Toronto FC finally has some momentum heading into Toronto Vs Inter Miami. After going winless in 12 straight MLS matches, Toronto beat the New England Revolution last weekend and then came from two goals down to draw Charlotte FC on Wednesday while playing with 10 men.
That small surge has moved Toronto up to 11th in the Eastern Conference, but it is still two spots and three points below the playoff line with 14 matches left. Saturday night now offers the hardest possible test of that recovery, against Lionel Messi and Inter Miami, the defending MLS Cup champion and the team that sits second in the overall league table.
The reason the matchup keeps drawing attention is Messi himself. He has 13 goals and nine assists in 17 appearances in 2026, and he has already been decisive against Toronto FC since arriving in MLS in 2023. In five matches against Toronto, he has three goals and two assists, including one goal and two assists in Miami’s 4-2 win at BMO Field in May.
Toronto’s recent progress gives the trip some edge, and it has a name attached to it. Markus Cimermancic scored his first career goal for Toronto FC in the midweek draw against Charlotte FC, a reminder that the club is finding contributions from new places as it tries to stay in the race. But the gap remains stark: Inter Miami is 22 places and 18 points ahead of Toronto in the league table, and it just came off a 2-2 road draw against the Philadelphia Union in which Messi again scored and assisted.
That is why the matchup feels less like a reset than a test of whether Toronto’s two-game improvement can travel. Robin Fraser has called Messi the greatest to ever play the game, and Djordje Mihailovic said he makes it look like he is playing in a park. Toronto will need more than encouragement to turn that respect into a result, because the next answer to this story comes on Saturday night in Miami, where a playoff chase can either sharpen or slip.
