By Canadian Press

Toronto FC no stranger to playing Champions League soccer in frigid conditions

Feb 25, 2019 | 2:51 PM

TORONTO — With more than three weeks before spring officially starts, winter will be in full force when Toronto FC hosts Panama’s Club Atletico Independiente de la Chorrera in CONCACAF Champions League round-of-16 play Tuesday.

The low for Tuesday night will feel like -16 C, according to weather forecasts.

But Toronto FC is no stranger to ice bowls, having endured frigid conditions in last year’s Champions League round-of-16 tie in Commerce City, Colo.

The Feb. 20 contest against the Colorado Rapids at Dick’s Sporting Goods Park was one of the coldest involving an MLS club, with a game-time temperature of three degrees Fahrenheit (-16 C), according to the U.S. National Weather Service.

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Toronto won that leg 2-0, tying the return match 0-0 on Feb. 27 at BMO Field, where the conditions were more hospitable in the high single-digits (Celsius). 

Major League Soccer does not track non-MLS competitions in its full database. But there have been some notably cold MLS games.

The temperature for Minnesota United’s inaugural home opener March 12, 2017, against Atlanta at TFC Bank Stadium was 19 degrees Fahrenheit (-7.2 C), A year later, it was the same temperature when Atlanta came to visit on March 31.

The 2013 MLS Cup between host Sporting Kansas City and Real Salt Lake was played in 20-degree (-6.7 C) conditions at Children’s Mercy Park.

The 2016 MLS Cup at BMO Field, played Dec. 10 between Toronto and Seattle, had a kickoff temperature of -2 C. It was 1 C a year later in Toronto when TFC defeated Seattle to hoist the MLS Cup.

The Canadian Press