Table of Contents
The Chicago Fire faced the Columbus Crew, the team that took them down 4-2 in their season opener and walked away with a 2-0 victory at the end of the night. The win – the second multi-goal win and second clean sheet in a row for the Fire against a playoff-bound team – highlights the Fire's progress since that game back in February.
Here's five things we learned from the team's sixth win at home of the campaign – a win which guarantees that the Fire will end the season without a losing record at home.
1) The Fire still haven’t hit their peak
A week after the Fire played some of the best football we’ve seen from the team all year in Minnesota, the Fire reached an even higher level back at Soldier Field against the Columbus Crew.
In the first half, the Fire prevented the Crew from taking a single shot as the team outpossessed 58% to 42% and outpassed them 267 to 200. That’s rare against the possession-heavy, intricate passing soccer that Wilfred Nancy has his side play. The Fire almost doubled Columbus’s number of passes in the opposition half and they had 21 touches in the opposition box compared to just two for the Crew. They had a goal and they also had a couple called off before that.
In the second half, Columbus grew into the game and had a couple legitimate chances, including a shot by Hugo Picard from near the penalty spot, forcing Chris Brady to make an excellent save to keep the clean sheet. Overall, however, this felt like a game where the Fire were in control throughout.
It’s fair to say that Columbus were shorthanded and Minnesota were heavily rotated, the fact is, the Fire can only play the teams in front of them.
It’s also fair to say that the Fire still have room to improve and might not have peaked yet: Playing out of a 3-5-2 has gotten the team results but they haven’t yet figured out how to get the most out of their talented wingers when they tuck inside in that formation.
Whether the next step in the climb up comes from the team continuing to grow into a back five formation and get more out of some of the attacking pieces or whether it comes from adding wrinkles playing out of a back four, there’s reason to believe that the team still hasn’t hit its peak.
2) Many guys on this squad had something to prove – and they’re proving it
Late in 2024, Philadelphia Union announced they had declined the option on Jack Elliott’s contract for 2025. Weeks later, André Franco would make his first of four starts for FC Porto in the 24-25 season after only playing 122 minutes in the first four months of the year. Before joining the Fire, Jonathan Bamba was seen as expendable by Celta Vigo, his previous club. Jonathan Dean had his option for 2025 picked up and needed to prove himself for his 3rd coach since arriving in Chicago in 2023.
Earlier that fall, Philip Zinckernagel had returned from a loan in Belgium and was playing his role in Bodø/Glimt’s Europa League Run – his second stint at the Norwegian club. The Danish winger initially left Bodø after spending three years there on a free transfer back in 2021, and since then, had yet to play stay in one club – and seldom in one country – for more than a single season. In January, Djé D’Avilla was returning from a loan in the third tier of Portuguese football, unable to find minutes with mid table second division side UD Leiria.
If the season ended today, all six would be starting for Chicago Fire in the opening playoff round.
Full credit to the players, and their hard work. But credit also needs to go to the front office and scouting staff. While some fans lamented that the Fire failed to land a superstar DPs in Neymar this winter and Kevin de Bruyne in the summer, Gregg Berhalter and his staff have done an excellent job finding players that have performed very well in MLS – often on far more affordable, cap-friendly contracts.
Philip Zinckernagel, on a TAM deal, has 27 goal contributions on the year, one shy of Nemanja NIkolić’s record of 28 for most in a single season by a Fire player. André Franco, playing in the No. 10 attacking midfield spot that would have been de Bruyne’s, has quickly shown his worth – again, on a cap friendly TAM deal that leaves the Fire with the option to add a coveted Designated Player (DP) in the winter or next year while keeping the Portuguese midfielder in the squad.
Even Jonathan Bamba, the lone DP that the team brought in over the past season, has been performing. Although he may not feature as much on the score sheet as Zinckernagel – although five goals and nine assists isn’t too shabby, nor is it far off from his career high – he has been a key player for the Fire. He and fellow DP Hugo Cuypers have consistently been doing the dirty work you don’t typically expect to see from DP forwards and attackers.
Flash forward to the summer, and André Franco has gone from an underutilized attacking midfielder from FC Porto to someone that looks like he will be a key performer for the Fire in the postseason. He has four assists in four games since making his debut against Philadelphia in August, and it wouldn’t be overstepping to say he may have played the biggest part in the late season surge we’ve seen in recent weeks.
Improvements haven’t just come from new arrivals. Players like Andrew Gutman, who has set multiple career highs already, including starts (31), assists (10) and goal contributions (13) en route to finally fulfilling the expectations placed on him as young player.
Segio Oregel Jr., has finally translated his success with the USYNT system to starts and playing time, after spending the two years since his MLS debut without seeing the pitch with the first team. Even players like Jonathan Dean and Sam Rogers, both of whom have largely been seen as depth pieces, playing some of the best games of their MLS careers and have performed well as starters when called upon.
All of these players came to the 2025 Chicago Fire with something to prove – and they’re proving it, as the team already has 18 points more than their total last season with three games left to play.
3) The Fire now have real depth and bench options
Throughout the 2025 season we’ve talked at length about some of the development we’ve seen from homegrown players. Oregel was a mainstay for the Fire throughout much of the season. Mauricio Pineda’s return as a full-time midfielder after time shuttling between the middle of the pitch and center back has rejuvenated his career, excelling in more of a classic six role and earning himself a fresh contract in Chicago. And Brian Gutiérrez had played some of the best soccer we’ve seen from him after moving to a deeper-lying position in the midfield.
All three have started over 15 games this season and performed well when called upon. None started in a dominant 2-0 win Saturday over Columbus, the second time they were on the bench at kickoff.
With that trio on the bench alongside Maren Haile-Selassie, it finally feels like the Fire have real attacking options that can be relied upon to change the game when called upon off the bench. In addition, they have a World Cup veteran midfielder in Kellyn Acosta alongside a quality player in Rominigue Kouamé to provide stability the defensive end of the midfield.
Options that can change the tenor and pace of a game off the bench? That is a luxury that the Fire just have not had in recent seasons. Having quality substitutes is a hallmark of teams with trophy aspirations, and although the Fire may not yet be in that category, this is a big sign that they’re moving in that direction.
4) The moment is hitting differently for different players
By the time the final whistle blew at Soldier Field, it was clear that the Fire’s magic number was two – meaning they have a chance to clinch a spot in the postseason when they face Inter Miami on Tuesday. No “with help from,” or “depending on results elsewhere.” Just a simple, if the Fire win against Miami, they are in the postseason.
That isn’t a position that the Fire have typically been in during recent years. Although a significant part of the squad is new (with several players coming from outside of North American sports culture where the postseason determines the champion), about half of the team is returning.
For Elliott, coming from Philadelphia where the playoffs were an expectation, that means maintaining an incremental, take-each-game-as-it-comes approach. “Yeah, I think it's just to take it as another game and you can climb a little bit higher, and hopefully get a home game for the playoffs, and we'll go from there,” the team captain said following the 2-0 win against Columbus.
For Chris Brady, with the team his entire professional career but without being able to see the postseason yet, being in a win-and-you’re-in spot is a motivating factor. “I think knowing that [the team can clinch against Miami], it changes the mentality for everybody,” the Fire goalkeeper said Saturday night. “We're going to come into Tuesday flying. I think, just that fact, that's crazy. I think, what was it, two years ago? If we beat NYCFC? But yeah, I know the boys are going to be flying and myself included. I’m getting hyped up for this game.”
The reality is that different players use different types of motivation, but either way, expect the team to be prepared to meet the moment on Tuesday.
5) The Fire are starting to look like a playoff team
Look: The Fire haven’t clinched anything yet, and as Chris Brady noted, the team has been close to making the postseason in previous seasons, only to fall short at the last minute.
Still: this looks like a playoff team. Throughout the year, the Fire have shown that they can score goals – and the 59 the team has tallied put it as the fourth-highest ever, behind the 2000 (67 goals for) 1998 (62) and 2017 seasons (61).
Until recently, though, the consensus was that the offense was good, defensive lapses and the team’s struggles to make in-game adjustments meant that although the Fire were kind of a one-trick pony. Scoring is hard! If you’re going to have one trick in the game of soccer, scoring goals is a really good trick!
Ultimately, however, the way the Fire played limited lowered the team’s ceiling: They looked like a team that might make it into the playoffs – or at least the wildcard – but they didn’t look like a “playoff team.”
Now, with two clean sheets in a row, playing the best soccer they have all season even as most teams above them in the Eastern Conference standings are showing increasing that they, like the Fire earlier in the year, are less-than-perfect, the Fire are starting to look like a team that belongs in the playoffs.
They haven’t won anything yet, including a trip to the postseason. But it’s really starting to look when (more than if) like when they do, they might just be in a position to make some noise.
