TFC Republic Weekly: February 2-8
The 2026 MLS regular season kicks off in 19 days, and Toronto FC still have some big holes to plug on 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...
Toronto FC blanks South Korean champs in pre-season
Toronto FC cruised to a 2-0 victory over South Korean side Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors this past Saturday in pre-season action from Spain. Djordje Mihailovic and Richie Laryea scored against Jeonbuk, who are the reigning K League 1 champions and Korea Cup holders.
It's still early in pre-season and far too premature to make any bold statements about TFC. But the Reds demonstrated in this game what made them so difficult to beat in the second half of last season. They effectively pressed all over the pitch and won a number of first and second balls, which played a part in them scoring both goals.
Coach Robin Fraser fielded a pretty strong starting 11 on the day, setting his team up in a 3-2-4-1 formation with Laryea and Malik Henry on the wings. Toronto opened the scoring in the seventh minute after some patient build-up play that ended with Mihailovic latching onto a return pass from José Cifuentes into the box and slotting his low shot inside the near post.
TFC doubled their advantage in the 56th minute when Laryea went on a lung-busting run down the middle that started in his end before unleashing an attempt from just outside of the penalty area that beat the goalkeeper at the far post.
Fraser made wholesale changes in the 61st minute when he made 10 substitutions. Only Laryea stayed in the game. The Canadian international ended up being replaced in the 76th minute. Kobe Franklin nearly made it 3-0 when his shot from 20 yards out hit the crossbar.
Jeonbuk have won the K League a record ten times, including five consecutive titles between 2017 and 2021, and the Korea Cup on six occasions.
This was TFC’s second match of the pre-season, having battled South Korea’s Incheon United in a closed-door contest earlier in the week.
John Molinaro
Where things stand with TFC's roster
There 24 TFC players who are under contract for the 2026 season, not including Cassius Mailula who is on loan in Belgium with K.V. Kortrijk. MLS rosters are capped at 30 players, so TFC have six open slots to use.
Teams must have at least 18 and no more than 20 players on their senior roster. By our count, there are 14 players on the senior roster and 10 on the supplemental roster at the moment. Only senior roster players count against the salary cap; supplemental players don't.
Senior players (roster slots 1-20): Luka Gavran, William Yarbrough, Richie Laryea, Zane Monlouis, Matheus Pereira, Henry Wingo, Walker Zimmerman, José Cifuentes, Alonso Coello, Djordje Mihailovic, Jonathan Osorio, Theo Corbeanu, Derrick Etienne Jr, Jules-Anthony Vilsaint
Supplemental players (roster slots 21-30): Adisa De Rosario, Kobe Franklin, Nicksoen Gomis, Stefan Kapor, Adam Pearlman, Lazar Stefanovic, Kosi Thompson, Marcus Cimermancic, Malik Henry, Deandre Kerr
MLS clubs are not required to fill roster slots 19 and 20, but they do need to have at least 18 players on their senior roster. Teams are slapped with a minimum salary budget charge for each unfilled senior roster slot below 18.
That means GM Jason Hernandez has to sign at least four senior players by the MLS roster compliance date, which is on Feb. 20. Assuming he gets a DP striker, three other senior team players have to be brought in before the start of the season. He can achieve this via transfers, making trades with other MLS teams once the league's primary transfer window opens next week, or by converting someone on the team's supplemental roster into a senior roster player.
Toronto FC opens the 2026 MLS regular season away to FC Dallas on Feb. 21. (Note: I will be at Toyota Stadium in Frisco, Texas to cover this game for TFC Republic).
John Molinaro
Reds to take on AIK Fotboll on Saturday in Spain
Toronto FC’s next pre-season match in Spain is against Swedish club AIK Fotboll on Saturday, Feb. 7 (9:00 a.m. ET).
The game will be live streamed on TFC's official website.
AIK is one of the top teams in Sweden – the Stockholm-based club has 12 league titles to its credit. Last month, the club fired coach Mikkjal Thomassen after the team finished seventh in the Allsvenskan (first division) last season.
Like Toronto, AIK is in pre-season mode as its 2026 campaign doesn't kick off until April. AIK's pre-season training camp started on Jan. 7.
John Molinaro
Important pre-season dates to remember
MLS announced last month that its primary transfer window would run from Jan. 26 until March 26.
During this period MLS clubs can sign players from abroad on transfer deals, make player trades with other teams from across the league, and send players on loan and sign players on loan – both from teams within MLS and from abroad.
The MLS roster compliance date is Feb. 20 – all clubs must be roster and budget-compliant by that day.
Teams also have to decide by the roster compliance date which player roster model they plan to adopt at the start of the season. The first one allows teams to sign as many as three designated players and as many as three U22 initiative players. The second one allows teams to have up to two DPs and up to four U22 signings, plus they receive an additional $2 million US in GAM.
RELATED READING: Newsletter || Features || Match reports || Opinion || Q&As || Videos || News || Transactions || TFC 2 ||
Stories to look out for at TFC Republic
Djordje Mihailovic hit the ground running for Toronto FC when he was acquired in a cash-for-player trade with the Colorado Rapids last August. The U.S. international had four goals and four assists in 10 games, offering just a glimpse of the kind of impact he can have for the Reds. What should we expect from Mihailovic in 2026 after having a full off-season and pre-season under his belt? Look for my feature story on Mihailovic later this week.
Other stories that will be published later this week include:
- A notebook news column on the team's Spanish training camp.
- Post-game coverage of Toronto's match vs. AIK Fotboll.
- The weekly "TFC Random Thoughts" column.
- Regular "TFC Tidbits" stories throughout the week.
- The reader mailbag.
- The latest instalment in our ongoing "TFC Flashback" series
- 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)
(Top photo by xxxxx/Imagn Images)
(Top photo courtesy of Canada Soccer)
(Top photo courtesy of mlssoccer.com / CPL)
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.
