The Trillium Cup is an annual rivalry between the

Columbus Crew The Columbus Crew, formerly known as Columbus Crew SC, is an American professional soccer club based in Columbus, Ohio. The Crew competes in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference and began play in 1996 as one ...

and

Toronto FC Toronto Football Club (commonly known as Toronto FC or TFC) is a Canadian professional soccer club based in Toronto. The club competes in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Eastern Conference. The team plays its home matches at BM ...

. The Trillium Cup is named after the

trillium ''Trillium'' (trillium, wakerobin, toadshade, tri flower, birthroot, birthwort, and sometimes "wood lily") is a genus of about fifty flowering plant species in the family Melanthiaceae. ''Trillium'' species are native to temperate regions of No ...

, which is both the official flower of the

Canadian province Within the geographical areas of Canada, the ten provinces and three territories are sub-national administrative divisions under the jurisdiction of the Canadian Constitution. In the 1867 Canadian Confederation, three provinces of British Nor ...

Ontario Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central Ca ...

, and the official wildflower of the

U.S. state In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory where it shares its sove ...

Ohio Ohio () is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. Of the List of states and territories of the United States, fifty U.S. states, it is the List of U.S. states and territories by area, 34th-l ...

. The rivalries draw on the team's similarities: two teams are geographically near the

Great Lakes The Great Lakes, also called the Great Lakes of North America, are a series of large interconnected freshwater lakes in the mid-east region of North America that connect to the Atlantic Ocean via the Saint Lawrence River. There are five lakes ...

that border the United States and Canada and both teams also play in a

soccer-specific stadium Soccer-specific stadium is a term used mainly in the United States and Canada to refer to a sports stadium either purpose-built or fundamentally redesigned for soccer and whose primary function is to host soccer matches, as opposed to a multi- ...

. The cup is awarded to the team that wins the most points from the series at the season's end. In the event of a draw on points, the first tiebreak is determined by the

away goals rule The away goals rule is a method of tiebreaking in association football and other sports when teams play each other twice, once at each team's home ground. Under the away goals rule, if the total goals scored by each team are equal, the team that ...

, then by the team with the largest overall

goal differential Goal difference, goal differential or points difference is a form of tiebreaker used to rank sport teams which finish on equal points in a league competition. Either "goal difference" or "points difference" is used, depending on whether matches ar ...

at the conclusion of the match.

History

The Trillium Cup was instituted in

2008 File:2008 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Lehman Brothers went bankrupt following the Subprime mortgage crisis; Cyclone Nargis killed more than 138,000 in Myanmar; A scene from the opening ceremony of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing; ...

, the second season of Toronto FC's play in

Major League Soccer Major League Soccer (MLS) is a men's professional soccer league sanctioned by the United States Soccer Federation, which represents the sport's highest level in the United States. The league comprises 29 teams—26 in the U.S. and 3 in Cana ...

(MLS). The inaugural game of the Trillium Cup was played on March 29, 2008 at

Columbus Crew Stadium Historic Crew Stadium, previously known as Columbus Crew Stadium and Mapfre Stadium, is a soccer-specific stadium in Columbus, Ohio, United States. It primarily served as the home stadium of the Columbus Crew of Major League Soccer from 1999 ...

. The initial rivalry between the Trillium teams was supported by the mayors of the respective cities. In 2008,

Mayor In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilities of a mayor as well ...

Michael B. Coleman Michael B. Coleman (born November 18, 1954) is an American politician of the Democratic Party who served as the 52nd mayor of Columbus, Ohio. He was the first African-American to serve as the mayor of Ohio's capital city. Coleman was a memb ...

Columbus Columbus is a Latinized version of the Italian surname "''Colombo''". It most commonly refers to: * Christopher Columbus (1451-1506), the Italian explorer * Columbus, Ohio, capital of the U.S. state of Ohio Columbus may also refer to: Places ...

and Mayor David Miller of Toronto started a small wager on their respective team for the first installment of the Trillium Cup – the mayor of the losing team was required to wear the winning team's jersey. The rivalry became more intense when Toronto FC fans bought 2,500 tickets to the inaugural game at

, with buses organized for fans from Toronto heading to Columbus for the first game on March 29, 2008. The Crew won 2–0 over their new rival. The second and third meetings, at Toronto's

BMO Field BMO Field is an outdoor stadium located at Exhibition Place in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, which is home to Toronto FC of Major League Soccer and the Toronto Argonauts of the Canadian Football League. Constructed on the site of the former ...

, were draws; 0–0 and 1–1, respectively. The Crew claimed the inaugural Trillium Cup with a 5–2 score on points earned. In

2011 File:2011 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: a protester partaking in Occupy Wall Street heralds the beginning of the Occupy movement; protests against Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi, who was killed that October; a young man celebrates ...

, Toronto defeated Columbus 4–2, recording their first ever win against the Crew and securing their first Trillium Cup. In

2017 File:2017 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The War Against ISIS at the Battle of Mosul (2016-2017); aftermath of the Manchester Arena bombing; The Solar eclipse of August 21, 2017 ("Great American Eclipse"); North Korea tests a s ...

, Toronto and Columbus met for the first time in the

MLS Cup Playoffs The MLS Cup Playoffs is the annual postseason elimination tournament of Major League Soccer. The final match of the tournament is the MLS Cup, the league's championship game. Under the current format adopted for the 2019 season, 14 teams qual ...

, in the Eastern Conference Finals, as Toronto advanced to the MLS Cup Final 1–0 on aggregate. White Trillium Trillium grandiflorum Flower 2613px

2020 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global social and economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of events, worldwide lockdowns and the largest economic recession since the Great Depression in t ...

and

2021 File:2021 collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: the James Webb Space Telescope was launched in 2021; Protesters in Yangon, Myanmar following the coup d'état; A civil demonstration against the October 2021 coup in Sudan; Crowd shortly after t ...

, COVID-19 travel restrictions imposed by the Canadian Government forced Toronto to play rivalry matches in Pratt & Whitney Stadium in Connecticut in 2020 followed by Orlando SC's

Exploria Stadium Exploria Stadium is a soccer-specific stadium in downtown Orlando, Florida. The stadium is located along West Church Street in the Parramore neighborhood west of Downtown Orlando. It is the home of Orlando City SC, which entered Major League ...

in Orlando, Florida in 2021 where Toronto played home matches in these stadiums as the home team. This marked the first time that the rivalry matches were played on neutral ground. In 2020, Toronto won their only meeting in 2020 with Columbus 3–1 in September 2020. The next year Toronto won the of first leg of the rivalry match in 2021 with a score of 2–0. Columbus Crew would later win the second leg of the rivalry in 2021 on the last rivalry match to be taken place at the

Historic Crew Stadium Historic Crew Stadium, previously known as Columbus Crew Stadium and Mapfre Stadium, is a soccer-specific stadium in Columbus, Ohio, United States. It primarily served as the home stadium of the Columbus Crew of Major League Soccer from 1999 u ...

before the Columbus Crew moves to

Lower.com Field Lower.com Field is a soccer-specific stadium in Columbus, Ohio, United States. It serves primarily as the home stadium of the Columbus Crew of Major League Soccer, replacing the club's previous home, Historic Crew Stadium. The new stadium cost ...

in July 2021. Columbus won the match 2–1.

Winners by year

Series results

+ Points based on wins (3), draws (1) and losses (0)
– Tiebreakers: 1) away goals for, 2) goal differential, 3) previous year winners

Statistics

Notes

References