The Whitecaps’ rise has been one of the surprises of the MLS season so far

Before the first leg of the Vancouver Whitecaps’ CONCACAF Champions Cup semifinal against Lionel Messi and Inter Miami, supporters stretched banners across one end of BC Place.

“You allowed us to dream again," one said.

The fan sentiment expressed in the tifo has spilled over to the Major League Soccer season as the Whitecaps defy expectations.

"I don’t know if I’ve really been a part of such a close locker room before. Everyone who has come in in the last couple of years has said the same thing, and I think that speaks volumes,” top scorer Brian White said. “And I think you see that on the field, how close this group is."

While it’s still early, the Whitecaps sit atop MLS with a 7-1-2 record. They’ve allowed just seven goals, tied for fewest in the league, while scoring 20, tied for most.

White, a new Jersey native who joined Vancouver in 2021, has six total goals and was named the MLS Player of the Month for April. He scored four of those goals in a mid-month match against Austin.

Across all competitions this year, the Whitecaps have lost just twice in 18 total games.

"This group of guys is amazing, and it’s not just to say that, I really believe it," said Serbian defender Ranko Veselinović, who has been with Vancouver since 2020. "All the guys are on the same page, we work with each other, we have good relationships. That’s the foundation for success and I think this year we can do special things."

The fast start stands in contrast to Vancouver’s more recent history.

Last season, the Whitecaps finished eighth in the standings and routed the Portland Timbers 5-0 in a wild-card game. But they fell to LAFC in the first round of the playoffs.

The Whitecaps have qualified for the playoffs in three of the past five years but haven’t advanced out of the first round in that span. Since the team joined the league in 2011, the furthest they’ve gone in the playoffs is the quarterfinals, in 2015 and 2017.

Coach Vanni Sartini was fired in late November after three seasons at the helm, and Vancouver didn’t name his replacement - Danish coach Jesper Sorensen - until mid-January.

Adding to the offseason upheaval was the announcement the Whitecaps were for sale. Greg Kerfoot has been owner of the club since 2002, when it was part of the North American Soccer League. Steve Luczo, Jeff Mallett and former NBA star Steve Nash joined Kerfoot in 2008, and the Whitecaps became part of MLS in 2011.

A new owner has not emerged, and there are concerns among the fanbase that the team could be moved.

But in the meantime, the Whitecaps keep winning. Vancouver’s rise has grabbed attention because of the 5-1 aggregate victory over Inter Miami that sent the Whitecaps through to the Champions Cup final at Cruz Azul on June 1.

Much has been made about the star-studded Miami team’s failure - but Vancouver demonstrated its newfound resurgence with its 3-1 second-leg victory on Miami’s home turf. White and Pedro Vite scored goals just two minutes apart to open the second half before Sebastian Berhalter added a third in the 71st minute.

Cruz Azul downed Tigres 2-1 on aggregate in the other semifinal to win a spot in the final. Should the Whitecaps defeat the Liga MX club, they would qualify for a spot in the 2029 Club World Cup and this summer’s Intercontinental Cup.

"We're dreamers, you know," Berhalter said. "Why not? We're a small market club. But why not? Why not win the whole thing?”

There’s also the MLS season. The Whitecaps host Real Salt Lake on Saturday.

"The sky’s the limit to what we can achieve this year," White said. "Hopefully, we stay healthy, stay humble, know where we come from, believe in ourselves and continue to push hard."