It was a hot, humid evening in South Florida that welcomed the visitors from the north on Saturday night. The game would mark Toronto FC's first visit to Miami's Nu Stadium. With games dwindling and a two-game unbeaten run over the past week, Toronto FC were hungry for points. That hunger was satiated with an improbable 2-1 victory over their hosts.
Inter Miami FC entered the match in uneven form, with their last win nearly a month ago. Despite a star-studded line-up featuring Lionel Messi, Luis Suárez, Rodrigo de Paul, and new signing Casemiro, the Herons were dumped from the Leagues Cup earlier this month and have failed to impress in the league of late.
XI in the 305 🌴
— Toronto FC (@TorontoFC) August 22, 2026
Watch on @AppleTV 📺: https://t.co/7a1d2BbNJb pic.twitter.com/NVZ571h1UN
Robin Fraser made four changes from midweek, as Theo Corbeanu, Walker Zimmerman, Niklas Dorsch, and Jackson Gilman made way for Derrick Etienne Jr, Zane Monlouis, Đorđe Mihailović, and Kobe Franklin.
Los elegidos para esta noche 🌙📋 pic.twitter.com/GxbFJGgQ2n
— Inter Miami CF (@InterMiamiCF) August 22, 2026
For Miami manager Guillermo Hoyos, Germán Berterame returned to the Herons' XI after time on the sidelines due to injury, and Rodrigo de Paul was also back from a suspension for yellow-card accumulation.
From the opening minute, Toronto started quickly, and Dániel Sallói was well positioned with the ball inside Miami's area but hesitated between shooting and passing and was quickly dispossessed. Despite leading TFC in goals this season, Sallói had not found the back of the net of late and looked every bit a player low on confidence.
Toronto looked, albeit briefly, to have taken an 11th-minute lead, but Etienne Jr.'s return pass on a one-two with Richie Laryea was late, and the TFC captain on the night was well offside. The Reds looked the more dangerous of the two sides early in the match.
The Herons came close to grabbing the opener in the 19th minute when a reckless pass by Kobe Franklin was intercepted, with the ball finding its way to Suárez alone at the top of the box with no one between him and Luka Gavran. Fortunately, Suárez's shot was well wide of the post — a play the veteran striker will be replaying in his head for some time.
In the 26th minute, Miami were forced to go to their bench after an injury to centre-back Gonzalo Luján, with Facundo Mura brought on to replace him.
Miami had a dangerous opportunity in the 36th minute as Berterame was fed a low cross in front of goal but was well defended by Monlouis. The TFC centre-back made just enough contact for the Miami striker to mishit the ball well wide of Gavran's net.
A minute later, Laryea was shown the first yellow card of the evening by referee Ismail Elfath, though replays suggested the contact on de Paul barely merited a foul, let alone a caution.
Just minutes before halftime, Etienne Jr was sent through almost unopposed, but his shot sailed harmlessly over Dayne St. Clair's net. Fortunately for the Haitian international, the assistant referee's flag was already raised on the play.
KOBE ON 🔒 pic.twitter.com/3ColYcrsoh
— Toronto FC (@TorontoFC) August 23, 2026
The first half ended scoreless as both sides took a cautious, low-risk approach. Neither side's attack could really muster much in the way of chances, with the opposing defences smothering the likes of Sargent at one end and Messi at the other.
Miami held the advantage in possession with 59% and in xG with 0.70 to Toronto's 0.13. Neither keeper faced any shots of real consequence in the half.
Both managers were content to begin the second half as they had finished the first, despite neither side showing much conviction in wanting the win.
Neither side looked to take control in the opening minutes of the second half as both traded chances that flattered to deceive. But it was Miami who were beginning to show signs of frustration with how the game was proceeding.
In the 53rd minute, Casemiro earned a place in the referee's book with a hard foul on Josh Sargent. Not two minutes later, Sargent was fouled again from a dangerous spot just outside the Miami area. Unfortunately for the Reds, the ensuing set piece from Mihailović found only a Miami wall and was harmlessly dealt with by the hosts.
In the 58th minute, Miami manager Hoyos made his second substitution of the match, with defender Noah Allen replacing Sergio Reguilón.
The deadlock was finally broken in the 59th minute when Josh Sargent was inexplicably left unchallenged on the edge of the Miami box and threaded a low shot through several Miami defenders and past Dayne St. Clair, who appeared to pick up the ball too late to react. It was Sargent's first goal since before the World Cup break. Dániel Sallói earned his fourth assist of the season on the play.
LEFT FOOTED BANGER!!!!!! pic.twitter.com/VQbyLbCL68
— Toronto FC (@TorontoFC) August 23, 2026
Toronto continued to press Miami with some excellent transition play. Etienne Jr then doubled the lead in the 62nd minute when Inter Miami's notoriously porous back line was shredded by a Toronto counter-attack. St. Clair cleared the initial low cross from Mihailović, but there were no Miami defenders to see the ball out of danger as Etienne Jr deposited his third goal of 2026 for the rampaging Reds.
ANOTHER ONE for Toronto. They double their lead over Miami. 😳 pic.twitter.com/EQw8e7DMkT
— Major League Soccer (@MLS) August 23, 2026
Somewhat against the run of play, the visitors from Toronto had taken a smash-and-grab 2-0 lead. The hosts looked visibly shaken. Should the Reds' lead hold, it would be Toronto's first-ever win in Miami.
Robin Fraser took the opportunity to go to his bench for his first substitution of the game in the 65th minute, as a tiring Sallói was replaced by Matheus Pereira.
Hoyos then rolled the dice and made a triple change in the 73rd minute, with Suárez, Casemiro, and Telasco Segovia making way for Lovens Delinois, David Ayala, and Dániel Pintér.
Fraser responded a few minutes later, going to his bench in the 77th minute as Sargent was relieved by Theo Corbeanu.
The fresh legs gradually swung momentum in the hosts' favour and pressure on Toronto's defence began to mount. Ultimately, the Reds' bid for a clean sheet was ended just before the 82nd minute as de Paul threaded a perfect pass through the TFC back line for Messi to run onto and finish with a first-time shot past Gavran.
RDP --> Messi
— Major League Soccer (@MLS) August 23, 2026
The duo pulls one back for Miami. 🇦🇷 pic.twitter.com/VANgx32R1q
With Miami having clawed a goal back and time running down, Fraser made two more changes, withdrawing Etienne Jr and Mihailović and introducing defenders Nicksoen Gomis and Jackson Gilman to see out the game.
As regular time concluded, an astonishing eight minutes of added time was signalled — a seeming eternity for tiring TFC legs, with Miami ramping up the tempo in pursuit of an equalizer.
TFC's keeper was kept busy in the closing minutes. Gavran confidently collected a powerful long-range drive from David Ayala in the second minute of added time.
With the Herons pushing bodies forward, a TFC counter-attack in the fifth minute of added time saw Corbeanu, the lone Red not defending deep, about to beat his man in midfield before being heavily fouled by David Ayala, who earned a yellow card for the takedown.
Miami continued to press their attack in the final minutes as Toronto dangerously invited pressure and eschewed possession. However, as the final whistle blew, it was Gavran and the Reds' defence that prevailed for their historic first win in South Florida. Central defenders Zane Monlouis and Benjamín Kuscevic were massive for Toronto's back line on the night.
There had been much discussion in Miami about removing the interim tag from manager Hoyos heading into the World Cup break, but the team has looked anything but defending MLS champions in the five weeks since league play resumed. While it may be a little soon to hit the panic button in Miami, the Herons have not looked unbeatable of late, and pressure could be building within the club.
Toronto could arguably be said to have earned their most impressive win of the 2026 season, catching an out-of-sync Inter Miami off guard in their own stadium. It was a complete team effort, smothering Miami's vaunted attack in the first half, taking their limited chances to snatch a quick lead in the middle of the second half, and then absorbing heavy pressure to see out the final 30 minutes.
Robin Fraser acknowledged the job well done in his post-game press conference, remarking: "I thought it was a very complete performance that required a lot of guys to dig in and really work hard."
The manager was particularly pleased with how defensively Toronto contained Messi, stating: "I thought our guys did a tremendous job of getting around him and just not making it easy for him."
Defender Kobe Franklin echoed his coach's sentiment, describing the game as "such a, such a gritty performance from the squad — feels so good to pull out a result like this over here, and such a crucial point in our season."
Toronto's win, combined with other results, puts them level on points with Orlando City and DC United at 24, but with Orlando City holding the final play-in spot on goal difference. Next up for the Reds will be another clash with New York City FC, who currently sit seventh in the Eastern Conference but just two points ahead. That game is back at BMO Field in Toronto on Saturday evening, 29 August 2026.
