Bekker.
Up front Tristan Borges is very much a creator while Forge have their own veteran in Brian Wright who has been banging the goals in and is the club’s top scorer.
The Second Leg of their series will be played on February 10 at Estadio Universitario in San Nicolás de los Garza, Mexico.