Can Toronto FC Make a Turnaround? | OneFootball

Since the turn of the decade, Toronto FC has been in a seemingly endless rough patch. But with an influx of new signings and an optimistic outlook for 2026, can the club right the ship?

Toronto FC is a club that holds an interesting place in MLS history. With plenty of prestige in the club’s past, it is far from what internet trolls would call a “poverty franchise,” but the past few seasons have seen the club in an extended nadir.

Ebbs and flows are normal in MLS, a league that has put an emphasis on parity, and with no playoff appearances since 2020 and no playoff wins since making the MLS Cup final in 2019, Toronto is now looking to return to a high tide era.

After joining in MLS in 2007 as the league’s first-ever Canadian team, Toronto consistently struggled, and it wasn’t until the arrival of Tim Bezbatchenko as general manager in September 2013 that the Reds finally managed to turn things around. Previously the senior director of player relations and competition at MLS, Bezbatchenko signed three Designated Players in 2014, with England international Jermain Defoe, American international Michael Bradley, and Brazilian striker Gilberto arriving.

It wasn’t enough to see them reach the postseason, but it was enough to see them finish seventh and enjoy the winningest season in club history. Bezbatchenko would shake things up ahead of 2015, with Italy striker Sebastian Giovinco and United States men’s national team forward Jozy Altidore replacing Defoe and Gilberto as DPs and Greg Vanney replacing Ryan Nelsen as the club’s head coach.

This proved to be a winning formula, as Toronto broke a plethora of club records like most points in a season (49), most wins in a season (15), most goals in a season (58), most home wins in a season (11), most home goals in a season (34) and and most consecutive wins (4). Bolstered by the individual brilliance of MLS Golden Boot and MVP Giovinco, Toronto managed to reach the MLS Cup playoffs for the first time, losing 3-0 to Montréal Impact in the first round.

It was a sign of things to come for Toronto, who did even better in 2016 by finishing third in the East (fifth overall) and winning the Canadian Championship. Over in the playoffs, meanwhile, Toronto would brush past the Philadelphia Union 3-1 and demolish New York City FC 7-0 across two legs before avenging the previous year’s defeat against Montréal with a 5-2 extra time win in the second leg.

Toronto remained at BMO Field for the 2016 MLS Cup Final, where, after a goalless draw, they lost 5-4 to the Seattle Sounders on penalties. Nevertheless, a dream deferred would not be a dream denied for Toronto, who claimed a maiden Supporters’ Shield after finishing atop the MLS standings in addition to winning their sixth Canadian Championship in 2017.

Having set an MLS record with 69 points, Vanney’s side would validate its dominance in the postseason after edging the New York Red Bulls and Columbus Crew, before taking their revenge against Seattle with a 2-0 victory at home in the MLS Cup final. In doing so, they became the only Canadian team to win the MLS Cup and the only MLS team to win a domestic treble, two distinctions that still hold to this day.

Toronto FC would regress to a ninth-place finish in 2018, although they did manage to come within inches of the CONCACAF Champions Cup title before losing to Chivas on penalties. Despite losing Bezbatchenko prior to the 2019 campaign, Toronto managed to get back on track after finishing fourth in the East. They proceeded to eliminate DC United, New York City FC, and Atlanta United before once again meeting Seattle in the MLS Cup final, this time on the road, where they fell to a 3-1 defeat.

Despite having to play the second half of the 2020 season in Connecticut, Toronto managed to brave these adverse circumstances and become the first MLS team to qualify for the playoffs. The club finished with the second-best record in the Supporters’ Shield standings, only to end up losing 1-0 to Nashville in the first round of the playoffs.

Since then, however, darker skies have been on the horizon in the Six. Toronto would replace Vanney with Chris Armas, who lasted a couple of months before being given the ax. After a challenging start to the 2021 season which saw Toronto play its home matches in Orlando, the club returned home in July, but was unable to hit its stride under interim coach Javier Pérez, finishing 13th in the Eastern Conference and 26th overall.

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It was more of the same in 2022, with Toronto finishing 13th (27th overall) and losing in the 2022 Canadian Championship Final under ex-USMNT manager Bob Bradley. They did, however, win the 2020 Canadian Championship Final, which was played in 2022 after being postponed.

Fast-forward four years, and Toronto has yet to win another trophy. The club hit rock bottom in 2023 after finishing with a franchise-record low 22 points and ranking bottom of the East, a season which saw three different coaches.

John Herdman was welcomed as a breath of fresh air following his arrival at the end of the 2023 season, having just led Canada to its first World Cup in 36 years. But by the time the 2024 campaign winded to a close, he was ushered out the back door as TFC missed out on the playoffs once again after placing 11th in the East. Robin Fraser filled the void but wasn’t able to do much better, with Toronto finishing 12th (25th overall) and missing out on the postseason once again in 2025.

“Toronto didn’t have a ton of success on the field until making the playoffs for the first time in 2015, but a lot of the success in the very early days was off the field,” said Benedict Rhodes, who covers Toronto FC and Canadian soccer in general as the managing editor of Canada Soccer Daily and Waking the Reds. “They’ve always had good, passionate crowds which only grew as the stadium grew and the success came finally.

“The biggest keys for their success were their willingness to spend money to make sure they finally got it right. Bringing in Bradley, Giovinco, Altidore, etcetera showed they wanted to be among the league’s elite clubs and bring in its elite players. 2018 was the first sign of [a decline] when they missed the playoffs after winning the treble, but they bounced back in 2019. 2022 is probably when a lot of people realized there was going to be a decline, when they missed [the playoffs] for the second year in a row.”

It’s hard to find a specific diagnosis behind Toronto’s downfall. There has been a lack of stability at the managerial position since Vanney’s exit and a lack of success in terms of big-name signings. Under general manager Jason Hernandez, Toronto has failed to replace legendary figures like Giovinco, Altidore, and Bradley, while they’ve also failed to fill the other gaps in their squad.

Perhaps the two costliest mistakes have come with the signings of Lorenzo Insigne and Federico Bernardeschi. One year after winning the European Championships with Italy, all signs pointed to Insigne and Bernardeschi excelling at BMO Field and invigorating Toronto’s large Italian diaspora. Instead, however, both players failed to come anywhere near the impact of their compatriot Giovinco.

As Toronto trudged through another dismal 2025 season, the club saw no other choice but to mutually rescind both deals rather than continue paying Insigne and Bernardeschi $15 million and $6 million per year respectively.

It’s still too early to tell if the move has paid off, as Toronto FC currently sits in the middle of the Eastern Conference, earning seven points through their first five matches.

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But front office moves suggest that the franchise is actively trying to turn things around. The big splash was Josh Sargent, who joined the club from Norwich City for an initial £15.5 million, which could become over £20 million with add-ons, and could break Son Heung-min’s record transfer to LAFC.

However, it’s going to take a lot more than just one signing to turn the tide at a team that has been left in the dust over the start of the decade. Additional incoming players include fellow 2022 World Cup USMNT alum Walker Zimmerman and Hungary international Daniel Salloi, who was a fan favorite in his nine seasons with Sporting Kansas City.

So what exactly needs to change for Toronto FC? One man who might have some insight is former Toronto center back Chris Mavinga, who featured 153 times for the club and was part of its golden era, winning five trophies between 2017 and 2022.

“I’m not there anymore, but I think they made some mistakes before, and it always takes time to clean house,” Mavinga said in an exclusive Urban Pitch interview. “If you look at Toronto’s story, before 2016, they weren’t a good team. They started to build from 2017 until the departures of Corey Wray and Tim Bezbatchenko, but when they gave the keys to Bob [Bradley], it was a suicidal mistake.

“In 2016, they started to build confidence and become a better team, and then go back to being bad, but it’s always a transition. Especially in the league, you have so many rules, you can’t do whatever you want, so it’s difficult. You need to choose the right manager, the right players, and everything. If you don’t have the right manager and the right players at the same time, it’s always difficult.”

While teams that experience success in MLS are often hamstrung by the league’s salary cap rules, Mavinga argues that because Toronto is a Canadian team, it comes with additional restrictions.

“It’s especially more difficult for Canadian teams than U.S.-based teams,” Mavinga said. “For example, I was there in Toronto for six years, I didn’t have the permanent residency, and I was considered an international player. After one year in the U.S., I had the green card. It’s very difficult to succeed as a Canadian team with so many restrictions. In the U.S., OK, one year you play, bam, they give you a green card, so you’re no longer an international player, so they can bring another international. But with a Canadian team, it’s always difficult.”

Then there’s the actual build of the roster. Toronto’s heyday saw a handful of players that possessed not only technical talent, but strong leadership skills too.

Mavinga argues that the club has sorely missed that over the last few seasons.

“Michael Bradley, Jozy Altidore, and Sebastian Giovinco were very big leaders,” Mavinga said. “When they left, you saw the team start to go down, and if Toronto wants to go back to the top, they need to find big personalities, and big leaders.

“Right now, we see players like Richie Laryea who are very good players, but they need help from players from outside with a lot of experience. Insigne and Bernardeschi didn’t help because of money, egos, and everything. They didn’t come with the right mentality.

“If you see the players, they’re very good, top players, but the mentality they bring on the locker room, no good. Yeferson Soteldo no good, Lorenzo Insigne no good, Federico Bernardeschi is very good, even in the locker room, but he also had to deal with a lot of things. For me, Bernardeschi wasn’t the problem. But yeah, it’s always difficult to find the top player and also the guy who brings good mentality.”

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For Mavinga, mentality trumps everything. Sometimes, clubs get caught up in the hype of marketability and the romance of big names. But kit sales don’t move the needle for fans like trophies do.

“It’s not just about big names from Europe because there are so many big names who go to MLS and don’t perform well,” Mavinga said. “If you can find a big player with a good mentality, super. You don’t need to think about business, selling shirts, or whatever.

“For the fans, it’s not about signing someone like Cristiano Ronaldo who’s going to sell 10,000 jerseys, it’s about winning trophies. You want to win the MLS Cup, you want to be at the big team, at the first position every year, this is more exciting for the fans. I didn’t have a big name, but I came on the field to fight and to prove. And you need that mentality, because Toronto, I think they have a good place to perform.”

Mavinga is optimistic that things can turn around for the club, and still harbors positive feelings for his former team. Who knows, we might even see him make a return in some form.

“They have a good stadium, a good, training facility, good vibes in the city,” Mavinga said. But also, you need to bring the right players to the right place, and they’re going to perform. That’s it. I still watch Toronto and I still love them, and hopefully I can be a scout for them one day.”