Defence Force meet Philadelphia Union in Champions Cup | OneFootball

MIAMI – The 2026 Concacaf Champions Cup continues as Defence Force FC hosts the Philadelphia Union in the first Leg of their Round One series on Wednesday at Hasely Crawford Stadium in Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago.

The occasion marks the first meeting between the clubs in the Champions Cup. It will also be the first time Defence Force FC plays opposition from the United States, and the first time the Union play a team from Trinidad and Tobago.  

The Union qualified for the tournament as the 2025 MLS Supporters’ Shield winners. Defence Force FC booked their spot as the third-place finishers in the 2025 Caribbean Cup. 

In the three editions the Union has participated, the club has never lost its opening match, recording two wins and a draw. Additionally, U.S. teams have won nine of their last 12 matches against Trinidadian opposition in the Champions Cup. 

Defence Force FC is a two-time Champions Cup winner, winning in 1978 and 1985, the only club from Trinidad and Tobago to achieve this feat.

A Look Back at Their Champions Cup Campaigns

For Defence Force FC, this will be the third time it competes in a two-legged series against a North American club, a stage in which it has always been eliminated. In 1987, Defence Force FC reached the Grand Final against CF América (MEX) and lost the series. The first leg was played on October 21, 1987, at Hasely Crawford Stadium in Port of Spain (TRI), ending in a 1-1 draw, with goals from Russel Sutton for the hosts and Juan Antonio “Cabezón” Luna for the Mexican side. The second leg was played on October 28, 1987, at Estadio Azteca in Mexico City (MEX), where Club América claimed a 2-0 victory with goals by Juan Antonio “Cabezón” Luna and Antonio “Negro” Santos, securing the club’s second Concacaf Champions Cup title.

The second and most recent series for Defence Force FC against a North American club came in the 2002 edition, when it was eliminated in the Round of 16 by CF Pachuca with a 4-1 aggregate score. The first leg was played on March 13, 2002, at Hasely Crawford Stadium in Trinidad & Tobago, where Defence Force FC earned a 1-0 win with a goal by Kwesi Smith. In the second leg, played on March 27, 2002, at Estadio Hidalgo in Mexico, the Mexican club won 4-0 with a hat trick by Juan Arango and a goal by Andrés Chitiva.

For Philadelphia Union, this will be the first time in tournament history that it faces a Caribbean club in a series. It will also mark the club’s second appearance in the First Round, following its qualification against Deportivo Saprissa in the 2024 edition with a 6-5 aggregate score. The first leg was played on February 20, 2024, at Estadio Ricardo Saprissa in Costa Rica, where Philadelphia Union earned a 3-2 victory thanks to a hat trick by Julián Carranza; Jakob Glesnes (own goal) and Gerald Taylor scored for Deportivo Saprissa. The second leg was played on February 27, 2024, at Subaru Park in the United States, ending in a 3-3 draw. The goals for the MLS side were scored by Julián Carranza, Quinn Sullivan, and Mikael Uhre, while Luis Paradela, Warren Madrigal, and Mariano Torres found the net for Deportivo Saprissa.