CF Montreal fires head coach Marco Donadel after terrible start to season

TL;DR

CF Montreal has fired head coach Marco Donadel following a poor start to the season, leaving the team at the bottom of the MLS standings. Philippe Eullaffroy will serve as interim head coach while the club searches for a permanent replacement.

Marco Donadel could not pull Montreal out of their current spiral. Photograph: Ira L Black/Getty Images (Photograph: Ira L Black/Getty Images) CF Montreal have fired head coach Marco Donadel, the club announced on Sunday. The move comes after Saturday’s 2-1 loss against the Philadelphia Union kept the club joint-bottom of the MLS standings. Philippe Eullaffroy, who rejoined the club this year as an assistant coach after founding the club’s academy in 2010, will serve as interim head coach “until a permanent head coach is hired,” the club said in a brief statement. Related: MLS commissioner: Fifa ‘smart’ to use dynamic pricing for World Cup tickets Montreal have been one of the worst teams in MLS this season after finishing tied for second-worst in the league in 2025. Last season Montreal also started poorly under head coach Laurent Courtois, who was fired on 24 March of that year and replaced by Donadel. Donadel won just seven of his 42 games in all competitions with the club, eight if you count a win on penalties against Toronto FC in last season’s Canadian Championship cup competition. Donadel’s firing continues the club’s habit of short managerial tenures. No manager has led the club for more than 92 matches since they entered MLS in 2012, with Mauro Biello holding that particular record. Each of the last three managers the club have hired since losing Wilfried Nancy to the Columbus Crew has stuck around for 40 games or fewer. Under longtime owner Joey Saputo, the club have for years struggled to compete seriously in the new financial realities of MLS. But the 2026 offseason looked to be especially weak from the outset. The club made few player moves of consequence after missing the playoffs in 2025, with their most expensive addition being defender Brayan Vera, whom they acquired from Real Salt Lake for $1.2m in general allocation money. The club also brought in Iván Jaime from Porto and MLS veteran Frankie Amaya from Tolouca, but both are on loan. Montreal gave up 19 goals in their opening seven matches of the campaign, with their only win being a 3-0 romp over the New York Red Bulls. Donadel isn’t the only name departing the club after another disastrous start. The club announced that assistants Jacopo Falanga and Lorenzo Pinzauti were also let go, leaving Eullaffroy short-staffed as Montreal prepare to host the New York Red Bulls next weekend.

Q&A

Why was Marco Donadel fired as head coach of CF Montreal?

Marco Donadel was fired after a disappointing start to the season, with the team sitting joint-bottom of the MLS standings and having won only one match out of seven.

Who will be the interim head coach for CF Montreal after Donadel's dismissal?

Philippe Eullaffroy, an assistant coach who rejoined the club this year, will serve as the interim head coach until a permanent replacement is found.

What has been CF Montreal's performance in the current MLS season?

CF Montreal has struggled significantly, conceding 19 goals in their first seven matches and securing only one victory, which was a 3-0 win against the New York Red Bulls.