Kobe Franklin
Canadian soccer player
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Kobe Lloyd Franklin (born May 10, 2003) is a Canadian soccer player who plays as a defender for Toronto FC in Major League Soccer.
.jpg) Franklin with Toronto FC II in 2022 | |||
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Kobe Lloyd Franklin | ||
| Date of birth | May 10, 2003 | ||
| Place of birth | Toronto, Ontario, Canada | ||
| Height | 5 ft 8 in (1.73 m) | ||
| Position | Defender | ||
| Team information | |||
Current team | Toronto FC | ||
| Number | 19 | ||
| Youth career | |||
| Beach Community Soccer | |||
| Power Soccer | |||
| Evanston SC | |||
| 2012–2016 | Chicago Fire FC | ||
| 2017–2021 | Toronto FC | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 2018 | Toronto FC III | 1 | (1) |
| 2021–2022 | Toronto FC II | 44 | (4) |
| 2022 | → Toronto FC (loan) | 1 | (0) |
| 2023– | Toronto FC | 72 | (2) |
| 2025 | → Toronto FC II (loan) | 1 | (0) |
| International career‡ | |||
| 2019 | Canada U17 | 2 | (0) |
| 2022 | Canada U20 | 4 | (0) |
|
* Club domestic league appearances and goals as of May 9, 2026 ‡ National team caps and goals as of June 26, 2022 | |||
Early life
Born in Toronto, Franklin began playing soccer at age four with Beach Community Soccer.[1][2] Shortly after he began to play with Power Soccer Academy.[3] When he was 9, his family moved to Chicago, where he began playing with Evanston SC before quickly joining the academy of Major League Soccer club Chicago Fire.[3] He later returned to Toronto, joining the Toronto FC Academy in February 2017.[4]During his time in Toronto, he attended St. Denis Catholic School and Neil McNeil Catholic High School.[5]
Club career
He made his senior debut playing for the Senior Academy team, Toronto FC III, on August 19, 2018, in League1 Ontario against Ottawa South United, scoring a 94th minute goal, becoming the youngest ever goal scorer in League1 Ontario at the age of 15 years, 3 months.[6]
On May 13, 2021, he signed his first professional contract with Toronto FC II of USL League One to join the team for the 2021 season.[4] He made his debut for Toronto FC II on May 22, 2021, against North Texas SC.[7] He scored his first professional goal on August 18 against Forward Madison.[8] On October 1, he recorded two assists and set up a third goal (although was not credited with a third assist) in a 3–0 victory over North Carolina FC.[9] For the 2021 season, he was named a league First Team All-Star and was a finalist for both the USL League One Young Player of the Year and Defender of the Year awards.[10][11] He was subsequently invited to training camp with the first team ahead of the 2022 season (and once again for the 2023 season).[12]
On April 1, 2022, he joined the first team, Toronto FC on a short-term four-day loan.[13] He signed additional four day loans on April 23, May 4, and May 7.[14][15][16] He made his Major League Soccer debut on May 4, 2022, as a second-half substitute against FC Cincinnati.[17] In February 2023, he signed a two-year homegrown player contract with two option years with Toronto FC.[18][19] After a few substitute appearances, Franklin made his first start on April 29, 2023 against New York City FC.[20][21] On August 4, 2024, he scored his first goal for the club, netting the winning goal, in a 2-1 victory over Mexican side Pachuca in the 2024 Leagues Cup.[22][23] In 2025, he was loaned to the second team for some matches.[24] On April 18, 2026, he scored his first MLS goal, scoring the game-tying goal in a 3-3 draw with Austin FC.[25][26]
International career
Franklin represented the Canada U17 team at the 2019 FIFA U-17 World Cup.[27] In June 2022, he was named to the Canadian U-20 team for the 2022 CONCACAF U-20 Championship.[28]
Career statistics
- As of match played May 9, 2026[29]
| Club | Season | League | Playoffs | National cup | Continental | Other | Total | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
| Toronto FC III | 2018[30] | League1 Ontario | 1 | 1 | — | — | — | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | |||
| Toronto FC II | 2021 | USL League One | 24 | 2 | — | — | — | — | 24 | 2 | ||||
| 2022 | MLS Next Pro | 20 | 2 | 2 | 0 | — | — | — | 22 | 2 | ||||
| Total | 44 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 46 | 4 | ||
| Toronto FC (loan) | 2022 | Major League Soccer | 1 | 0 | — | 0 | 0 | — | — | 1 | 0 | |||
| Toronto FC | 2023 | 27 | 0 | — | 1 | 0 | — | 1[a] | 0 | 29 | 0 | |||
| 2024 | 21 | 0 | — | 5 | 0 | — | 2[a] | 1 | 28 | 1 | ||||
| 2025 | 15 | 0 | — | 1 | 0 | — | — | 16 | 0 | |||||
| 2026 | 9 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | — | — | 10 | 2 | ||||
| Total | 73 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 84 | 3 | ||
| Toronto FC II (loan) | 2025 | MLS Next Pro | 1 | 0 | – | – | – | – | 1 | 0 | ||||
| Career total | 119 | 7 | 2 | 0 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 132 | 8 | ||
- Appearance(s) in Leagues Cup