CF Montreal eliminated from MLS playoffs after disastrous season
The club was officially knocked out after a home loss to Nashville, capping a week that included a Canadian Championship final defeat.
MONTREAL · CF Montreal was officially eliminated from MLS playoff contention on Saturday after a 2-0 home loss to Nashville SC. The defeat capped a calamitous week that included an embarrassing penalty shootout loss to lower-tier Forge FC in the Canadian Championship final. Montreal has won just two of its 17 matches since the league resumed in mid-July, sitting near the bottom of the Eastern Conference for most of the year. If not for Sporting Kansas City's struggles, Montreal would be in last place in the entire league.
The loss to Forge, a Canadian Premier League club with a salary budget of C$1,337,500, was a particular low point for a Montreal side with a player payroll of roughly US$13.4 million. Star designated player Alexis Sánchez was an unused substitute in that final, raising questions about his signing. The aging Chilean attacker has been a bust in MLS, with just one assist and no goals in 12 appearances since joining as a free agent in August, and now reportedly wants to opt out of his contract. One of the club's leading supporters' groups, 1642MTL, is so fed up it has decided to go on strike for the remainder of the season. "The accumulation of failures over the past two, if not three, seasons, both on and off the pitch, leaves us with no choice but to question our efforts, our commitment to (the club), and even the future of 1642MTL itself," the group wrote in a statement posted on social media.
Montreal began its season with six losses in its first seven games, leading to the firing of coach Marco Donadel. Interim boss Philippe Eullaffroy is the club's 11th coach since its 2012 debut, with only four lasting 50 games in MLS. Player investment has also been an issue, as Montreal's payroll of US$13,418,254 was the third lowest in MLS as of April. The club has not spent a substantial transfer fee on a designated player since Nacho Piatti in 2014, with most subsequent DPs being busts.
In July 2025, the club published an open letter to fans acknowledging poor results and announcing a franchise rebuild. "We have not met the standards we set for ourselves, nor those you have the right to expect. That is why we felt the need to communicate with you directly today," the letter stated. It was signed by president and CEO Gabriel Gervais and Joey Saputo's sons, Luca and Simone, who serve as senior directors, but the Saputo brothers have been unable to turn things around.
With files from Sportsnet