TFC Republic Weekly: October 13-19
Toronto FC has one last chance to end its winless skid in Saturday's regular season finale at home vs. Orlando City.
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...
Happy Thanksgiving to all TFC Republic readers
TFC Republic wishes a Happy Thanksgiving to all its subscribers and followers. We hope that you have a restful holiday and get to spend it with family and friends.
Road loss to LAFC ends Toronto FC's draw streak
One streak ends and another one continues on with no end in sight for Toronto FC. A short-handed TFC put forth a workmanlike effort last Wednesday only to come out on the wrong end of a 2-0 road loss to Los Angeles FC at BMO Stadium.
Toronto (5-14-14) saw its MLS-record streak of eight consecutive draws come to an end in a rare visit to LA. This latest loss, TFC's first since a 2-0 setback away to Charlotte FC on July 26, also extended the team's winless run to 11 straight matches. The Reds’ previous victory came on July 16 in a 1-0 road decision over San Diego FC.
TFC’s anaemic attack once again struggled to create chances in the final third or ask any serious questions of LA’s defence. The front two of Jules-Anthony Vilsaint (his first start for Toronto) and Theo Corbeanu failed to stretch the hosts’ back line, while DP Djordje Mihailovic never got into the game as he continuously dropped deep in search of the ball in his 200th career league appearance.
"It’s disappointing because I thought we did well with the ball. We were able to make our way up the field. We had a lot of possession; we didn't turn enough of it into being threatening. So, that is a little bit disappointing. Very happy to see the movement, the comfort level on the ball, the ability to play it through them, but once we get to the very end, we weren't effective enough," coach Robin Fraser told reporters after the loss.

One last chance at a win for TFC
Toronto FC closes out its 2025 regular season when it hosts Orlando City at BMO Field (6:00 p.m. ET/Apple TV).
After watching TFC be competitive over the course of its last 11 outings, Robin Fraser is keen to see his side finally get over the hump and record its sixth win of the campaign before breaking up for the off-season.
"Really the emphasis is to have this last game be us trying to put everything together and having as complete a performance as possible. I usually talk about doing things the right way, and you emphasize that rather than the results. But I kind of [told the players] we want to end the season in the right way at home, a complete performance and with a win," Fraser stated.

TFC vs. Orlando City on Saturday
Orlando City (14-8-11) sits seventh in the Eastern Conference, five spots and 24 points above Toronto.
The Lions have already clinched a playoff spot and could still climb to sixth in the East or finish as low as ninth and be forced to play in the wild card game.
Orlando was riding a four-match unbeaten run (one win and three draws) before suffering a 2-1 home loss to the Vancouver Whitecaps on the weekend. The visitors equalized in the 81st minute before Thomas Müller scored deep into injury time.
Óscar Pareja's side boasts the third-best attack in the East (and fifth-best in MLS) with 61 goals, led by Argentinian midfielder Martín Ojeda (16 goals) and Croatian forward Marco Pašalić (12). Ojeda also has a team-leading 15 assists, which ranks him among the best playmakers in MLS.
Midfielder Alonso Coello ended up earning a red card for a reckless foul on LAFC midfielder Jailson in last Wednesday's match following a VAR review right before the final whistle, which means he'll be suspended for the club's home finale at home. Defender Kevin Long is also expected to miss the game with a hamstring injury.

CanMNT vs. Colombia on Tuesday
The Canadian men’s team received a small taste of what to expect at next summer’s home FIFA World Cup in last Friday’s 1-0 loss to Australia before a sellout crowd of 19,619 at Montreal's Stade Saputo that included Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney and FIFA president Gianni Infantino.
Canada was coming off road wins over Romania and Wales in September's international window but found the going much tougher in this friendly versus Australia who sit one spot above Les Rouges in the current FIFA world rankings at No. 26.
Jesse Marsch's side will face an even tougher test than the Socceroos when they take on No. 13 Colombia at Sports Illustrated Stadium in Harrison, New Jersey, on Tuesday (8:00 p.m. ET/TSN & OneSoccer).
The Colombians are riding high after a convincing 4-0 win over Mexico in Saturday's friendly in Arlington, Texas. Los Cafeteros have clinched a berth for next year's FIFA World Cup after failing to qualify for the 2022 tournament in Qatar.
Manager Néstor Lorenzo's squad is unbeaten in its last six outings (three wins and three draws) and finished third in South American World Cup qualifying with a 7-7-4 record, behind Argentina and Ecuador, and just ahead of Uruguay and Brazil.
Note: I will be at Sports Illustrated Stadium in New Jersey to cover Tuesday's game between Canada and Colombia, so be sure to visit TFC Republic all weekend in order to check out our special on-site coverage.
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Stories to look out for at TFC Republic
Toronto FC pulled off a big trade during the summer when it sent former No. 1 draft pick Tyrese Spicer to Orlando City for up to $550,000 in general allocation money (GAM). Since then, the Trinidadian has scored one goal and added two assists in seven appearances for his new club and is slated to return to BMO Field for the first time since the trade this weekend. I'm scheduled to do an interview with Spicer before Saturday's match. Look for my feature story to run later this week.
Other stories that will be published later this week include:
- In-depth pre- and post-game coverage of Toronto's match vs. Orlando.
- A new audio interview piece with Mike Gramajo of WESH 2 News ahead of Saturday's home game vs. Orlando.
- In-depth pre- and post-game coverage of Canada's match vs. Colombia.
- My piece on the four stories to watch this week from TFC.
- The weekly TFC Random Thoughts column.
- A TFC notebook column after Thursday's training session.
- A new TFC Talk interview with beat reporter James Grossi.
- Regular "TFC Tidbits" stories throughout the week.
- A story on the latest Canadian women's team roster.
- The reader mailbag.
- 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.
TFC Republic subscribers can get up to a 20% discount on ticket prices for Toronto FC home games during the 2025 MLS regular season and the 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).