Kobe Lloyd Franklin (born May 10, 2003) is a Canadian

soccer Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...

player who plays as a defender for Toronto FC in

Major League Soccer Major League Soccer (MLS) is a men's professional soccer league sanctioned by the United States Soccer Federation, which represents the sport's highest level in the United States. The league comprises 29 teams—26 in the U.S. and 3 in Canada ...

Early life

Born in Toronto, Franklin began playing soccer at age four with Beach Community Soccer. Shortly after he began to play with Power Soccer Academy. When he was 9, his family moved to Chicago, where he began playing with Evanston SC before quickly joining the academy of

club Chicago Fire. He later returned to Toronto, joining the Toronto FC Academy in February 2017.

Club career

He made his senior debut playing for the Senior Academy team,

Toronto FC III Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most pop ...

, on August 19, 2018, in League1 Ontario against

Ottawa South United Ottawa South United is a Canadian semi-professional soccer team based in Manotick, Ontario, a community in the rural south part of Ottawa that plays in the Première Ligue de soccer du Québec. The club previously competed in League1 Ontario. ...

, scoring a 94th minute goal, becoming the youngest ever goal scorer in League1 Ontario at the age of 15 years, 3 months. 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. He made his debut for Toronto FC II on May 22, 2021, against North Texas SC. He scored his first professional goal on August 18 against Forward Madison. 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. For the 2021 season, he was a finalist for both the USL League One Young Player of the Year and Defender of the Year awards. He was subsequently invited to training camp with the first team ahead of the 2022 season (and once again for the 2023 season). On April 1, 2022, he joined the first team, Toronto FC on a short-term four-day loan. He signed additional four day loans on April 23, May 4, and May 7. He made his

debut on May 4, as a second half substitute against FC Cincinnati. In February 2023, he signed a two-year homegrown player contract with two option years with Toronto FC. After a few substitute appearances, Franklin made his first start on April 29 against New York City FC.

International career

Franklin represented the Canada U17 team at the

2019 FIFA U-17 World Cup The 2019 FIFA U-17 World Cup was the 18th edition of the FIFA U-17 World Cup, the biennial international men's youth association football, football championship contested by the under-17 national teams of the member associations of FIFA. It was ...

. In June 2022, he was named to the Canadian U-20 team for the

2022 CONCACAF U-20 Championship The 2022 CONCACAF Under-20 Championship will be the 7th edition of the CONCACAF Under-20 Championship (28th edition if all eras included), the men's under-20 international football tournament organized by CONCACAF. It will be hosted in Honduras, ...

Career statistics

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Franklin, Kobe 2003 births Living people Canadian men's soccer players Men's association football defenders Soccer players from Toronto Toronto FC players Toronto FC II players Canada men's youth international soccer players MLS Next Pro players USL League One players Major League Soccer players Homegrown Players (MLS)