CanChamp Final a full circle moment for Vancouver FC's Nicolás Mezquida: 'There's a lot of emotions'

It’s been a wild couple of years for Nicolás Mezquida.

After having a decade of stability in MLS, the Uruguayan midfielder has been on an adventure over the last few years, as he went to Greece in 2023, returned home to Uruguay, tried out an adventure in Cyprus in 2024, and then once again finished the year back in Uruguay.

Minutes were hard to come by at each of those stops - he played just over 1,200 minutes across 25 appearances for Volos NPS in Greece at the end of the 2022-2023 campaign, but then played just 555 minutes in 13 appearances for Club Deportivo Maldonado back in Uruguay in 2023. Then, in Cyprus, he played only 392 minutes across 13 appearances for Ethnikos Achnas at the end of the 2023-2024 campaign, before playing just 337 minutes across 10 appearances for Uruguayan outfit Rampla Juniors FC at the end of 2024.

Because of that, you can understand why the 33-year-old midfielder was contemplating retirement at the start of 2025. He’d struggled to find the stability he had in MLS with the Vancouver Whitecaps, where he made 122 appearances across five seasons from 2014 to 2018, and with the Colorado Rapids, where he made 84 appearances across four seasons from 2019 to 2022.

Having already started to prepare for his post-playing career with his latest move to Uruguay, which was done to be closer to family, he then received a surprising call: Vancouver FC were hoping to bring him in for the 2025 campaign, their third season as a club.

Naturally, Mezquida was intrigued, as his best years had come in Vancouver with the Whitecaps, so he decided to make the leap to join the Canadian Premier League side, and it’s proven to be a great decision for both parties.

Not only has Mezquida played a massive role for Vancouver in 2025, scoring seven goals and adding one assist in 20 appearances (1,315 minutes), but he’s helped his club reach the 2025 TELUS Canadian Championship final, becoming the first CPL team to do so in a full tournament.

Fittingly, he and his teammates will play a familiar foe, the Whitecaps, in that final, locking horns in their first-ever all-Vancouver derby matchup. It's a game that will be quite special for Mezquida and his teammates, many of whom have played for the Whitecaps or come through their academy.

“To be honest, I didn’t imagine that playing in my first season with Vancouver FC, when coming back to this city, that I’d be a part of this amazing group and reach a final,” Mezquida told CanPL.ca ahead of the final, which will be at BC Place on Oct. 1.

“Personally, it means a lot, because last year I moved back home to play closer to my family and to start preparing for my post-career life,” he continued. “To be honest, I was thinking about retiring last year, so when it came to this year, I wanted to keep playing while also still preparing for that post-career life. Vancouver FC came in, though, and gave me this opportunity to keep playing and be part of this group and the project, while allowing me to learn and keep educating myself.”

Mezquida has certainly played a part in this cup run, too, scoring twice en route to the final, with one goal coming in the second leg of the quarter-finals vs. Cavalry and the other goal coming in the first leg of the semi-finals vs. Atlético Ottawa.

Surrounded by a young group of players, Mezquida has found his love for the game again, and that’s been reflected in how he’s played this season, as he’s been running around like he’s 25 again.

“I’m happy here because I’ve regained that energy I felt before games, of feeling alive in the warm-up,” he offered. “I’m happy I didn’t retire, because this season, I fell in love with the sport again. I’m enjoying driving to the facility for training, travelling to games - I’m feeling like I’m 25 again. I feel alive and happy here. They push me, but in a good way, while also helping me. We know that nobody is going to be a hero; we are in the final thanks to everyone.”

Yet, that hunger extends across this Vancouver group. It’s no secret that the club hasn’t performed the way they’ve wanted to in CPL play, where they’ve already missed the playoffs for a third straight season, and currently sit bottom of the CPL table.

While they knew it was going to always be tough to find their feet as a new team in 2023, they were hoping to have reached the playoffs by now, but that hasn’t materialized quite yet, despite having made some big signings over the last few years.

At the same time, Vancouver know that they’ve just needed a spark to show what they’re all about, and this cup run has been perfect for them in that regard.

The beauty of cup soccer is that it offers a fresh chance for any team to go out and make a name for themselves, as the knockout environment gives teams who are fearless enough the opportunity to dream and make history.

Unlike in league play, where Vancouver has felt burdened with their past struggles, they’ve played freely in this tournament, and that’s allowed them to go on this magical run.

Granted, they didn’t expect to have a run like this because it’s also important to remember that they’d been knocked out of the preliminary round of the 2023 and 2024 CanChamps on a pair of 1-0 losses to York United and Cavalry FC, respectively, but it just shows how quickly one’s fortunes can change.

“There’s been a hunger for glory,” Mezquida said when asked about his team’s cup run. “I’ve always told the guys that if we pass to the next round, your career won’t be the same, because this is a short tournament and anything can happen. I remember when we played Pacific, Vancouver had never gotten past the first round, so I told the guys that we could make history and be the first Vancouver team to do that.”

“Then we played Cavalry (in the quarter-finals), and said we’re close to the next round; this is a big opportunity for the young guys. Then we got past Cavalry, and we knew that when it was Atlético Ottawa (in the semi-finals), that we had to suffer to play in a final.”

Now, after a remarkable run that has seen them beat rivals Pacific FC on penalties in the preliminary round, defeat Cavalry FC on penalties after a 2-2 aggregate draw in the quarter-finals, and then take out Atlético Ottawa with a 3-2 aggregate win in the semi-finals, they sit one game away from ultimate glory.

It’s not going to be an easy game, as they face off against a Whitecaps team looking to win a fourth straight Voyageurs Cup, but they know that, and are instead looking to relish the occasion.

Certainly, Mezquida won’t be one to take this opportunity for granted, as he, better than anyone, will know how rare these opportunities to play in a final can be.

Sometimes, players can go a whole career without playing in a final or winning a trophy, so he’ll be sure to pass on that message to his younger teammates, who might not fully grasp how special it is that they’ll be playing an all-time great Canadian club side in a 2026 World Cup venue for a trophy.

Simply put, these are the sort of games that any player dreams of playing in, as this game could change the careers of these young players, something Mezquida has made sure to stress to his teammates.

“I remember after the Ottawa game, I hugged (18-year-old midfielder) Emrick (Fotsing), and I told him that he was going to play in a final in his first season, which is a lucky opportunity for a player, but a deserved one because he’s been working so hard,” Mezquida said. “And so many guys on this team have only played a few seasons, and now will play in a final in a big World Cup stadium, and that’s huge.”

“Many eyes will be on all of them, as it’s a final. The feeling of playing in a final is like no other game, because it doesn’t matter about money or anything other than battling to be the best of the tournament. And these are games that can change careers if you take the opportunity, so we’ll have to play hard.”

Fittingly, for Mezquida, this matchup marks a bit of a full-circle moment for him, too.

When speaking about how hard it is to win a trophy, Mezquida knows that feeling well, as he’s lifted just one trophy to date: the Voyageurs Cup, which he won with the Whitecaps in 2015.

At the time, he was just 23 and had already been around a Peñarol team that had won a Uruguayan title, so he might’ve thought that he’d have many more trophies to win in his career. He wouldn’t have been the first young player to feel that way.

Instead, since then, he’s come close to winning a few other trophies, losing the 2016 and 2018 Canadian Championship finals with the Whitecaps, but otherwise, games like this haven’t always been there.

Because of that, he carries fond memories of that 2015 Voyageurs Cup win, especially when considering the circumstances of that trophy, which was the Whitecaps' first trophy as an MLS expansion side.

“I remember when I came to the Whitecaps, they were a new team in MLS, and they’d never won the Canadian Championship, so I just wanted to put my name in the history of the club,” Mezquida reflected. “When we won it, it was so special. Winning a final is the result you get when you do the right things; you get the reward.”

In hindsight, that 2015 triumph ended up being quite big for the Whitecaps, too, as they participated in the Concacaf Champions Cup in the next two seasons, even reaching the semi-finals of that tournament in 2016-2017.

Because of that, Mezquida also understands well what this final could do for Vancouver going forward, as that trophy ended up being a big launching pad for the Whitecaps of today.

“That first one was a big deal, because we qualified for the Concacaf Champions Cup for the first time, so we put the Whitecaps on the map in a continental tournament, and that helped people talk and learn about the Whitecaps,” he continued. “So winning that first one helped the team grow. Everything changed after. It had started to become a different Whitecaps; we wanted to go for more targets, like reaching the playoffs, going to the semi-finals of Concacaf, so the club started to get used to all of those things.”

‘That’s why it’s so important for Vancouver FC to reach the final, because this can help us grow as we push for our next targets, starting with this final.”

As a result, look for him to make the most of this opportunity to lead his new club out against his old club in this final.

Having carried great memories from his time with the Whitecaps, where he was a fan favourite, it just adds to an already special occasion for him, so look for him to enjoy the opportunity to take the field of a stadium he knows well with his new teammates.

While he would’ve been ecstatic to play in any final, it’s not lost on him how special it is that he’s playing the Whitecaps, and not any other team, 10 years on from that 2015 Voyageurs Cup triumph.

“This is so special, this is gonna be emotional to step onto the pitch at BC Place and see all of the fans of Vancouver FC and the Whitecaps,” he said. “Some Whitecaps fans still send me messages of love, and our Vancouver FC fans are great, so it’s going to be amazing. Whatever the result, it’s going to be a great experience, so I will try to enjoy each moment and do what we can to try and win the cup.”

“You don’t play in a final every year, and the way that this played out, that it’s against the Whitecaps and not Toronto or Montréal, it makes it special; there’s a lot of emotions at play.”

Yet, to that point, no matter what happens for Vancouver in this final, they’ll all want to enjoy the occasion and leave without any regrets.

From there, anything can happen in a final, even against a Whitecaps side that boasts superstars like Thomas Müller and others, so Mezquida’s big push to his teammates is quite simple - make the most of this opportunity.

“Enjoy it as a team, we deserve it, we’ve suffered a lot to get here,” Mezquida said when asked to give a message to his team. “It’s not every season that you get to play in a final. Everyone thinks the Whitecaps will win, so we have nothing to lose, enjoy playing and show that we’re here for a reason.

“Be ourselves. Give 200 per cent. Nobody is going to give out the trophy for free, so you have to go for it (...) We are here, yes, it’s the Whitecaps, there’s Müller and everyone else there, but it’s also 11v11, at the end of the day.”