Toronto FC captain Jonathan Osorio during his team's season opener in Dallas last month. TFC lost that game 3-2.Brandon Wade/The Associated Press
If all goes well, Toronto FC captain Jonathan Osorio will celebrate his 34th birthday June 12 when co-host Canada kicks off its FIFA World Cup campaign against a yet-to-be decided European qualifier at BMO Field.
A home World Cup at his home stadium in his hometown. Not a bad trifecta.
Osorio has a more pressing milestone, however. On Saturday, the stylish midfielder can join a select few who have made 400 appearances for the same Major League Soccer club when Toronto plays host to the Columbus Crew.
With 399 appearances in all competitions, Osorio is 249 games ahead of Richie Laryea, the only other active player on the franchise’s top 10 list (at No. 10).
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Diego Chara, with 486 appearances for the Portland Timbers, and Graham Zusi, with 411 for Sporting Kansas City, are the only other MLS players to reach the 400-game milestone with the same club.
While not one for self-reflection, Osorio understands it’s something special.
“The way football is, in today’s game, there’s a lot of business and a lot of factors that make it maybe a little more difficult for players to stay in one place,” he said in an interview. “I’ve luckily had the [good] fortune to do that – 400 games. You think about where the time went. It’s crazy.”
Osorio has quietly carved a stellar soccer career. Technically gifted, he knows where to be and what to do when he gets there.
Those skills have allowed him to score in each of his 13 previous seasons. And with 30 games remaining in the current campaign, he is likely to extend that record.
Osorio scored his 50th MLS regular-season goal in May, 2025, joining former star forward Sebastian Giovinco as the only players in club history to reach the 50 goal-50 assist milestone.
Osorio looks to close down Justin Che of the New York Red Bulls as Toronto FC battled to a 1-1 draw in its home opener at BMO Field last Saturday in Toronto.Vaughn Ridley/Getty Images
With 69 goals for TFC in all competitions from his midfield role, Osorio ranks third on the franchise all-time scoring list behind Giovinco (83) and Jozy Altidore (79).
He has scored goals in difficult places against difficult opponents. Osorio can count goals for both club and country at Mexico’s storied Azteca Stadium.
Osorio was named the eighth captain in TFC history in January, 2024, succeeding the retired Michael Bradley (now coach of Red Bull New York).
It‘s a role he takes seriously.
Times have been tough of late for Toronto, which last made the playoffs in 2020. While the current club rebuild seems promising, the glory days of 2017 – when the club won the MLS Cup, Supporters’ Shield and Canadian Championship – are a distant memory.
In October, 2024, after a 4-1 loss to the visiting Red Bulls – a defeat that all but ended the team’s slim playoff hopes – Osorio left the field after the final whistle to hear it from disgruntled fans in the south stand of BMO Field.
“It’s not easy but as the captain, in these hard times … I felt I needed to do that,” Osorio said later.
He has been willing to endure the bad to get to the good.
“I’m one of the people that kept believing here, kept trying to do the right things,” he said.
“It’s easy to be at a club or support a club when it’s all good and dandy. But it’s something when you stay in the dark times and you go through it. … I’m proud of that.”
Toronto head coach Robin Fraser raves about his captain, noting Osorio’s growth since he first met him a decade ago.
“Tons of skill, really petulant, really emotional, but certainly a promising, promising future,” the coach recalled. “And as I look at him today, he can still do everything physically that he could do back then – he can run as much, he’s got the same skill.
“But now it’s paired with [13] years of experience and his decision-making is so much better. It’s elite. ... He has matured so much that there is no scenario that seems unfamiliar to him.”
Fraser is Osorio’s eighth coach in Toronto. He started under Ryan Nelsen and went on to work under Greg Vanney, Chris Armas, Javier Pérez, Bob Bradley, Terry Dunfield and John Herdman before Fraser.
Ironically, Osorio replaced Dunfield when he made his TFC debut off the bench in the 82nd minute of a 2-1 win over Sporting Kansas City on March 9, 2013, at the Rogers Centre.
Canada head coach Jesse Marsch is also an unabashed fan of Osorio, who has won 87 caps for his country since making his senior debut at the age of 20.
“Oso’s experience, his stability, his mentality, his personality, he brings so much to the group,” Marsch said. “He’s another guy that we’re going to rely on entirely.”
Osorio is greeted by kids of a soccer camp during the kit unveiling for the Canadian Men's National Team ahead of the 2026 FIFA World Cup, in Toronto last Monday.Cole Burston/The Globe and Mail
Osorio has worked hard to get where he is.
As teenagers, Osorio and friend Lucas Cavallini headed to South America after earning tryouts with Uruguay’s Club Nacional.
While both speak fluent Spanish – Osorio’s parents were born in Colombia while Cavallini’s father is originally from Argentina – it was not an easy transition. They lived in dormitory-style accommodations with Uruguayan juniors who initially saw them as foreign intruders looking to take their jobs.
The experience made Osorio grow both as a person and player.
“I still use and take with me things that I learned there,” he said.
Cavallini also made the most of the experience. The burly forward has won 40 caps for Canada and now plays in Mexico for Puebla.
Returning to Toronto, Osorio joined the Toronto FC academy in September, 2012. And the following February, he impressed Nelsen enough in pre-season in Florida to stick with the first team.
“It was do-or-die, really,” Osorio recalled. “Football was happening for me now or it was not happening. It put me in a pressure situation but honestly it brought the best out of me.”
Osorio has since turned down chances to play overseas – he came close on two occasions, he acknowledges.
He said no for different reasons both times, opting to keep the specifics private.
“For me, for my footballing career and for my family, what was the best thing? And the grass is not always greener.”
TFC’s offers were good enough to keep him at home, close to family and friends.
Fraser is happy to have him.
“I think in a lot of ways, his intensity drives the team, which I think is pretty impressive considering how long he’s been here. … It’s incredible that he is every bit as passionate as he was when he was 23. And so much better, because of all of the maturity that’s come with it.”
Away from the pitch, Osorio and long-time girlfriend Michelle tied the knot on New Year’s Eve in Elora, Ont.
His contract is up at the end of the season, so the future has yet to be determined. But one thing is for sure.
Toronto is home. “Always,” he said.