Where Canadian squads stand as MLS season shifts into high gear

The 2026 MLS regular season is about to switch into high gear. 

With only 10 games remaining in the campaign, tight playoff races have emerged in both the Eastern and Western Conference with all 30 teams vying for one of the 18 post-season berths up for grabs. 

As one of the best teams in MLS, the Vancouver Whitecaps will likely enter the playoffs as one of the top contenders and be looking to win it all after losing to Lionel Messi and Inter Miami in last year’s MLS Cup final. 

Toronto FC has successfully fought its way back into the playoff picture after a successful summer spell, but still remains on the outside looking in. Meanwhile, it’s looking like CF Montreal would need a miracle to qualify for the playoffs.  

Let’s take a look at where the three Canadian clubs stand with 10 games remaining in the regular season. 

Vancouver Whitecaps

Record: 14-5-4 

Position: 1st in Western Conference (2nd in MLS) 

Current form: Three wins in four games 

Top scorer: Brian White (14 goals) 

It’s the Vancouver Whitecaps’ world and the rest of MLS is just living in it. 

Vancouver has been a model of consistency since the beginning of the year, continuously near or at the very top of the standings in both the Western Conference and the league. Second-year coach Jesper Sørensen has been blessed with a talent-rich squad with great depth at every position, and he’s also been able to put his tactical fingerprints on a team that began the season with eight wins and just one loss from its opening 10 matches. 

With 52 goals to their credit, the Whitecaps sport the second-best attack in MLS (behind Inter Miami, 59 goals), and they’re getting production from a variety of sources. Brian White leads the way with 14 goals, German DP Thomas Müller has seven, and 11 other players have found the back of the net. After missing most of the season through injury, Scottish midfielder Ryan Gauld is rounding into form and should give the attack an even greater boost, especially after Vancvouver sold influential U.S. international Sebastian Berhalter to English club Middlesbrough in July. 

Vancouver is just as solid on the other side of the ball thanks to a back line anchored by Tristan Blackmon (the 2025 MLS Defender of the Year) that has conceded just 21 goals (second best in the league). Goalkeeper Yohei Takaoka is having another all-star calibre campaign with 11 clean sheets (tied for second in MLS). 

With great success comes great challenges for the Whitecaps, who more and more are running into opponents that are deploying negative tactics in order to frustrate and slow them down. 

“Teams are making it hard for us; they’re sitting deep against us. … Teams have been tending to sit a little deep against us and when we create the chances we have to be on form and put them away,” Gauld said. 

The key match: Five of Vancouver’s first six games in October are away from home, but none should be tougher than its Oct. 14 encounter against St. Louis City SC. After winning just once in 10 games to start the campaign, St. Louis has emerged as the hottest team in MLS, as it is unbeaten in 14 matches with 10 wins, including a decisive 3-1 decision in Vancouver last week. 

Overall prognosis: First place in MLS is probably out of their reach (Nashville has a seven-point edge), but the Whitecaps look a good bet to finish atop the Western Conference table, even with the Houston Dynamo three points adrift. Hosting their first-round playoff series will give the Whitecaps a huge advantage, and should be the precursor to a second MLS Cup final appearance in as many years.

Toronto FC

Record: 6-7-11 

Position: 10th in Eastern Conference (22nd in MLS) 

Current form: Unbeaten in seven games (three wins, four draws) 

Top scorer: Josh Sargent and Dániel Sallói (seven goals) 

Toronto looked to be firmly out of playoff contention at the start of the summer as it only collected three wins through its first 14 games of the season and was riding a nine-game winless skid across all competitions before MLS went on hiatus in May for the FIFA World Cup. 

But TFC have been in fine form since the World Cup break ended in July. They’re currently unbeaten in seven matches and have just one loss in their previous 10 contests. They earned impressive wins over reigning MLS Cup champions Inter Miami and current league-leaders Nashville SC, while also taking a point off of the Chicago Fire and New England Revolution — teams that occupy the top four spots in the Eastern Conference. 

The Reds have also shown great resolve in recent weeks as they have come from behind five times over their last seven outings to earn a result. Not even the absence of captain Jonathan Osorio, who’s been sidelined for the last five matches with a knee injury, has slowed them down. 

The attack is starting to click after stagnating for most of the season, with two starters playing key roles in the club’s offensive renaissance. Hungarian winger Dániel Sallói has recorded a goal contribution (three goals and four assists) across six consecutive MLS appearances, while DP forward Josh Sargent recently netted his first hat trick for the club to increase his tally to seven goals on the season. 

The Reds have momentum, but now they have to keep it going during this crucial stretch of the schedule. 

"Given where we are — where we are in the league, and how many games are left — all these games, everything feels like a playoff game right now to be quite honest," coach Robin Fraser said. 

The key match: Of Toronto’s 10 remaining games, this Saturday’s road affair vs. Orlando City might be its most important. A TFC victory over Orlando (currently sixth in the East) would not only mean extending their unbeaten run to a season-high eight games, but it could also propel them above the playoff line (top nine teams in the conference make the playoffs), which would potentially allow them to operate from a position of greater strength for the rest of the season. 

Overall prognosis: Toronto was decimated by injuries through the first half of the season, which was a major reason why it struggled. TFC are closer to full fitness now, and if they can stay healthy the rest of the way, they'll be in the playoff mix right until the last day of the season and will squeak in as the No. 8 or No. 9 seed. 

CF Montreal

Record: 5-13-6 

Position: 15th in Eastern Conference (29th in MLS) 

Current form: One win in 13 matches (winless in four games) 

Top scorer: Prince Owusu (13 goals) 

CF Montreal sits dead last in the 15-team Eastern Conference and second-last (out of 30 teams) in the overall MLS table for a variety of reasons. 

Let’s start with the defence. Montreal has the fourth worst defensive record in the league with 50 goals conceded — an average of 2.08 goals against per match. They’ve given up three or more goals on seven occasions — roughly 30 per cent of the time — and have just four clean sheets to their credit. A humiliating 7-1 road loss to Inter Miami last month just underlined how bad things are at the back.  

Things aren’t much better on the attacking side — Montreal is seventh from the bottom of the league with just 31 goals (1.29 goals per match) and have been shut out eight times this season. With 13 goals, German striker Prince Owusu has accounted for 42 per cent of the team’s offensive production. No one else on the roster has scored more than four goals, and only three other players have scored more than once. 

It’s still early days, but the home run attempt at signing free-agent forward Alexis Sánchez looks to be a swing and a miss. Sánchez, 37, has failed to collect a goal or an assist in five MLS appearances (two starts) totalling 238 minutes since he joined the club last month, and the Chilean has registered just a single shot on target. 

The key match: Given Montreal’s situation, all of its remaining games are vitally important. They’re eight points below the playoff line and would have to leapfrog five teams to get above it. But a road game against Toronto FC on Oct. 10 looms large. If Montreal can pick up a few points in the coming weeks and then win at BMO Field against its bitter rivals, that might put some wind in their sails and give them some much-needed confidence going into the home stretch.

Overall prognosis: Things are looking pretty dire. Based on an average of 45.3 points that the ninth team in the East needed to qualify for the playoffs over the last three years, Montreal would have to earn at least 25 points from their last 10 matches to clinch a post-season berth. They have 21 points through their first 24 games of the campaign. Playoffs? Forget about it. It’s not happening for Montreal.