Match Report: Toronto FC 0 - 1 Fredrikstad FK | OneFootball

Toronto FC suffered a narrow 1-0 defeat against Norway’s Fredrikstad FK in their fourth preseason outing on early Wednesday morning. Kickoff was at 6 am EST and only the die-hard TFC sickos were out of bed and watching the match live. Thankfully the livestream is still available to view if you weren't up early enough to catch the match, including the obligatory sound of a truck reversing,

With a starting eleven made up of mostly young players and Toronto FC II invitees, TFC played to a scoreless draw in the first half. As expected, Fredrikstad dictated most of the play as they held the majority of the possession and kept the play primiarily in TFC's half. The Reds nearly took the lead in the 36th minute with Derrick Etienne Jr. shot bouncing off the post.

Robin Fraser decided to change the lineup around for the second half in two phases - one at the 45th minute and one at the 60th. Henry Wingo made his preseason debut in the 78th minute. Fredrikstad broke the deadlock in the 68th minute as Henrik Skogvold headed the ball past William Yarborough.

Red-y for Primetime

Despite starting a quite young squad, Toronto FC looked okay defenseively. I hesitate to say the word "good" as there were numerous mistakes made during the game. The kids were playing against a primarily first team lineup and were often tested in their own half of the pitch. Robin Fraser mentioned the kids needed to "figure things out on the fly" and were tested with the physical nature of the Fredrikstad side. While it wasn't a perfect game by any stretch, there are one positive to look at - with more game time and experience, players like Adam Pearlman and Lazar Stefanovic can potentially be reliable substitutes for TFC in the next couple of years.

Seeing Red

The clear lack of any attacking threat outside of Djordje Mihailovic is troublesome to say the least. Without TFC's most creative player on the pitch, Toronto's attack was anemic. There were only a few chances created in the offensive end of the pitch and did not stretch the field at all. When there is no offensive threat, it becomes harder to defend against a team that dominates possession. Fredrikstad kept the pressure on TFC's backline all game, knowing there was little possibility of a counter-attack.

The team wraps up their preseason schedule this Saturday, February 14, with a closed-door scrimmage against Ukrainian side FC Polissya Zhytomyr before heading back to Toronto in preparation for their 21 February date with FC Dallas in Frisco, Texas to open the 2026 MLS season.