Tristan Daniel Borges (born August 26, 1998) is a Canadian professional

soccer Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 Football player, players who almost exclusively use their feet to propel a Ball (association football), ball around a rectangular f ...

player who plays as a

midfielder In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in t ...

for

Canadian Premier League The Canadian Premier League (CPL or CanPL; ) is a professional Association football, soccer league in Canada and the highest level of the Canadian soccer league system. The league comprises eight teams, from five of provinces and territories of ...

club

Forge FC Forge FC, also known as Forge Football Club, Forge FC Hamilton, or Hamilton Forge FC, is a Canadian professional Association football, soccer club based in Hamilton, Ontario, that competes in the Canadian Premier League, the top tier of Canadia ...

Early life

Borges began playing youth soccer with

Vaughan SC Vaughan Azzurri is a Canadian semi-professional soccer team based in Vaughan, Ontario, that currently competes in the League1 Ontario men's and women's divisions. The semi-professional team was founded in 2014 by the Vaughan Soccer Club, which ...

, later moving on to Kleinburg-Nobleton SC followed by West Toronto SC. In 2015, he joined the

Toronto FC Academy Toronto FC Academy, also known as TFC Academy, is the Youth system, youth academy and development system of Canadian Major League Soccer club Toronto FC, which competes in MLS Next. The academy has divisions from U14 to U19 and includes over 110 ...

. He is of Portuguese descent and holds a European passport.

Playing career

Semi-professional and U21

In 2015, he played in

League1 Ontario League1 Ontario (L1ON) is a semi-professional men's soccer league in Ontario, Canada. The league is sanctioned by the Canadian Soccer Association and the Ontario Soccer Association. League1 Ontario consists of three tiers – League1 Premier ...

with

Toronto FC III Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the fourth-most populous city in North America. The city ...

. He scored his first goal on July 4 against

ANB Futbol ANB Futbol was a Canadian semi-professional soccer club based in King, Ontario. The club was founded in 2007, as a soccer academy, and added its semi-professional club in League1 Ontario in 2014. The club was one of the ten original founding me ...

. Over the course of the season, he scored six goals. From early 2016 until summer 2018, Borges was a member of the youth academy of Dutch

Eredivisie The Eredivisie (; "Honour Division" or "Premier Division") is a professional association football league in the Netherlands and the highest level of the Dutch football league system. The league was founded in 1956, two years after the start o ...

club

SC Heerenveen Sportclub Heerenveen (; West Frisian language, West Frisian: Sportklub It Hearrenfean) is a Dutch professional association football, football club from Heerenveen. They currently play in the Eredivisie, the top level of football in the Netherla ...

where he played for the U21 team. After leaving

Heerenveen Heerenveen (, ) is a town and Municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality in the Provinces of the Netherlands, province of Friesland (Fryslân), in the Northern Netherlands. In 2021, the town had a population of 29,790 (1 January) while the m ...

in summer 2018, Borges returned to Canada and signed with

side

Sigma FC Sigma Sports is a Canadian youth soccer development academy and player management company based in Mississauga, Ontario. They also operate a senior academy soccer team that currently competes in League1 Ontario, as Sigma FC. Over 140 Sigma playe ...

in September of that year.

Professional

On January 10, 2019, Borges signed his first professional contract with

side

. He made his debut in the inaugural CPL match against

York9 FC York United Football Club (formerly known as York9 FC) is a Canadian professional soccer club based in Toronto, Ontario. The club competes in the Canadian Premier League and plays its home games at York University's York Lions Stadium. Histor ...

on April 27, 2019. He scored the winning goal in the first leg of the CPL Finals, before being sent off. Forge appealed the red card to the

Canadian Soccer Association The Canadian Soccer Association (; branded as Canada Soccer) is the governing body for soccer in Canada. Headquartered in Ottawa, Ontario, the federation is a full member of FIFA and governs Canadian soccer at the international, professional, a ...

and it was rescinded, allowing Borges to play in the second leg, which also ended in a 1–0 victory. Borges was a standout in the CPL's inaugural season, winning the Golden Boot, with 13 goals, and sharing in a six-way tie for most assists, with five. In November 2019, Borges was announced as both the CPL Player of the Year and best Canadian U-21 player. On January 22, 2020, Borges was transferred to

Belgian First Division B The Challenger Pro League, previously known as 1B Pro League is the second-highest division in the Football in Belgium, Belgian football Belgian football league system, league system, one level below the Belgian Pro League. It was created by the ...

side

Oud-Heverlee Leuven Oud-Heverlee Leuven (), also called OH Leuven or OHL, is a Belgian professional football club from the city of Leuven. It was created in 2002 from the merger of three clubs, '' F.C. Zwarte Duivels Oud-Heverlee'', whose registration number it i ...

for a fee reported to be "between $300,000 and $500,000", signing a contract until summer 2022. He made his debut on February 1 against

Roeselare Roeselare (; ; ) is a Belgian city and municipality in the Flemish province of West Flanders. The municipality comprises the city of Roeselare proper and the towns of Beveren, Oekene and Rumbeke. The name of the city is derived from two ...

. On March 5, 2021, after receiving limited playing time for OH Leuven, Borges was loaned back to

for the

2021 Canadian Premier League season The 2021 Canadian Premier League season was the third season of the Canadian Premier League, the top level of Canadian soccer. Forge FC were defending champions, after defeating HFX Wanderers FC in the 2020 final. The season was planned to c ...

. His loan was later extended in February 2022. Upon the expiry of his contract with Leuven and thus his Forge loan, he remained with Forge for the remainder of the season. In October 2023, Borges helped Forge win their fourth league title, scoring an ''Olympico'' goal to seal a 2–1 win over

Cavalry FC Cavalry Football Club is a Canadian professional soccer club based in the Calgary metropolitan region of Alberta. The club competes at the top of the Canadian soccer league system in the Canadian Premier League, and plays their home matches ...

in the

play-off final The playoffs, play-offs, postseason or finals of a sports league are a competition played after the regular season by the top competitors to determine the league champion or a similar accolade. Depending on the league, the playoffs may be eithe ...

. At the end of the 2024 season, he was named the 2024 CPL Player of the Year, becoming the first player to win the award twice.

International career

Youth

Borges received his first Canadian youth national team call-up in August 2014 for an under-17 friendly tournament in Mexico. He participated in several other under-17 camps in the fall and winter of 2014–15 and was subsequently called up for the

2015 CONCACAF U-17 Championship The 2015 CONCACAF U-17 Championship was a scheduled age-restricted international association football tournament organised by CONCACAF. The competition was used to determine the four CONCACAF representatives at the 2015 FIFA U-17 World Cup in Chil ...

. Borges made six appearances in the tournament and scored Canada's lone goal in a 1–1 draw against

Mexico Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; while having maritime boundar ...

. Beginning in September 2015, Borges participated in several under-20 team camps in the lead-up to the

2017 CONCACAF U-20 Championship The 2017 CONCACAF Under-20 Championship was the 5th edition of the CONCACAF Under-20 Championship (26th edition if all eras included), the men's under-20 international football tournament organized by CONCACAF. It was hosted in Costa Rica between ...

. At that tournament, he made three appearances for Canada and assisted on a goal in a 2–0 win over

Antigua and Barbuda Antigua and Barbuda is a Sovereign state, sovereign archipelagic country composed of Antigua, Barbuda, and List of islands of Antigua and Barbuda, numerous other small islands. Antigua and Barbuda has a total area of 440 km2 (170 sq mi), ...

. In January 2018, Borges was called up for a Canadian under-23 camp in the United States. In February 2020, Borges was named to the Canadian U-23 provisional roster for the

2020 CONCACAF Men's Olympic Qualifying Championship The 2020 CONCACAF Men's Olympic Qualifying Championship was the fifteenth and final edition of the CONCACAF Men's Olympic Qualifying Championship, CONCACAF Men's Olympic Qualifying, the quadrennial, international, age-restricted association footbal ...

Senior

In January 2020, Borges was called up to the Canadian senior team ahead of friendlies against

Barbados Barbados, officially the Republic of Barbados, is an island country in the Atlantic Ocean. It is part of the Lesser Antilles of the West Indies and the easternmost island of the Caribbean region. It lies on the boundary of the South American ...

and

Iceland Iceland is a Nordic countries, Nordic island country between the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic and Arctic Oceans, on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge between North America and Europe. It is culturally and politically linked with Europe and is the regi ...

. He made his debut as a substitute on January 10 against Barbados.

Career statistics

Honours

Forge FC *

2019 This was the year in which the first known human case of COVID-19 was documented, preceding COVID-19 pandemic, the pandemic which was declared by the World Health Organization the following year. Up to that point, 2019 had been described as ...

2022 The year began with another wave in the COVID-19 pandemic, with SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant, Omicron spreading rapidly and becoming the dominant variant of the SARS-CoV-2 virus worldwide. Tracking a decrease in cases and deaths, 2022 saw ...

2023 Catastrophic natural disasters in 2023 included the Lists of 21st-century earthquakes, 5th-deadliest earthquake of the 21st century 2023 Turkey–Syria earthquakes, striking Turkey and Syria, leaving up to 62,000 people dead; Cyclone Freddy ...

Individual *

Canadian Premier League Golden Boot The Canadian Premier League Golden Boot has been awarded since the inaugural 2019 season to the Canadian Premier League's leading scorer. The award is given to the player with the most goals in the regular season. Until 2021, the Golden Boot also ...

* Canadian Premier League Player of the Year: 2019, 2024 * Canadian Premier League Best U21 Canadian Player of the Year: 2019

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Borges, Tristan 1998 births Living people Men's association football midfielders Canadian men's soccer players Soccer players from Toronto Canadian people of Portuguese descent Sportspeople of Portuguese descent Canadian expatriate men's soccer players Expatriate men's footballers in the Netherlands Canadian expatriate sportspeople in the Netherlands Expatriate men's footballers in Belgium Canadian expatriate sportspeople in Belgium Toronto FC players SC Heerenveen players Forge FC players Oud-Heverlee Leuven players League1 Ontario players Canadian Premier League players Challenger Pro League players Canada men's youth international soccer players Canada men's international soccer players Sigma FC players Vaughan Azzurri players Toronto FC Academy players 21st-century Canadian sportsmen