Hosting FIFA World Cup makes for complicated 2026 MLS schedule for Toronto FC

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This article was published 20/11/2025 (298 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

TORONTO – Toronto FC will open the 2026 MLS season at FC Dallas on Feb. 21 with road games against Vancouver and FC Cincinnati to follow before playing nine straight games at BMO Field, starting with the March 14 home opener against the New York Red Bulls.

With BMO Field hosting six games at the 48-team FIFA World Cup, starting with Canada’s opening match June 12, TFC’s 20th season schedule is complicated.

FIFA requires that World Cup stadiums be handed over to tournament organizers 30 days in advance of the first game held there.

And MLS is going silent after matches on May 24, one day ahead of FIFA’s mandatory player reporting date. The league will resume play July 16 and 17, before the July 18 third-place match and July 19 final at the World Cup.

Toronto’s last home game before the World Cup will be a May 9 visit by Inter Miami, with MLSE no doubt looking to open up the expanded stadium to the hordes wanting to see Lionel Messi. TFC won’t return home until an Aug.15 visit by the New England Revolution.

MLSE has said that while the additional 17,000 temporary seats in the north and south ends will be in place when the 2026 MLS season kicks off, they will only be used before the World Cup “for select games.”

After the Miami visit, Toronto will play two games on the road before the league pauses play. 

TFC will play 14 games in all before the World Cup break, including the nine straight at home. Twelve of the 20 games after the break are on the road, including the first four back due to “the FIFA deconstruction phase in early August.”

The three-game start to the season away from home is due, in part, to the renovations to BMO Field. But TFC also opened the 2025 season with three games on the road, starting Feb. 22 before the March 15 home opener.

Thirty-two new suites in the north end are already on sale for the 2026 MLS season.

The temporary seats will be removed after the World Cup. A rooftop terrace will be installed above the suites in the north end post-World Cup, with the party-like patio expected to host 1,000 to 1,200 general admission ticket-holders come the 2027 season.

Toronto will conclude the 2026 regular season on Nov. 7 in Philadelphia, as opposed to Oct. 18 this season.

The 2026 campaign will see Toronto play 25 matches on Saturdays, six on Wednesdays and one each on Thursday, Friday and Sunday. TFC’s home schedule features 12 games on Saturdays and five on Wednesdays.

Toronto will visit CF Montreal on July 16 and host its rival on Oct. 10.

After the season opener in Dallas, Toronto will face five other Western Conference teams with games against Vancouver (Feb. 28), the Colorado Rapids (April 4), Austin FC (April 18), San Jose Earthquakes (May 2) and St. Louis City SC (Sept. 19).

The game in St. Louis will be Toronto’s first-ever match at Energizer Park. 

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After the 2026 season, MLS will stage a “transition season” from February to May 2027, featuring a 14-game regular season, playoffs and MLS Cup.

The 2027-28 regular season will begin in mid-to-late July 2027 and conclude with the playoffs and MLS Cup final in late May 2028 as the league moves to a summer-to-spring season format in line with other major leagues.

The new format will see MLS observe a mid-winter break from mid-December through early February.

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This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 20, 2025