Toronto FC was founded in 2005 and began competing in Major League Soccer in 2007, making the club the first Canadian franchise in the league's history. Based in Toronto, Ontario, the team plays its home matches at BMO Field in Exhibition Place — a soccer-specific stadium completed just before the club's debut season. The club is owned and operated by Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment (MLSE), one of Canada's most prominent sports conglomerates, which also oversees the Toronto Maple Leafs, Toronto Raptors, and Toronto Argonauts.
The defining moment in the club's history came in 2017, when Toronto FC achieved a domestic treble — winning the MLS Cup, the Supporters' Shield, and the Canadian Championship in the same calendar year. This feat made them the first and only MLS club ever to accomplish it. The path to that triumph included a heartbreaking MLS Cup final loss to Seattle Sounders on penalties in 2016, which made the 2017 championship all the more meaningful. The club has also won the Canadian Championship eight times in total, cementing its dominance in that competition.
Beyond MLS, Toronto reached the final of the 2018 CONCACAF Champions League, finishing as runners-up. The club's cross-border identity — a Canadian team competing in a predominantly American league — gives it a distinct character within MLS. Rivalries with fellow Canadian sides CF Montréal and Vancouver Whitecaps, contested in part through the Canadian Championship, form a natural pillar of the club's identity. The 2020s have seen a period of rebuilding following the highs of the late 2010s.