TFC Republic Weekly: December 8-14
The off-season rolls along for a Toronto FC side looking to use many of the MLS player mechanisms to bolster its roster.
Welcome to the latest edition of TFC Republic Weekly, an email newsletter that will land in the inbox of both paid subscribers and free members of TFC Republic every Monday.
This newsletter will look at what's in store over the next seven days for Toronto FC, and also get a glimpse of what to expect at TFC Republic in the coming days.
So, without further ado...
Important roster decisions still loom for Toronto FC
In October, Toronto FC announced it picked up its contract options for the 2026 MLS season on six of 14 players: defenders Kobe Franklin and Nicksoen Gomis; midfielders Malik Henry and Kosi Thompson; and forwards Deandre Kerr and Jules-Anthony Vilsaint.
The eight players who didn't have their options exercised were goalkeeper Sean Johnson; defenders Kevin Long, Raoul Petretta and Sigurd Rosted; midfielder Nathaniel Edwards; and forwards Derrick Etienne Jr, Hugo Mbongue and Charlie Sharp.
Since then, we know that Petretta, Edwards and Sharp won't be back with TFC, while Mbongue will be invited to pre-season training camp in January where he'll have a chance to earn a new contract.
TFC have remained in contract conversations with some of the other option-declined players, and sources told TFC Republic that the Reds have been negotiating with Johnson, who earned $1,063,125 US this season.
John Molinaro
MLS free agency begins this week
With Toronto FC coming off a disappointing year, this off-season is one of the most important in the team's history. Club management will have to make a series of moves in order to improve the roster and set things right for the 2026 MLS campaign.
One of the ways TFC can improve their roster is via MLS free agency, which kicks off this week. Toronto and other clubs can start engaging with players, other than their own, who are eligible for free agency, starting on Dec. 10. Free agency eligible players are out-of-contract and option-declined players who are at least 24 years old and who have completed a minimum of four years of service in MLS.
GM Jason Hernandez recently hinted that the Reds will be looking to get involved in the free agent market, while also making use of the many other league player movement mechanisms.
"Considering the moves that we've been able to make, we have afforded ourselves the opportunity to play a role in every mechanism that can be afforded to us, right? When we talk about end-of-year waivers, re-entry draft, free agency ... we think we could have something to say in each and every one of them," Hernandez said.
"So, that's a great position to be in. I do think we're certainly going to have different conversations throughout all those mechanisms. And free agency is, we think, going to be a strong one this year, as well."
John Molinaro
Other important off-season dates for TFC
Dec. 9 - The end-of-year waivers process begins. The waiver process pertains to players whose contract options were not exercised, who are not subject to first right of refusal, and who are not eligible for free agency or the MLS re-entry process. The waiver process is conducted in the reverse order of the league standings at the end of the regular season, taking post-season performance into account. The MLS year-end waivers process closes on Dec. 11 at 5:00 p.m. ET.
Dec. 11 – The MLS re-entry process kicks off with stage 1. Essentially, this applies to players who are at least 22 years old with one year of MLS service, and who are out of contract (or had their option declined) but are not eligible for free agency. Players who go into the re-entry process are eligible to be selected by another MLS team. Stage 1 and 2 of the re-entry process are conducted in the reverse order of the league standings at the end of the regular season, taking post-season performance into account.
Dec. 17 – Stage 2 of the re-entry process, which consists of MLS players who were not selected in Stage 1.
Dec. 18 – The 2026 MLS SuperDraft will consist of three rounds. The draft order is set by taking the reverse order of the league standings at the end of the regular season, taking post-season performance into account.
John Molinaro
2026 FIFA World Cup games at BMO Field revealed
The draw for the 2026 FIFA World Cup was held in Washington, D.C. last week, and we now know all 12 first-round groups and the full tournament schedule.
Canada (No. 27 in the FIFA world rankings) will compete in Group B alongside Switzerland (No. 17), Qatar (No. 51) and the winner of the European Playoff A that will be contested in March between Italy, Northern Ireland, Wales, Bosnia and Herzegovina.
The Canadians will open its tournament against the European Playoff A at Toronto's BMO Field on June 12 before taking on Qatar and Switzerland at Vancouver's BC Place on June 18 and 24.
Here are the games to be held in Toronto:
- Friday, June 12: Group B — Canada vs. winner of UEFA Playoff A (Italy, Northern Ireland, Wales, Bosnia and Herzegovina), 3 p.m. ET
- Wednesday, June 17: Group L — Ghana vs. Panama, 7 p.m. ET
- Saturday, June 20: Group E — Germany vs. Ivory Coast, 4 p.m. ET
- Tuesday, June 23: Group L — Panama vs. Croatia, 7 p.m. ET
- Friday, June 26: Group I — Senegal vs. Winner of Playoff 2 (Bolivia, Suriname, Iraq), 3 p.m. ET
- Thursday, July 2: Round of 32 — Group K runners-up v Group L runners-up
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Stories to look out for at TFC Republic
We will have full-length pieces this week on the ins and outs of MLS free agency and what potential free agents TFC could go after this off-season. Look for those stories to be published in the coming days.
Other stories that will be published later this week include:
- A Q&A with Toronto FC midfielder Alonso Coello.
- The weekly "TFC Random Thoughts" column.
- A new TFC Talk interview with beat reporter James Grossi.
- Part 8 of our "TFC year in review" series looks back at the month of September.
- Pre and post-coverage of stage 1 of the MLS re-entry draft on Thursday.
- A feature story on the MLS year-end waivers process.
- The reader mailbag.
- A new instalment in our TFC flashback history series.
- Regular "TFC Tidbits" stories throughout the week.
- And much more!
TFC Republic mailbag
TFC Republic will feature a regular reader mailbag column where I answer questions from subscribers about Toronto FC and Canadian soccer in general.
I'll answer the best questions submitted to me by TFC Republic readers, so feel free to drop me an email at jmo1897@gmail.com. You can also reach out to me via Twitter.
(Top photo by Lucas Kschischang/Toronto FC)
TFC Republic has a comments section! At the very bottom of every story, there is a feature where you can post your comments, so be sure to share your thoughts and views.
