Toronto FC starts historic 20 gamesth The Major League Soccer season begins with a road trip against FC Dallas at Toyota Stadium on Saturday night. MLS is Back’s opening weekend game begins at 8:30 p.m. ET and will be available worldwide in English and Spanish on Apple TV.
The Reds are entering their second milestone season under head coach Robin Fraser and are aiming to qualify for the club’s first MLS Cup Playoffs since 2020. Historically, TFC has faced Los Toros 20 times and holds a record of 3 wins, 11 losses, 6 draws and 6 losses. On Saturday, the Reds won back-to-back games against FC Dallas and will be looking for the club’s first road win against the Texas-based club, following a 3-1 win on May 4, 2024.
Toronto FC will open the 2026 MLS season away for the eighth consecutive season and will be looking for its first opening win since March 2, 2019, when they beat the Philadelphia Union 3-1 at Subaru Park. Since joining MLS as an expansion club in 2007, the Reds have started the regular season away from home in 18 of the 19 seasons, with the club’s only home opener coming against Columbus. March 3, 2018, BMO Field crew. Following back-to-back draws in opening games against FC Cincinnati (2024) and DC United (2025), Toronto owns a record of 5 wins, 9 wins, 5 losses, and 5 draws through 19 opening games to date.
for many years
TFC visited FC Dallas, one of the 10 original clubs in the league since 1996, for its 21st visit.cent This is the first meeting in regular season history between the two teams. Historically, Toronto holds an all-time record of 3 wins, 11 losses, and 6 draws through the first 20 meetings with Los Toros. On Saturday, the Reds will seek back-to-back wins against Dallas and the first road win in club history against the Texas-based club, following up on a 3-1 win on May 4, 2024, when Federico Bernardeschi’s two-point goal and Matty Longstaff’s goal earned them three points at BMO Field.
Roster reinforcement
Toronto FC has further strengthened its team with the acquisition of six new players ahead of the 2026 MLS season. Defenders Walker Zimmerman, Matheus Pereira and Raheem Edwards join goaltender William Yarbrough to shore up the defensive backline, while forwards Derrick Etienne Jr. and Emilio Aristizábal add offensive options for head coach Robin Frazier.
Zimmerman, 32, joins with extensive MLS and international experience. Since joining MLS in 2013, he has scored 26 goals in 307 games with FC Dallas, Los Angeles FC and Nashville SC, winning silver medals with each club (FC Dallas – US Open Cup & Supporters Shield). [2016]; LAFC – Supporters Shield [2019];Nashville SC – US Open Cup [2025]). The Lawrenceville, Georgia, native is a four-time MLS All-Star selection (2019, 2021, 2022, 2023), a five-time MLS Best Eleven winner (2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023), and a two-time MLS Defender of the Year (2020, 2020, 2021). Internationally, Zimmerman has earned 46 caps for the United States Men’s National Team (USMNT). The defender appeared in all four games of the 2022 FIFA World Cup and helped the United States win the 2021 Concacaf Gold Cup and 2022-23 Concacaf Nations League.
Pereira, 25, joins from CD Santa Clara (Portugal First Division), where he played 49 games last season. The left-back previously scored four goals and provided five assists in 57 appearances for Vizera, and began his professional career with Cruzeiro in Brazil, making 61 appearances for his hometown club since making his debut at the age of 19 in August 2020.
Edwards, 30, returns to Toronto for his 10th birthdayth MLS season. A product of the Toronto FC Academy, he was part of the team that won the club’s historic treble (MLS Cup, Supporters’ Shield and Canadian Championship) in 2017. The Mississauga, Ont., native played in 27 games and had eight assists over two seasons with TFC. Edwards has since played in 182 MLS games with CF Montreal (2018, 2024), Chicago Fire (2018, 2019), Minnesota United (2020), Los Angeles FC (2021), LA Galaxy (2022, 2023) and Red Bull New York (2025), recording seven goals and 24 assists, and has also earned five caps for Canada.
Yarbrough, 36, adds a veteran presence after playing for Pachuca and León in Liga MX and Colorado, San Jose and Inter Miami in MLS. The Aguascalientes, Mexico native was part of the team that won the Eastern Conference title and MLS Cup with Inter Miami in 2025, and previously played in 107 games with Robin Fraser’s Colorado Rapids, posting 35 shutouts. Yarbrough, who won two Liga MX titles with Leon (2013 Apertura, 2014 Clausura), has three caps with the U.S. national team.
Etienne Jr., 29, turns 11th MLS season re-signed with TFC in January. Acquired via trade from Atlanta in April 2024, the Richmond, Virginia, native has five goals and six assists in 55 games with the Reds. He had six goals and four assists in 79 games as a homegrown player with Red Bull New York, before spending three seasons with Columbus, where he helped them win the 2020 MLS Cup and 2021 Campeones Cup. Internationally, Etienne Jr. has eight goals and seven assists in 45 caps for Haiti, most recently helping the country qualify for the 2026 FIFA World Cup.
Aristizábal, 20, will join the Reds on loan from Atlético Nacional (Colombia) for the 2026 season. The Medellin, Colombia native was loaned to Fortaleza CEIF in 2025, making 36 appearances and scoring 12 goals and providing two assists, establishing himself as one of Colombia’s most promising young players. The Atlético Nacional academy product signed his first professional contract in 2023 and represented Colombia at the 2025 FIFA U-20 World Cup, helping his country win the bronze medal.
Toronto FC returned to Marbella, Spain for the second year in a row and held a three-week preseason camp at the Marbella Football Center. The Reds fielded a team featuring returning players, new recruits, players from Toronto FC II and TFC Academy, and MLS SuperDraft picks, and posted a record of three wins, one loss, and one draw in five friendlies against top international opponents. TFC returned to Toronto last weekend with wins over Incheon United & Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors FC (South Korea) and Polisya Zhytomir (Ukraine), a draw with AIK Football (Sweden), and a loss to Fredrikstadt FK (Norway).
Toronto FC will debut its newly launched community kit during this weekend’s season opener against FC Dallas. Dubbed “Winter Armor,” the uniform pays homage to the fabric of Canada’s unique soccer culture, which persists through the elements of Canada’s winter. Featuring a white base, the kit’s main livery represents the snow, sleet and rain that the players battle in and the fans brave every winter for their club. The six distinct stripes running down the center embody the core of the club and the unity of the six boroughs coming together as one city. The jock tag features TFC’s mantra “All For One” embedded in the number 20, representing 20 seasons of unwavering passion that pulses through every element. The Reds will wear winter armor kits for the next two seasons. Fans can purchase kits online at Real Sports Apparel’s MLSstore.com or in-store at Real Sports Apparel.
Toronto FC new recruit Walker Zimmerman will face his former club in Saturday’s season opener at Texas. Zimmerman began his professional career after graduating from Furman University when he was selected seventh overall in the first round of the 2013 MLS SuperDraft by FC Dallas. With Dallas, the centre-back scored eight goals in a total of 110 appearances over five seasons (2013-2017), helping Los Toros lift the US Open Cup and Supporters’ Shield during the successful 2016 season.