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For the second year in a row, an MLS team playing in the CONCACAF Champions Cup final in Mexico wound up with a large portion of its squad having food poisoning. The Vancouver Whitecaps, who lost to Cruz Azul 5-0 in the final in Mexico City, cancelled training on Wednesday after “a significant number” of players and staff fell ill.
A statement from the club said that “Following the team’s return from Mexico, a significant number of Whitecaps FC players and staff reported gastrointestinal symptoms. As a precautionary measure, and in consultation with the club’s medical team, as well as the local infectious disease consultant and Vancouver Coastal Health, the club cancelled training on Wednesday and held a modified individual closed session for cleared players today.”
For the second year in a row, an MLS team played in the ConcaChampions final and dealt with widespread sickness in the squad after traveling.
The Vancouver Whitecaps cancelled training on Wednesday and had only some individual trainings today.https://t.co/YlKn1WmAUd
— Tom Bogert (@tombogert) June 5, 2025
Vancouver CEO and sporting director Axel Schuster told reporters on Thursday that more than half of the 75 people on the flight home after the game became sick.
But here’s where things get interesting. Prior to last year’s CONCACAF Champions Cup final in Pachuca, Mexico, a number of Columbus Crew players and staff reportedly fell ill as well. Columbus went on to lose the match to Pachuca, 3-0.
“This is not an excuse,” Columbus manager Wilfried Nancy said at the time. “This is a fact that we didn’t have the energy that we usually have. So, it was weird, I will say, because we didn’t know how to act with that. But they took medicine, and they gave everything.”
As a result of last year’s incident, the Daily Hive reported that Vancouver sent some of its kitchen staff to Mexico with the team to avoid any sort of foul play.
Of course, any number of things could’ve caused the Whitecaps’ players and staff members to fall ill. But the fact that it happened two years in a row definitely raises some suspicion.
Only three MLS clubs have ever won the CONCACAF Champions Cup, with the Seattle Sounders in 2022 becoming the most-recent to do so.