The Fire’s mission to be the ‘first to five’ continues in Bridgeview on Wednesday night, as they take on St. Louis City in the U.S. Open Cup.
The two teams meet after both emerging victorious against USL Championship sides earlier in the month, albeit with varying levels of success. The Fire survived a late goal from Darren Smith to beat Detroit City FC in Hamtramck 2-1, while St. Louis City dispatched FC Tulsa 4-0 in St. Louis. The Fire hope this midweek matchup goes the way of the two sides’ inaugural meeting, a similar Open Cup clash midweek at SeatGeek Stadium. The Fire won that game 2-1 before beating St. Louis again in league play just four days later. The pair split the two MLS matches since then, giving the Fire a 3-1 advantage in all-time matchups.
Despite an explosive start to their MLS legacy, St. Louis City hasn’t seen sustained success since their inaugural season. After posting a Western Conference-best 56 points in 2023, the club dismissed Bradley Carnell in July of 2024 following a disappointing start to the year. Since then have had four different managers at the helm including David Critchley, who served as interim Head Coach to see out the 2025 campaign, before Yoann Damet was eventually named to the role on a permanent basis.
St. Louis City Still Looking to Recapture Inaugural Form
It was an underwhelming winter transfer window for St. Louis. They lost João Klauss, a key piece of their dominant debut, to conference foe LA Galaxy, and signed Venezuelan international Segio Córdova on loan from Swiss side BSC Young Boys to replace him. It has been a less-than-ideal return to MLS for Córdova, and the Designated Player tag is not making the transition any easier. With only one goal in less than 400 total minutes since arriving, the Venezuelan hasn’t made the impact they hoped for when the deal was announced.
After a difficult start, Damet’s team did seem to be rounding into form early in April. They beat the New England Revolution 3-1 before securing points against both NYCFC and FC Dallas, both on the road. They capped off that run with their eventual win over FC Tulsa before they came crashing back down to Earth.
Now, competing for a spot in the quarter finals with a team at the opposite end of the table, St. Louis City find themselves just two points ahead of their cross-state rivals, Sporting Kansas City, in the race for the Wooden Spoon. The side hasn’t had a league win in over a month, and spent their weekend fumbling a late lead against Supporters’ Shield leaders San Jose Earthquakes in an eventual 3-2 loss.
Player to Watch
Despite the poor start, one name has stood out: forward Marcel Hartel.
Hartel is the only player in the squad with multiple goals on the season, and (perhaps unsurprisingly) registers more than six Shots on Target, while also leading the team in Key Passes and xG (per MLS). He also leads St. Louis City with 2.80 g+ (per American Soccer Analysis), with nearly double what his fellow forward Simon Becher has accrued so far in 2026. For reference, Hartel would rank second on the Fire, sitting behind only Hugo Cuypers on the Fire’s leaderboard.
If there is someone who can break through the stout Chicago defense and give St. Louis a chance to flip the script, Hartel would be a likely favorite.
Fire at Full Strength?
Against Detroit City FC the Fire rolled out a fairly rotated lineup. Jason Shokalook, Viktor Radojević, Puso Dithejane, and Sergio Oregel all made their first starts of the season, and now, with an MLS opponent, Gregg Berhalter has another difficult decision ahead of him.
The Fire will be back in Soldier Field Saturday for a chance at revenge against FC Cincinnati after dropping points in TQL Stadium just two weeks ago. It remains to be seen how many first-choice starters will see the field, especially after all who were available (excluding Mbekezeli Mbokazi) played 70 minutes or more in a thumping of Sporting Kansas City this past Saturday. Gregg Berhalter has not always felt it necessary to rotate his squads midweek, as we saw several times in 2025, but with more quality in the roster depth, it wouldn’t be a surprise to see some of the lesser-called names relied on.
With Dithejane, Bamba, and Barroso already out, there will be opportunities for those who want them, and with players like Shokalook, Oregel, and Borso pounding on the door for minutes, the Fire should expect to be pulling in the right direction, with every chance of advancing to the Open Cup Quarterfinals when the final whistle blows.
