TFC Republic Weekly: May 4-10
It's a very busy week for Toronto FC with a Canadian Championship match and an MLS game vs. Lionel Messi and Inter Miami.
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 winless in 5 after draw. vs. San Jose
It was a moral victory of sorts for Toronto FC on Saturday.
An injury-depleted TFC side that was missing DPs Djordje Mihailovic and Josh Sargent and was playing the first of three games in an eight-day period did well to earn a 1-1 draw vs. the MLS table-topping San Jose Earthquakes before an announced crowd of 19,021 at BMO Field.
Dániel Sallói scored for Toronto (3-3-5) who is now winless in five games (four draws) and has kept just one clean sheet through its first 11 matches of the campaign. The Reds’ last victory was on April 4 – since then they’ve collected just four out of a possible 15 points.
Toronto has three more games (one at home) before MLS takes an extended break for this summer's FIFA World Cup. The Reds have to collect as many points as they can from this upcoming stretch or they run the risk of having to dig themselves out a big hole when the league resumes action in mid-July.
Coach Robin Fraser heralded his team's character on Saturday, impressed with the way it efficiently and pragmatically battled the best team in the league evenly while missing so many players.
"This is the thing [about] this team; for a while now, [they’ve] been a group that you can always rely on to fight, and always they're gonna put in a really good shift," Fraser said.
He added: "It just really goes to show the mentality of the group is that when we play with that sort of urgency and that sort of effort, we're difficult to play against."
John Molinaro
Robin Fraser at a loss over TFC's injury situation
Spare a thought for Robin Fraser.
Toronto FC’s coach is being pushed to his limits when it comes to filling out his matchday roster due to an ongoing injury crisis and there doesn’t appear to be any relief in sight.
Unavailable due to injury for Saturday's game for Toronto were winger Theo Corbeanu (knee); defenders Benjamin Kuscevic (groin), Nicksoen Gomis (Achilles) and Henry Wingo (thigh); fullbacks Matheus Pereira (groin) and Richie Laryea (thigh); DP Djordje Mihailovic (pelvis) and fellow midfielder José Cifuentes (knee); and DP Josh Sargent (thigh) and fellow forward Jules-Anthony Vilsaint (groin).
An 11th player was added to the injury list when centre back Lazar Stefanovic (making his first start of the season) limped off the pitch with an apparent lower-body issue late in the first half and headed straight back to the locker-room. He was subbed off at the start of the second half.
Fraser noted that Sargent was dealing with a slight thigh strain that isn't too serious – “I don't think it'll be very long” – but he didn't have an update on Stefanovic's condition when speaking to reporters after the game.
“I haven't seen him since he came out of the game. I didn't even see exactly what happened. But if he [went] off limping the way that he was, that certainly doesn't bode well for us,” Fraser stated.
What’s going on with Toronto and its growing list of injured players? How can this be explained? Fraser couldn’t give an answer when asked for an explanation in the post-match press conference.
“I've been in soccer my whole life and I've seen seasons where there are no injuries and things go really well. I was thinking about this the other day. In 2017, I don't think we had too many injuries. … I've also been in teams where you have a number of inexplicable injuries and different types. It's not like they're all pulled hamstrings or something along those lines. There have been so many different types of injuries this year. I think it's inexplicable, to be quite honest. I don't have an answer. I don't have an explanation,” Fraser offered.
John Molinaro
TFC vs. Atlético Ottawa on Tuesday
It’s a very short turnaround for Toronto as it will host the CPL’s Atlético Ottawa in the first round of the Canadian Championship on Tuesday (7:30 p.m. ET/OneSoccer).
The winner of that game advances to the two-legged quarter-finals where it will face the winner of the first-round match between FC Supra du Québec of the CPL vs. Woodbridge Strikers SC of League1 Ontario. The first round and the final of the Canadian Championship are single matches, while the quarter-finals and semifinals are two-legged series.
Ottawa is coming off a 4-1 road loss to Inter Toronto last Friday and the reigning CPL champions sit sixth in the table (out of eight teams) with a 1-3-1 record.
Toronto has won the Canadian Championship a record eight times, followed by Montreal (five) and Vancouver who has won four in a row (five total) and defeated Vancouver FC in the 2025 final. The winner of the 2026 Canadian Championship qualifies for the 2027 Concacaf Champions Cup, thus receiving a chance to advance for the 2028 FIFA Club World Cup.
John Molinaro
TFC vs. Inter Miami on Saturday
Toronto FC closes out its nine-game homestand in MLS when it hosts Lionel Messi and Inter Miami on Saturday (1:00 p.m. ET/TSN & Apple TV).
Miami (5-2-4) sits third in the Eastern Conference but only has one point from its last two outings, which includes a 4-3 home loss to Orlando City on Saturday. Miami jumped out to a 3-0 lead after 33 minutes but then scored four consecutive goals to record an amazing comeback win.
"We just fell apart and that can't happen again," said Miami defender Ian Fray, who scored Miami's opening goal.
Messi scored in the loss for Miami and now has a team-leading eight goals in 10 MLS appearances this season. Venezuelan international Telasco Segovia is the club's top playmaker with seven assists (second overall in MLS), while Canadian goalkeeper Dayne St. Clair has just one clean sheet in 10 appearances in his first season with Miami.
This weekend's match is the first of two meetings during the regular season between Toronto and Miami. They'll meet again on Aug. 22 in Miami.
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Stories to look out for at TFC Republic
Former Toronto FC striker Hugo Mbongue was recently back in town when Crown Legacy FC (Charlotte FC's affiliate club) faced off against TFC 2 at York Lions Stadium in MLS NEXT Pro action. It was a homecoming of sorts for Mbongue, a 21-year-old native of Toronto who played for TFC and the Young Reds after coming up through the academy. TFC Republic contributor James Grossi recently chatted one-on-one with Mbongue about coming back to Toronto and his career aspirations. Look for Grossi's feature story in the coming days.
- A piece on the four stories to watch for this week.
- Regular "TFC Tidbits" news stories throughout the week.
- A new TFC Talk interview with beat reporter James Grossi.
- In-depth pre- and post-game coverage of Toronto's match vs. Atlético Ottawa.
- In-depth pre- and post-game coverage of Toronto's match vs. Inter Miami.
- An audio interview piece with reporter Franco Panizo of the Miami Total Futbol website ahead of Saturday's home game.
- The return of the reader mailbag.
- The weekly Random Thoughts column.
- The weekly TFC 2 report.
- 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.
TFC Republic subscribers can get up to a 25% discount on ticket prices for Toronto FC home games during the 2026 MLS regular season and the 2026 Canadian Championship.
To receive the special promo code, email me at jmo1897@gmail.com
(Please don't share promo code with non-TFC Republic subscribers).
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.
