Toronto FC players look to impress while Orlando hopes to shore up playoff position

TORONTO – It’s Decision Day for Major League Soccer, which for Toronto FC means one last look at the roster, having missed the playoffs for a fifth straight year.

With three players on loan and 14 on expiring contracts, there are plenty of personnel decisions to be made following Saturday’s home finale against Orlando City. 

Toronto coach Robin Fraser sees light at the end of the tunnel, given his team has lost just once in nine outings (0-1-8) since the start of August. On the other side of the coin, its last win was July 16, a 1-0 decision at San Diego FC.

“We feel like we have made a lot of progress,” Fraser said after training Friday. “On the outside world, people don’t see the progress because you see a lot of ties, you don’t see a lot of wins. But we feel like we’ve made a lot of progress as a team.”

Still, a loss or draw Saturday and Toronto would finish the season with just five wins, matching its 2012 season (5-21-8). Its only season with fewer wins was 2023’s 4-20-10 campaign.

Toronto (5-14-14) has been idle since a 2-0 loss at Los Angeles FC on Oct. 8 that snapped a stretch of eight straight draws. 

“After the game, in the locker-room, the talk was we have one last chance to do it right,” said Fraser. “I feel like we’ve played 80 percent well over the last two or three months, but the remaining 20 percent involves maybe not being as efficient in the attacking end as we could have been and a few mistakes to give up some goals.

“But overall, we’ve done really well. I keep saying the group doesn’t reward themselves enough for when they play well. And this is the one last chance to do it right in front of our fans and leave them with this lasting memory over the holidays.”

There is much more at stake Saturday for Orlando.

Orlando (14-8-11) arrives in seventh spot in the Eastern Conference with a playoff berth already secured. But sitting three points below fourth-place Charlotte FC and two points above ninth-place Columbus, the team needs points to avoid dropping into a play-in spot.

“We are in a must-win moment again,” said coach Oscar Pareja.

“The stakes are high,” added former Toronto wingback Tyrese Spicer, who was traded to Orlando on Aug. 1 after a contract impasse. “Going back to Toronto, I think, is a special feeling. That’s where my career started, and I have full respect for Toronto. They really established me and helped me grow.

“I know the fans there really appreciate me,” he added. I just want to go and show them I’m a good player.”

Orlando, coming off a 2-1 loss to visiting Vancouver last Saturday thanks to a 97th-minute goal by Thomas Mueller, has won just one of its last six league outings (1-2-3). It had won four straight before that with just one defeat in its previous seven games (4-1-2).

TFC goes into the game with a miserable 2-7-7 record at home, having not won at BMO Field since June 28 (3-0 over Portland). Only D.C. United (2-8-7) and CF Montreal (2-9-6) fared worse at home.

It’s Toronto’s worst home record since 2012, when it went 3-9-5 at BMO Field.

Toronto has scored just 13 goals at home this season, tied with D.C. United for the fewest in the league.

As for personnel decisions, Theo Corbeanu, Maxime Dominguez and Jose Cifuentes are currently on loan to Toronto from Spain’s Granada CF, Brazil’s Vasco da Gama and Scotland’s Glasgow Rangers, respectively.

TFC has options to buy Corbeanu and Dominguez at the Dec. 31 end of the loan. The club has the same option on Cifuentes come June 30, 2026, when his loan expires.

Players on expiring contracts, albeit with club options, are goalkeeper Sean Johnson, defenders Raoul Petretta, Kevin Long. Sigurd Rosted, Nicksoen Gomis, Nate Edwards, Kobe Franklin, defender-midfielder Kosi Thompson, midfielder Malik Henry, and forwards Deandre Kerr, Derrick Etienne Jr., Jules-Anthony Vilsaint, Hugo Mbongue and Charlie Sharp.

Mbongue and Sharp were loaned out to the CPL’s Vancouver FC and the USL Championship’s Tampa Bay Rowdies, respectively.

Captain Jonathan Osorio, Richie Laryea and Luka Gavran are back from international duty with Canada, while Etienne has returned from time with Haiti. But midfielder Alonso Coello is suspended after getting sent off against LAFC.

Dominguez joins defenders Kevin Long, Henry Wingo, Nicksoen Gomis and Zane Monlouis on Toronto’s injured list.

Orlando has seven players back from international duty, including Spicer (Trinidad and Tobago).

Orlando has an 8-1-1 record against Toronto under Pareja, including a 3-0-1 record at BMO Field. Orlando hasn’t lost in Toronto since 2018.

Martín Ojeda is in record-breaking form for Orlando with 20 goals and 19 assists across all competitions this season. The Argentine midfielder is one goal away from tying Orlando’s single-season MLS scoring record of 17, set by Canadian Cyle Larin in 2015. He is also one assist shy of becoming the first player in club history to reach 20 goals and 20 assists in a single season across all competitions.

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This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 17, 2025