Major League Soccer returns to TSN on Saturday with a pair of season-opening contests. Western Conference champions Vancouver Whitecaps start their campaign with a visit from Real Salt Lake before CF Montreal takes on San Diego FC.
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Vancouver Whitecaps vs. Real Salt Lake, Saturday at 7:30 p.m. ET/4:30 p.m. PT on TSN1/TSN3
The Vancouver Whitecaps couldn’t have come closer. Jesper Sorensen’s side enters the 2026 season with the bitter taste of defeat in December’s MLS Cup Final still in their mouths. After making it through the Western Conference playoffs with wins over FC Dallas, Los Angeles FC and San Diego, the Whitecaps fell 3-1 to Lionel Messi and Inter Miami in the final.
The disappointment was compounded by coming up short in the CONCACAF Champions Cup Final earlier in the summer when the Whitecaps, who had defeated the likes of Monterrey, Tigres and Inter Miami to reach the final, were routed 5-0 by Cruz Azul. It was the heaviest defeat in the final since 1990.
Now the new-look Whitecaps will look to follow in the footsteps of Toronto FC to bounce back. In 2016, TFC heartbreakingly lost the MLS Cup on penalties to the Seattle Sounders. The following year, the Reds returned to the MLS Cup Final and defeated the Sounders, 2-0, to become the first Canadian side to win the league title.
Before the season starts, the Whitecaps got one more piece of business done with an extension for Sorensen. The 52-year-old Dane was rewarded for his first season at the club with a nomination for MLS Coach of the Year. The new deal takes Sorensen through the 2027-2028 season.
“I am incredibly grateful for the support of our players, technical and support staff, front office, and of course our fans over the course of my first season at the club,” said Sorensen said in a statement. “Last year, we shared many historic firsts and established a new level of expectation and belief. We will continue building, and I am committed to bringing more success to Vancouver and our passionate supporters. I look forward to seeing everyone at BC Place starting this Saturday.”
The team that takes the pitch on Saturday will be without two key Canadian players, who departed in the offseason. In December, Brampton, Ont.-born winger Jayden Nelson was shipped to Austin FC in exchange for a package including the 17th overall pick of the 2026 MLS SuperDraft that was used to take midfielder Zach Ramsey out of Washington. Then in January, Whitecaps academy product, the Toronto-born midfielder Ali Ahmed, who scored the Vancouver goal in the MLS Cup Final, was sold to Championship side Norwich City.
But reinforcements have arrived and the team will also get a full season of Bayern Munich legend Thomas Muller. The World Cup-winning Germany midfielder joined the club in August and was sensational almost from the jump. The 13-time Bundesliga winner notched seven goals in seven league appearances and scored another during the Whitecaps’ playoff run. Among those joining the club for the new season are Ecuador U-20 forward Bruno Caicedo and a new No. 7 in Senegal winger Cheikh Sabaly.
On the other side of the pitch, Real Salt Lake head into the season on the back of five straight playoff appearances, the longest such streak in the Western Conference. But the Claret and Cobalt were bounced in the wild-card match by Portland Timbers, making it four consecutive one-and-done postseasons for the team. Finalists in 2013, Real’s lone MLS Cup triumph came at Toronto’s BMO Field in 2009.
There was substantial turnover of the RSL roster during the offseason that was intended to buttress manager Pablo Mastroeni’s move to a 3-4-2-1 formation. At the back, former FC Cincinnati defender Lukas Engel joins former teammate DeAndre Yedlin and Justen Glad. The most highly anticipated arrival is that of Morgan Guilavogui. The 27-year-old Guinea forward joins from Lens where he had a goal in 15 Ligue 1 appearances this season.
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San Diego FC vs. CF Montreal, Saturday at 10:30 p.m. ET/7:30 p.m. PT on TSN1/TSN3
CF Montreal will be eager to turn the page on the 2025 as they open up their new campaign against San Diego FC.
Last year was one to forget for CFMTL. After a five-game winless run to open the season, including four losses, the team dismissed manager Laurent Comtois. Marco Donadel took the reins in his stead as interim boss with the team finishing the season on 28 points. Only dead-last D.C. United had fewer with 26.
Still, the team saw enough in Donadel to make him permanent manager in October. The longtime Fiorentina midfielder finished his playing career in Montreal with 67 MLS appearances from 2015 to 2018.
“Last year got 28 points, this year we want to get 20 more,” Donadel said as camp opened last month. If the team were to achieve that lofty goal, it would put them firmly in playoff contention for 2026. To do that they will need contributions from both newcomers and existing players.
Last year’s standout performer was Prince Owusu. The German-born Ghana forward was acquired ahead of the 2025 season in a rare trade with Toronto FC. After scoring nine league goals in 37 appearances over two seasons with TFC, Owusu notched 13 for CFMTL last season and scored 17 across all competitions. Joining him in the attack will be Noah Streit. Signed from Basel, the 20-year-old Switzerland U-21 winger comes aboard on a four-year deal plus an option.
Also arriving in Montreal is some needed MLS experience. Defender Brayan Vera, who made 75 appearances for Real Salt Lake over three seasons, signed in December. Versatile Iceland right-back Dagur Dan Thorhallsson arrived in a December trade with Orlando City. He made 92 appearances for the Lions over the past three seasons.
Thorhallsson said he’s looking forward to working under Donadel’s tactics.
“I’m a really dynamic player, and this is a really dynamic system, it’s all over the place and many players change positions,” Thorhallsson said last month. “Last year I played nine positions if I’m not mistaken and that’s what the coach likes and I think I could thrive in this system.”
There were some key exits for Montreal, as well. Brampton, Ont. winger Jahkeele Marshall-Rutty was dealt to Red Bull New York for Venezuela midfielder Wiki Carmona last week. Perhaps the biggest surprise came with the trade of Trinidad and Tobago winger Dante Sealy to Colorado Rapids for $2.5 million in General Allocation Money in late December. In his loan season with CFMTL, the 22-year-old Sealy had nine goals and an assist.
Saturday’s hosts are looking to avoid the dreaded sophomore slump. As an expansion team last season, Mikey Varas’s San Diego took the Western Conference by storm, finishing atop the conference with 63 points. The team reached the Western Conference Final where it ultimately fell to Vancouver Whitecaps.
Leading the way for SDFC was Anders Dreyer. Arriving from Anderlecht, the 27-year-old Denmark forward was a revelation, scoring 19 goals and adding 19 assists. It was enough to earn him the honour of MLS Newcomer of the Year and a runner-up finish for Most Valuable Player.
Dreyer’s season was a rampant success, but the campaign of San Diego’s other Designated Player was…not. The club’s first-ever signing, Chucky Lozano arrived from PSV with much fanfare. The Mexico winger played well on the field, scoring nine goals and eight assists. It was what happened off the field that proved to be problematic.
At the end of the regular season, Lozano was dropped from the matchday squad for two games due to what was reported to be a verbal bust-up in the locker room. After an apology, he returned for the first match of the playoffs, but was again dropped for San Diego’s final three postseason contests. Then in January, the team announced that Lozano wasn’t in the club’s plans moving forward.
“That was not a decision that was taken lightly,” sporting director Tyler Heaps said. “That was something that was well talked through from owners down to leadership down to myself and [Varas], and has been communicated with the rest of the group. So we’re working with him and his representatives to find the best solution and the best environment for him moving forward.”
The European winter transfer window came and went and no move materialized, so Lozano and his considerable wages remain on the San Diego books for the time being. The situation has put Lozano’s participation in this summer’s World Cup very much in doubt.