Crushing loss to Inter Miami underlines deeper issues for CF Montreal

Let’s not mince words about CF Montreal. 

They’re in trouble. Deep trouble. 

Saturday’s humbling 7-1 loss to Lionel Messi and Inter Miami in Florida was one of the most embarrassing showings by Montreal in club history, another humiliating blow to a side that has stumbled and bumbled its way through the 2026 MLS season. 

Montreal lost six of its opening seven matches of the campaign, leading to former coach Marco Donadel paying the ultimate price when he was fired and replaced by interim boss Philippe Eullaffroy. The Frenchman won his first two games in charge, but Montreal soon reverted to its old ways — it has just two victories in its last 13 matches since May 2.

Eullaffroy’s side currently sits second-to-last in the Eastern Conference and third from bottom in the overall league standings. And while they’re only four points below the playoff line, it’s difficult to envision Montreal (averaging 0.95 points per game) leapfrogging five teams over the final 12 matches of the regular season to clinch the ninth and final post-season berth in the Eastern Conference.  

Brayan Ceballos was acquired in a trade with the New England Revolution last month in the hope that he could help shore things up at the back. The Colombian centre back, who was New England’s defender of the year for 2025, has his work cut out to whip this defence into shape. Montreal has the fourth-worst defensive record in MLS with 46 goals conceded — 2.09 goals against per game.  

Things haven’t been much better on the offensive side. With just 30 goals to its credit, Montreal has the third-worst attack in the East — 1.36 goals scored per match. German striker Prince Owusu’s 13 goals account for a whopping 43 per cent of the team’s output in 2026. Nobody else on the squad is even close to double digits in goals — Wikelman Carmona ranks second in scoring with four goals. Only two other teams in the league have a worse goal difference than Montreal’s (minus-16).

Montreal made headlines earlier this month when it signed free agent forward Alexis Sánchez to a designated player contract. Chile’s all-time top scorer arrived in MLS with an impressive resume, having scored 198 goals during an 18-year spell with a number of European clubs, including Arsenal and FC Barcelona. 

But Sánchez is coming off three rather anonymous seasons in Europe in which he scored eight goals combined for Inter Milan, Udinese and Valencia. At 37, Sánchez has also looked every bit of his age in MLS — he’s been limited to just three substitute appearances totalling 69 minutes. The Chilean has recorded just a single shot (and it wasn’t even on target) and looked completely ineffective in helping Montreal during a 30-minute cameo against Miami. 

Things are equally chaotic off the pitch for Montreal and have been for some time. Eullaffroy is Montreal’s 12th coach since it joined MLS in 2012. Mauro Biello is the only one who managed to stick around for two full calendar years. Only four coaches have lasted 50 games in MLS. The constant turnover has led to complete chaos for a team whose last playoff win came in 2022. 

The coaching carousel has been only part of Montreal’s problems. The real issue has been player investment — the team has historically been one of the league’s lowest spenders. At USD$11,993,946, Montreal had the cheapest payroll in MLS last year — only slightly worse than the Philadelphia Union, who had the league’s best record during the 2025 regular season. 

Try as they might, ownership and management can’t seem to get it right, having built a roster simply lacking in overall quality. Little wonder the team is near the bottom of the table. The patience of CF Montreal’s long-suffering fanbase has been tested and will continue to be tested as the club appears destined to suffer another losing campaign. 

Elsewhere in MLS this weekend…. 

• Toronto FC extended its unbeaten streak to five games with a 1-1 home draw vs. New York City FC courtesy of Dániel Sallói’s second-half goal. Toronto remains tied with Orlando City SC for ninth place and the final playoff berth in the Eastern Conference with 12 games remaining. 

The stalemate vs. NYCFC marked the third time in five games that TFC came from behind to earn a result. The Reds' ability to fight back from a losing position is a big reason why they collected nine out of 15 points during that span to claw their way back into the playoff race. 

• The Vancouver Whitecaps made it two clean-sheet wins in a row (and three in its last four outings) with a 3-0 road win over Sporting Kansas City. German star Thomas Müller had a goal and an assist, while Brian White and Rayan Elloumi each added a goal.  

Vancouver (13-4-4) tops the table in the Western Conference with 43 points and trails only Nashville SC (52 points) in the overall league standings. The Whitecaps’ next three games are at home, giving them a chance to close the gap on the Tennessee-based frontrunners. 

• Nashville SC remains on pace to record the single greatest MLS regular season in history following a 4-0 home win over FC Cincinnati. Hany Mukhtar and Sam Surridge were among the goal scorers, while Cristian Espinoza recorded his 11th assist of the season (tied for the league lead). 

The win allowed Nashville (16-2-4) to set a record for the most points (52) by any team in MLS history at this stage of the season. Nashville is averaging 2.36 points per game, and with 12 matches remaining, it's on pace for 80 points, which would break Inter Miami's 2024 record of 74. 

• Dejan Joveljić didn’t waste any time settling in with the Seattle Sounders as the Serbian forward scored a first-half brace in his debut, a 2-2 home draw vs. the Chicago Fire. Joveljić’s two-goal effort on Saturday came just four days after being sent to Seattle from Sporting Kansas City as part of a USD$6 million cash-for-player trade. 

Unfortunately for the Sounders, Joveljić’s heroics still weren’t enough to end their 10-game winless run (eight losses, two draws). Seattle has only failed to make the playoffs once since entering MLS in 2009, but it’s in serious danger of missing out again if it doesn’t start to turn things around. 

• Carles Gil wreaked havoc for the New England Revolution in its 3-1 road win vs. the Columbus Crew. The Spanish playmaker scored one goal and collected a pair of assists to help New England keep pace with the Chicago Fire in the battle for third place in the East. 

Gil now has 152 career goal contributions (57 goals, 95 assists) for New England since joining the club in 2019, making him the 20th player in league history with 150-plus goal contributions. 

• Hirving “Chucky” Lozano scored his first goal for the LA Galaxy, but it still wasn’t enough to help them as they came out on the wrong end of a 3-1 road decision vs. San Diego FC. 

The Mexican international joined LA on loan after falling out with San Diego, and marked his return to Snapdragon Stadium with a goal against his former club.