Canada's three MLS clubs in 2026: a study in contrast

There are three Canadian clubs in MLS and in August 2026 they are telling three stories that have nothing in common. Through matches played to 31 July, the Vancouver Whitecaps lead the Western Conference, while Toronto FC and CF Montréal sit twelfth and thirteenth of fifteen in the East.

Vancouver: top of the West with games in hand

The Whitecaps have 33 points from 16 matches, 37 goals scored and 16 conceded: +21, the best goal difference in the league. They share those 33 points with LAFC and San Jose, but those two have played 18 and 17. At home the record reads seven wins, no draws, one defeat.

What makes it notable is that they got there after selling. Sebastian Berhalter, an MLS Best XI midfielder in 2025, joined Middlesbrough on 28 July; Ali Ahmed had already left for Norwich in January. Two days after the Berhalter sale the club completed the signing of Kwasi Poku from RWDM, on top of Cheikh Sabaly, Bruno Caicedo and Oliver Larraz.

The head coach is the Dane Jesper Sørensen, in post since January 2025, and the core has held: Brian White, the club's all-time leading scorer, alongside Ryan Gauld, Andrés Cubas, defender Tristan Blackmon — MLS Defender of the Year in 2025 — and goalkeeper Yohei Takaoka, Goalkeeper of the Year that same season.

Müller, 36, and a first All-Star call of his career

Thomas Müller arrived in Vancouver on 6 August 2025 as a free agent after seventeen years at Bayern. His contract runs to 31 December 2026 and nothing has been announced about an extension or an exit. In 2025 he scored seven league goals in seven appearances; in 2026 he has four.

In July he was selected for the MLS All-Star Game, played on 29 July in Charlotte. It is the first all-star selection of his entire career, at 36, after a lifetime in Munich. Six weeks earlier he had delivered three assists in a single afternoon, in the 4-2 win at San Diego on 23 May, his last match before the World Cup break.

Where the Whitecaps have come from

2025 was the best season in the club's history: 63 points, a club record, second in the West, and a first MLS Cup final, lost 3-1 to Inter Miami on 6 December in Fort Lauderdale. Along the way, in the conference semi-final, they knocked out LAFC at BC Place in front of 53,957, a club record for the MLS era.

They also reached the Concacaf Champions Cup final after eliminating Messi's Inter Miami in the semis, and there it fell apart: 5-0 against Cruz Azul on 1 June 2025 in Mexico City, in a one-off final, 4-0 down at half-time. In the 2026 edition they went out in the round of 16 to Seattle, 5-1 on aggregate.

Toronto: twelve games without a win

Toronto FC are in their twentieth season and reach August on a twelve-match league winless run. Their last victory was a 3-2 home comeback against Colorado in April. Since the World Cup break they have four matches, two points and one goal scored: 0-0 with Montréal, 0-0 at New England, 1-2 in Washington and 1-1 in New York.

They have 17 points from 18 games, with eight draws — the most in the East — and have won away from home exactly once all year. The project is not a cheap one: Josh Sargent came from Norwich in February, Walker Zimmerman signed as a free agent in January after twice being named Defender of the Year, Dániel Sallói arrived from Sporting KC and Niklas Dorsch landed from Heidenheim on 28 July, with Robin Fraser in charge since January 2025.

And there was one more blow: Toronto went out of the Canadian Championship in the preliminary round, beaten 3-1 by Atlético Ottawa, a Canadian Premier League club.

Montréal: a second head coach in fourteen months

CF Montréal are thirteenth on 15 points from 17 matches with 22 goals scored. The season was framed as a rebuild and the dugout confirms it: Laurent Courtois was sacked in March 2025 after one point from five games, the club's worst start since its MLS debut in 2012; Marco Donadel replaced him, signed a permanent contract in October and was dismissed on 12 April 2026 with a record of one win and six defeats. Philippe Eullaffroy has been in charge since.

Striker Prince Owusu — a former Toronto FC top scorer before he changed cities — has comfortably been the team's best player this season. Around him are Iván Jaime, on loan from Porto, Tomás Avilés, on loan from Inter Miami, and Wikelman Carmona.

There is still a trophy in play

The 2026 Canadian Championship is not settled: the final is on 21 October and the semi-finals, in September, pit Vancouver against Montréal, with the first leg in Quebec. The winner qualifies for the 2027 Concacaf Champions Cup. The Whitecaps are defending four consecutive titles.

"Three clubs from one country, in one league, on one calendar: one is chasing the best record in MLS and the other two are trying not to finish bottom of their conference."

• Simulate the rest of the MLS regular season and build both conference tables.
• See whether Vancouver hold on to top spot in the West until November.
• Fill in the playoff bracket and decide who lifts MLS Cup.
• Change any result and watch the standings move instantly.

"Open the MLS simulator and decide whether a Canadian club reaches the final."