To say that CF Montreal didn’t get off to the start they wanted to open the 2026 Major League Soccer campaign last Saturday would be a gross understatement.
Marco Donadel’s side was put to the sword by San Diego FC in a rout. After goals from Christopher McVay and Amahl Pellegrino gave SDFC a 2-0 lead at halftime, any chance of a CFMTL comeback was put to bed in the 50th. New arrival Tomas Aviles was shown a yellow for a rash challenge on Pellegrino, but it was upgraded to a straight red upon VAR review. Left on 10 men for 40 minutes, Montreal conceded three more and lost 5-0. It was only the second time in MLS history that a team had lost in Matchday 1 by five goals.
Montreal will look to back bounce on Saturday as they stay on the road and travel to Chicago to take on the Fire in their home opener. The Fire were also losers in their opener, falling 2-1 to Houston Dynamo. Hugo Cuypers scored in the loss with the Dynamo getting a brace from recently signed Brazilian winger Guilherme.
You can catch Chicago Fire vs. CF Montreal LIVE on Saturday at 2:30 p.m. ET/11:30 a.m. PT on TSN4, the TSN App, and TSN.ca.
While Aviles’s debut wasn’t a sterling one, there were several other new faces in the Montreal lineup. Donadel was able to hand debut starts to Brayan Vera and Dagur Thorhallsson, while Wiki Carmona and Daniel Rios were brought on as substitutes for their first appearances in CFMTL shirts.
CF Montreal managing director Luca Saputo said that negotiating with other clubs isn’t always easy because of CFMTL’s reputation as a place where players develop.
“Some teams see an opportunity with us because of what we’ve been able to do with players coming to us and then eventually being sold elsewhere or doing well here,” Saputo said. “[Teams] holding a sell-on percentage, in some cases, see us as a way, also, of helping them[selves], potentially. In the case of Daniel, he was a free agent, so there was no transfer fee or anything, but in the case of Brayan and Dagur, it depends on the situation. Some teams see it as a positive, others a negative, but let’s just say when we speak to some teams about interest we have in certain players, sometimes we feel there’s a bit of back-off because of the – if you want to call it – success we’ve had with some of the trades.”
Montreal will face off with a man on the end of one of those trades in the form of Joel Waterman. The 30-year-old Canada defender was dealt by CFMTL to the Fire last summer. A native of Langley, BC, Waterman needs a strong showing at the beginning of the season to ensure that he’s in Jesse Marsch’s plans when it comes to naming a roster for this summer’s FIFA World Cup.
Saturday’s match is the 32nd meeting all-time between the two teams. Last season, the Fire won 2-0 in Montreal and the two teams drew 1-1 at Soldier Field. CFMTL holds the historic edge with 13 wins, eight draws and 10 losses. Games between the two teams tend to be close with 13 of the 23 games that ended with wins settled by one goal.
