The Vancouver Whitecaps have advanced to the Round of 32 of the 2024 Leagues Cup, defeating Club Tijuana 3-1 at BC Place on Saturday to top their group.

After going down a goal in minute nine to a goal from Tijuana’s Kevin Castañeda, a scoreline which would’ve eliminated them, the Whitecaps did well to turn things around in the second half after reaching half time still down a goal. 

First, Fafá Picault tied the game up in the 49th minute after a nice pass from Levonte Johnson, before Johnson scored the go-ahead goal with a shot from distance in the 77th minute. 

From there, the Whitecaps cruised to the finish line, as Tijuana went down to 10 players after a red card to Aarón Mejia, before Pedro Vite put the game away with a curler from distance in the 83rd minute. 

Now, the Whitecaps will play Pumas UNAM at BC Place this week, marking the second straight year they’ll play a Leagues Cup Round of 32 match against Liga MX opposition at BC Place. 

Here are three thoughts from this one, as seen from inside BC Place. 

Whitecaps extend Leagues Cup journey with confident performance:

The journey continues. 

After at one point being on the verge of elimination from Leagues Cup, the Whitecaps booked their ticket for the next round rather comfortably in the end, doing so as group winner, to boot. 

And thanks to the luck of the draw, they’ve ensured an ideal Round of 32 matchup, too – they’ll get to play another Mexican side in Pumas and do so at home. 

Ultimately, that’s a win for the Whitecaps, who will earn valuable experience from that match. Their sixth different match against Liga MX opposition since the start of 2023, and their fourth different Liga MX opponent, it’ll offer them a chance to test themselves against the sort of opposition they haven’t had much of an opportunity to play over the years. 

Plus, they’ll get to do so without having to worry about extra travel, while providing another game for their fans, which is a bonus for them, allowing them to get exactly what they want to get out of Leagues Cup. 

The 'Caps are leaving NO DOUBT.

Pedro Vite makes it 3-1 to the hosts over Tijuana. 🇪🇨 #LeaguesCup2024 pic.twitter.com/Fbxs9XRo81

— Major League Soccer (@MLS) August 4, 2024

As we’ve seen during this Leagues Cup tournament, while the Whitecaps are looking to win and will push to go as deep as they can, they’re not going to sacrifice everything to do so, either. 

For example, they’ve used these games to rest some key faces, while offering opportunities to some new players to get a taste of this level. 

Yet, that can be attributed to their unique position relative to most other MLS teams – as a favourite to win the Canadian Championship, where they’re in the semi-finals of this edition after winning the last two tournaments, they’ll expect to win that tournament and earn the Concacaf Champions Cup berth that goes along with it. 

Given that CCC spot is a big incentive for the winning team of this Leagues Cup tournament, the Whitecaps can chase that in the Leagues Cup while knowing that this isn’t their last chance to earn a berth, which is a position some other teams are essentially in. 

Therefore, that’s allowed the Whitecaps to strike a nice balance this tournament, and it’s been one they’ve been comfortable with, as seen by their two results this group stage, which was a penalty win over LAFC and this Tijuana win. 

Now, they’ll look to keep the journey going with a win against Pumas, but even if they don’t, they’ve set themselves up nicely to make the most of that opportunity to play another top team and test some new faces, which is a win for them right now. 

Do the Whitecaps have something in Belal Halbouni?

At one point, it seemed like Belal Halbouni might never play for the Whitecaps. He’d made four appearances for the MLS Next Pro team this year, allowing him to maintain some fitness, but until late July, two minutes off the bench in the Canadian Championship were all he had to show in terms of first-team minutes. 

But alas, that can be the life of a rotational centre back, especially one new at a club. Armed with the task of trying to learn a new system and battling for minutes at a position that can be hard to earn, it can take a while to win a coach’s trust and get an opportunity. 

You add in that Halbouni has sparingly played at all over the last few years after a major injury, which limited him to just eight games between the fall of 2022 and the end of 2023, and that was another obstacle he had to overcome. 

Because of that, while minutes were hard to come by for the Whitecaps, it made sense, even if it was strange not to see him get any sort of run to at least see what he’s got. 

Now, he’s gotten his opportunity, and he’s run with it. It started with a surprise start in the Whitecaps friendly against Wrexham, and he turned a strong showing there into a start at right centre back for the Whitecaps in their midweek Leagues Cup match against LAFC, before turning into his biggest audition yet – a start in the middle of the back three in this Tijuana game. 

For those who have followed this Whitecaps team, they’ll know how important of a milestone that is – other than Ranko Veselinovic and occasional starts for Mathías Laborda, hardly anyone else has slotted in the middle of the back three for the Whitecaps over the past few years, as it’s a tough position to play. 

Yet, Halbouni was able to earn that chance, and he made the most of it with another big showing. He didn’t have a whole lot as seen by his counting stats, but that’s normal to see with those in the middle of the back three, who have to marshall those around them and keep things organized at the back. 

And despite his lack of experience in this system, Halbouni had no issues with that, helping his team put in a solid defensive performance. 

With that, he’s finally showing why the Whitecaps looked to bring him in this offseason, and it could now pay off for them in a big way. After having once been worried about their centre back depth after recent injuries to Triston Blackmon and Laborda, they now know they’ve got another name who can step up into their rotation. 

Now, Halbouni could be set to go on a run of his own, too. Given that the Whitecaps recently waived Javain Brown, who was another one of their main options at centre back, he could step up and take some of the minutes Brown was taking, allowing him to further carve out his role in the team. 

He does that, and that could offer more flexibility for this Whitecaps side, who could start to see the position as one of strength and even consider moving someone on to recoup an asset before the transfer window closes, something they wouldn’t have imagined being able to do recently. 

That’s a big credit to Halbouni’s play, however, and he’ll hope this is the start of what’s to come for him with the Whitecaps. 

“I’ll tell you something first and foremost, my religion teaches me to be patient,” Halbouni said after the game. “And when my opportunity comes I just have to be ready. I feel like with the Wrexham game, with the LAFC game, and this game as well, the opportunity came and I ran with it. The most important thing is to be ready when your chance comes.”

The Levonte Johnson experience:

What to make of Levonte Johnson? That’s the question many will be asking after his 45-minute cameo off the bench in this game. 

On the one hand, he showed a lot of good in his time on the field. Doing well to take up promising positions in the attack, he did well to execute some of the opportunities that fell his way, nabbing a goal and an assist. 

Takoaka starts it & Fafa tucks it away.@WhitecapsFC go back to front against Tijuana in no time at all! ⚡️

📺 Free on @AppleTV: https://t.co/RJQhkP1XrE pic.twitter.com/4x102IV18Q

— Major League Soccer (@MLS) August 4, 2024

On the other hand, he missed several chances to add to that tally with some sloppy decision-making and execution, much to the frustration of the crowd. 

Overall, it was a solid cameo, as seen by the fact that he eventually scored the winning goal and changed the game after his entrance, even if there was a feeling of “what if” in terms of his missed opportunities. 

Yet, that’s the challenge Johnson faces now as he looks to take the next step as a player. No doubt, there’s a lot to like about his skillset, as he’s quick, direct, reads the game pretty well and has proven to be a pretty good goalscorer when he takes his chances, but he can also be prone to rushing his decisions on the ball and can struggle to execute his final shot and pass consistently. 

No doubt, he can impact games with those skills, and even break them apart when he can convert one or two of the opportunities he creates for himself with his speed and awareness, but he’ll want to start consistently turning them into goals and assists if he’s to become a starter. 

Placement > power.

Levonte Johnson puts Vancouver in front of Xolos at BC Place! #LeaguesCup2024 pic.twitter.com/6i8TSlQhCd

— Major League Soccer (@MLS) August 4, 2024

At the same time, it’s important to remember where he’s at in his journey. Despite being a bit of a late bloomer at 25, he’s still only in his second professional season, and his first full MLS season, which is a tough adjustment to make for someone who spent time in the college system as Johnson did. 

Because of that, it’s meant that this season, in which he’s already made 25 first-team appearances, is a big step forward for him, having only made 12 first-team appearances last year after making the jump from the Whitecaps’ second-team partway through. 

Now, the big goal is to move up from his current role, which is a super sub and occasional starter, to more of a full-time starter, but that’ll only come with more consistency in his final act.

That’ll take work no doubt, and lead to some more frustrating games as chances go missed, but the Whitecaps will hope that he’ll soon put everything together and become a regular depth contributor. 

And for what it’s worth, he’s got a pretty good mentor to learn from in that regard in veteran forward Fafà Picault, who has some similar attributes to Johnson and has shone for the Whitecaps this season. Because of that, look for those two to keep playing together, as they did today, as that could be a way for Johnson to unlock that next level in his game. 

This post was done in collaboration with Canadian Soccer Daily, who cover all things Canadian Soccer at https://canadiansoccerdaily.com