Forge Passes MLS Side In Concacaf Club Rankings Update

The latest Concacaf club ranking update shows that the continental football organization now ranks Forge FC higher than a Major League Soccer side with over ten times the hammers’ annual roster budget.

The perennial CPL powerhouse has been enjoying a near-undefeated season and recently knocked CF Montreal out of the domestic cup for the second year in a row before going toe-to-toe with the Whitecaps in leg one of the semi-final.

Moving up two spaces in the latest ranking as a result, Forge has now broken into the top fifty, throwing Major League Soccer’s St. Louis City down into 51st position.

The moment is made all the more head-turning when taking operating budgets and player salaries into account: even if Forge is using the full extent of the CPL’s allowed player salary budget, that means they’re still punching above a club that has at least ten times their annual wage bill.

The maximum player compensation budget in Canada’s top flight is 1,280,000 CAD, while St Louis City’s annual payrole is estimated to be 13,433,659 USD.

The St. Louis City roster includes designated players Marcel Hartel, who arrived from St. Pauli last season, and Brazilian forward Joao Klauss, who made history as the side’s first-ever designated player. Both athletes take home more gross salary individually than the maximum annual player spend allocated to the entire Forge FC squad.

Fringe Canadian international Kyle Hiebert plies his trade with the side, who are having a tough campaign and find themselves second-last in the Western Conference.

As the CPL does not publicly disclose player salaries, it is unknown if Forge spends up to their maximal levels. In any case, there’s an obvious disparity there – though Forge is no stranger to facing opposition with much high budgets, having faced all three Canadian MLS sides along with Liga MX giants CF Monterrey, Chivas, and Cruz Azul in recent years.

The Concacaf rankings are based on the Elo system, which updates the score of clubs after each match held in continental competition, domestic first division, and domestic cup play using results earned since 2017.

Forge are in pole position in domestic league standings, holding a three point lead after dropping just one loss in the last twenty-two league games. Just behind them is Atletico Ottawa, who is now ranked at 58 after starting down at 72 when the rankings were first introduced two years ago.

Forge held the top spot for a CPL team back then, too.

Header Image Photo Credit: John Jacques