From the BMO Field stands to the pitch, Kosi Thompson had always dreamed of it.
Growing up in Toronto, Thompson had been a regular at Toronto FC games, even before he joined the club's academy. Yet few moments rival in 2016 when Didier Drogba visited with CF Montréal for an Audi MLS Cup Playoffs match.
For the now 21-year-old, that formative moment still stands out.
“I lived at the TFC games; it was one of my favorite things to do growing up,” Thompson told MLSsoccer.com. “I was a huge Chelsea fan too, so to see Drogba when he was at Montréal, and to see a playoff game, it was absolutely incredible.”
Thompson now finds himself on the same pitch, looking to help the Reds return to the levels they reached with MLS Cup runs in 2016 and 2017.
His road to the TFC first team has been a steady rise for a homegrown player, though not without adversity.
Academy to first team
While Thompson's initial competitive years came with the highly-touted Vaughan Azzurri on the city's outskirts, he attended the TFC Academy trials at 11 and joined that season.
After captaining several youth teams and advancing through TFC II, he signed a first-team MLS contract in 2022. He has since made 61 regular-season appearances as the 29th homegrown player in club history.
“Making the switch to the academy was different in terms of the setup from being at a club like Vaughan, with the facilities, the training grounds, and the coaching,” Thompson said. “But I would actually say that I carried myself in a professional manner as a child, so I felt like I thrived in that environment.”
Although the academy proved a significant shift, Thompson didn’t lose track of his roots as a Toronto native. Despite many of the academy players going to schools with agreements with the club, he opted to stay at his school and within his community while chasing his TFC dream.
It came with its own challenges, though. Some teachers didn’t love his soccer pursuits. While schools with club agreements often have programs for young athletes, Thompson had to make his own, pushing off suggestions of having to choose between the classroom and the pitch.
“I'm a born and raised boy in Toronto, so I stuck at the schools I was at, and it made it a bit harder in terms of having my priorities correct, but I think I was able to balance it pretty well,” he said.
“It was a tricky experience; sometimes teachers said I needed to choose one or the other, which was pretty discouraging, but I knew what I wanted in my life and where I wanted to be in the next few years. I mainly focused on football, and that was my biggest priority.”
Living on his own for the first time after years with roommates, he hasn’t forgotten his roots as a Toronto boy, even if he’s in the same surroundings as the large family he grew up in.
No distractions
Thompson’s journey may have followed the traditional path for MLS homegrown players, but few have had to develop in a foreign country amid a pandemic.
With border restrictions between Canada and the US through the COVID-19 pandemic, his first season as a pro in 2021 came with TFC II initially making their “home” in Arizona and Florida.
“It was really different and a bit odd because you’re living with the guys 24/7; it was about five months where I was just really able to dial in and have no outside distractions, and just really put my head down and work,” he said, as the team returned to Toronto for the final few games of the season.
“I also made some amazing friendships with guys that I play with now, guys that I played with in the past, and guys that are at other places now.”
Spending most of his time as a midfielder in the second team, Thompson quickly made an impact and earned himself an MLS contract the following season. His rise came alongside several of his academy teammates, including Jahkeele Marshall-Rutty, now with Montréal, as well as DeAndre Kerr and Hugo Mbongue.
CanMNT aspirations
While he thrived during his MLS debut season in 2022, scoring his first goal against Real Salt Lake in an early-season clash, Thompson quickly added a third country to his developmental path in 2023 – Norway – and a loan spell with top-flight Lillestrøm SK.
For a young player, Norway’s physicality and moving to a new culture came with a sharp learning curve. He also suffered an injury while overseas.
“I really learned that it’s a man's game,” he said.
“Over there it’s very old school, and so being able to find that fine line between having to do the dirty work and get very physical and run yourself to the ground, and finding a good balance between that and being calm and patient on the ball, I feel like I came away with a good understanding.”
His experiences paid off this season, as he’s settled into a new-look TFC side, often playing in a wide center back role that's deeper than his usual midfield duties under head coach John Herdman. Still, he’s thriving as a young Canadian under a legendary coach for Canada Soccer, keeping his CanMNT dreams alive.
“I felt like my profile fit that position, and I obviously love the middle, but it's good to know that I'm versatile enough to play another position if need be,” Thompson said. “I’m born in Toronto, and it’s one of the biggest hot spots in Canada for football, so I would love to represent the national team... It's just about being patient and putting the work in to get there.”
