The nine-match homestand is officially over for Toronto FC, and now they head out on the road for two matches ahead of Major League Soccer's World Cup break at the end of May.

The first of those two trips is out to play a Charlotte side that sits just one point ahead of TFC in the Eastern Conference standings.

Both of these teams enter Saturday in poor form, with Charlotte going 0W-1D-4L in its last five MLS matches, and Toronto 0-4-2 in its last six.

The Crown won each of last year's fixtures by identical 2-0 scorelines, and has won four of the last five meetings between these two teams.

How Toronto enter the match

Last week's encounter against Inter Miami felt like the climax of the long homestand in several ways, both with the 45,000 fans packed into the expanded BMO Field, as well as an exceptionally poor performance, seeing the Reds go six without a win in MLS play the same week they were eliminated by Atlético Ottawa in the Canadian Championship.

Fan unrest is growing, with some supporters bringing a banner that read "Rebuild is complete Pelley? Due your due diligence." Any optimism that was building at the start of the season is seemingly gone, as the team has officially dropped out of a playoff spot once again.

The injury list has continued to grow, with nearly a dozen players on the injury list, and it's clearly starting to wear on the healthy ones who are being overplayed. 

It just hasn't felt like anything has gone right for Toronto since that crazy win over Colorado, and that happened over a month ago. 

TFC haven't played on the road since a 1-0 win over Cincinnati back on matchday three, where a defensively solid performance mixed with a Dániel Sallói late winner gave Toronto its first win of the season.

Their other two road games didn't go as well, losing to Dallas and Vancouver. But now, they get to try and beat a struggling Charlotte team and get their season back on track ahead of the long layoff.

How Charlotte enter the match

It hasn't gone well for the Crown in recent weeks, and Wednesday's 1-0 home loss to NYCFC was another example of that.

A 2-2 comeback draw last weekend against Cincinnati is their only somewhat positive result in the past month, and that includes being knocked out of the U.S. Open Cup by Atlanta United.

While they still cling to the last playoff spot in the East, all the momentum from their 4-1-1 stretch in March to early-April is gone, and the juice with this team is just not quite there.

Typically under head coach Dean Smith, Charlotte has been a team that's been much better at home, and this trend has continued in 2026.

Even with them losing Wednesday at home, they've still collected three of their four home wins at Bank of America Stadium, and two of their three draws.

When it works, the Crown will be really stingy defensively while being ruthless in transition with tricky wingers like Wilfried Zaha and Kerwin Vargas.

They also rely a lot on star goalkeeper Kristijan Kahlina, who can win games on his own when he's really on form.

Overall, while this is a team out of form, they still hold some weapons that can be dangerous, and will be motivated to bump their own slump against a team struggling just as much in Toronto.

Availability

Toronto's long injury list seems close to shortening sometime soon, with Theo Corbeanu and Josh Sargent involved in full training this week, and Nicksoen Gomis making the bench last week for the first time in over a year.

Richie Laryea, Jules-Anthony Vilsaint, Djordje Mihailović, José Cifuentes, Benjamín Kuscevic, Henry Wingo and Matheus Pereira will all very likely remain out this weekend, and it would be a mild surprise to see any of them back before the World Cup break.

On the Charlotte side, Harry Toffolo and Henry Kessler should remain out due to injury, while Ashley Westwood will return from a yellow card accumulation suspension.

Projected XIs

TrueNorthFoot projects just one change on each side, with Westwood returning in the midfield for Charlotte, while Emilio Aristizábal gets the start for Toronto after scoring a brace off the bench last weekend.

Toronto FC (4-2-3-1): Luka Gavran; Raheem Edwards, Zane Monlouis, Walker Zimmerman, Kobe Franklin; Jonathan Osorio, Alonso Coelo; Dániel Sallói, Markus Cimermancic, Malik Henry; Emilio Aristizábal

Charlotte FC (4-2-3-1): Kristijan Kahlina; David Schnegg, Tim Ream, Morrison Agyemang, Nathan Byrne; Ashley Westwood, Djibril Diani; Wilfried Zaha, Pep Biel, Kerwin Vargas; Idan Toklomati

Game information and how to watch

📆 Saturday, May 16, 2026
⏰ 7:30 pm ET / 4:30 pm PT
📺 Apple TV / TSN 1 & 5 / RDS 2
🧑‍⚖️ Allen Chapman
🏟 Bank of America Stadium, Charlotte, United States