Vancouver Whitecaps off to greatest start EVER in MLS | OneFootball

By Justin Ruderman

Vancouver Whitecaps FC made MLS history in their 6-0 rout of Minnesota United on Sunday at BC Place, becoming the league's first team to start a season with a 4W-0L-0D record and +13 goal differential.

The reigning Western Conference champs wasted no time bouncing back from their midweek 3-0 defeat against Cascadia rivals Seattle Sounders FC in Concacaf Champions Cup play, spoiling Colombian superstar James Rodríguez's Loons debut with a historic result ahead of Leg 2 vs. Seattle in Spokane on Wednesday.

"I think we just put it behind us and just started fresh. It wasn't the result we wanted, but we knew we were gonna come out here and just play our game," said midfielder Sebastian Berhalter postgame.

"It doesn't mean we're a bad team losing one game. So for us, it was just about doing what we do and sticking to our principles. "

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World Cup-bound?

Vancouver were shot out of a cannon to start the match, hitting the back of the net three times within the first 22 minutes en route to becoming the first team in MLS history to start 4W-0L-0D in consecutive seasons. 

By halftime, Berhalter had made his latest case for selection to this summer's 2026 FIFA World Cup, racking up a goal and two assists within 45 minutes in a Man of the Match performance.

Surely that should get USMNT head coach Mauricio Pochettino's attention.

"He's an important player for us because he's in the middle of everything. He's in the middle of the way we play. He's in the middle of how we build our play," said Vancouver manager Jesper Sørensen. 

"He's an important player for us in our set plays. He's a guy that has amazing mentality. He is also, I think, the only player that has started all games for us now this season, and we know that we can rely on him."

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White day

Records continued to fall in the second half as Vancouver tacked on a couple more goals, highlighted by USMNT striker Brian White completing his brace to become the first Whitecaps player to record 100 goal contributions in the club's MLS era.

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"It's not impossible"

The Whitecaps will now aim to use Sunday's momentous victory as a springboard for another famous result on Wednesday against Seattle.

Vancouver may trail 3-0 on aggregate, but as they proved against Minnesota, the squad is not short on goals.

"I think this game today showed what I said already after the game against Seattle - that we are a good team, and we believe we're a good team, and we know and we show ourselves that we have the belief that we are a great, a good team," said Sørensen.

"And then we have to do something special Wednesday because we put ourselves in a very, very bad situation, but we believe we can. It's not easy, but we believe we can do something special."

Added Berhalter, "It's not impossible."

WATCH: Vancouver Whitecaps remain perfect after Minnesota United rout