Scouting Toronto FC: What FC Dallas Needs to Know 🔎

FC Dallas opens the 2026 season at home against Toronto FC, a club that limped their way through the 2025 season and finished near the bottom of the MLS Eastern Conference. It was another transitional year north of the border, as Robin Fraser took over the clubs. Goals were hard to come by, defensive lapses were frequent, and the rebuild still feels more like an ‘in progress’ item, rather than a done deal.

Let’s be honest, opening day games are always weird. Fitness isn’t at 100% for the full 90 minutes, chemistry is still a work in progress at best for both sides, and everyone swears this year will be different for one reason or another.

For the Reds, this offseason wasn’t one headline after the next in terms of big roster moves that we’ve seen out of this club over the years. Sure, they added someone like Walker Zimmerman and Matheus Pereira to a defense that was leaky. But they also didn’t add a single attacker (at least as of this writing), or Designated Player (yeah, that sounds familiar).

Let’s dig into the Reds.

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Potential Lineup & Tactic Style:

Toronto has been rotating through players, like most clubs have, during the preseason. Head coach Robin Fraser enters his second season in charge of the Reds and has been using a 4-2-3-1 formation. He also tinkered a lot last season with a 4-1-4-1 and a 4-3-1-2 formation. A lot of it has really depended on the opposition.

For this game, I think they’ll go back to the 4-2-3-1, to help provide a little more defensive cover for the full 90.

Projected XI: Garven, Laryea, Zimmerman, Gomis, Pereira; Coello, Osorio; Milhailovic, Cifuentes, Corbeanu; Kerr

• Offensive tendencies - It all goes through Djordje Mihailovic. If he has an off night, the attack is basically quiet. Like Dallas, they’re not going to want the ball for large stretches of the game. They want to sit back and wait for their moments.
• Defensive shape - Last year, the Reds weren’t a pressing team defensively. But, this season, I would expect them to add a little bit of aggressive play to their game. It kind of helps that they no longer have a pair of aging Italians weighing them down defensively.

Key Player: Djordje Mihailovic

The United States national team midfielder came over to the Reds last summer and has been pushed into a leadership role with the club. He’s the team’s only Designated Player at the moment, and will need to be the one that helps guide their attack in the new year.

Key Matchup: Jose Cifuentes vs Kaick

When Cifuentes was cooking at his best, back in 2022 with LAFC, he had 13 non-penalty goal contributions. It has been a minute since he had that level of success in a season, but fans up north believe this could be his year to get back to those levels. His matchup against Kaick this weekend should be a good test for that.

Availability Report1:

Suspended: none
Out: none
Questionable: none
On Loan: none
International duty: none

Quick Notes:

All-time at Dallas: Toronto has yet to pick up a regular season win in Toyota Stadium, as they’ve gone 0-8-3 in all-time trips to Frisco. Their last result in Dallas was a 1-1 draw, but that was back in 2022.

Preseason form: Toronto held two closed door matches in their preseason, including one last weekend. The three known results saw them go 1-1-1. None of their matches were against MLS competition either.

Where they're at in the standings: Just like FC Dallas, they’re starting off the season undefeated. In all seriousness, last year the Reds finished 12th in the Eastern Conference with 32 points on a 6-14-14 record.

Comparing the two clubs: Let’s roll back to what the two squads did in 2025 as our base here. Both teams struggled defensively at times during the year, but Dallas’ attack was much more productive as a whole.

Three keys for FC Dallas

1. Hold the line defensively: All preseason long, there were moments where the defensive structure held up well. But then there were other times when teams found ways to put this group under pressure and force some sloppy play. If Dallas is able to settle into the game early and find moments to limit what Toronto can do in their attack, it will then play into the Dallas counter attack.
2. Start strong: It is the season opener, you have to set the tone some how in this match. We saw the team struggle at times last season at home, but this year needs to be all about returning to a Fortress Frisco. Getting that tone set in this match is vital for that feeling.
3. Pick your moments: We know this group is probably still going to be playing for the long ball on the counter more than anything else at times in this one. With that, the attack needs to be ready for those moments and be able to finish the chances that come their way. Both Petar Musa and Logan Farrington had nice preseasons, but they have to be able to continue those good vibes into games that matter.

1 Note: MLS has a injury report deadline that doesn’t hit until the day before each game. Our scouting reports will include last week's report and will be fully updated the day before with our injury report for FC Dallas.