The United States Soccer Federation announced changes to the U.S. Open Cup format for 2024. As had been rumored, MLS participation in the tournament is being severely curtailed in 2024, and only eight MLS first teams will participate, not including the Fire. The other 11 U.S.-based MLS
The last time that the Fire wore red at Soldier Field was in a friendly match against Manchester United on July 23, 2011. The Fire squad included names like Patrick Nyarko, Logan Pause, Dominic Oduro and Sean Johnson, and faced a Manchester United side that included names like Anderson, Nani,
In their first match of the season, the Fire face one of the top teams of the East over the past several seasons in a stadium where they haven't found victory in over a decade. Despite the poor record, the Fire have often taken the Union to the
MLS is back, and the Fire have traveled to Chester, Pennsylvania to take on the Philadelphia Union in their first match of the 2024 campaign. The Fire’s revamped squad – including a new team-record signing in striker Hugo Cuypers, alongside midfielder Kellyn Acosta, one of the most high-profile free agent
Major League Soccer announced changes to its Roster Rules and Regulations on Tuesday, just one day before Inter Miami is set to host Real Salt Lake in the league’s season opener. Although, as expected, the rules largely follow the contours from previous seasons – no fourth Designated Player (DP), no
In a surprise announcement on Saturday, February 10th, the Chicago Fire announced that Zach Thornton, currently the team’s goalkeeper coach will be inducted to the Ring of Fire, the team’s official Hall of Fame, in a ceremony at Soldier Field before the team’s match against Atlanta United
MIR is previewing the team’s roster ahead of the Fire’s 2024 season opener on Saturday, February 24. We’ll introduce you to each player, including how they joined the Fire, review their 2023 season, and go over expectations and hopes for the upcoming season. The Fire start 2024
Less than a week after Major League Soccer announced that the league would be sending MLS Next Pro teams instead of fielding first-team squads in the U.S. Open Cup, the U.S. Soccer Federation (USSF) released a statement stating that the league’s request would be denied. As such,
At 5:00 PM Eastern on Friday, December 15, MLS Communications announced that MLS teams would not be participating in the 2024 Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup, and would instead field MLS Next Pro teams in their place. The decision ends over a quarter-century of MLS participation in the
Note: This is the final part of our four part series. If you haven’t already, check out Part I, Part II, and Part III. Shortly after Georg Heitz’s hiring as Sporting Director of the Chicago Fire was announced in December 2019, he met with the media. He set
Note: This is the third part of a four part series. If you haven’t already, check out Part I where we put the Fire’s results in the past four years into context, and Part II, which looks at player signings. Within a few months of being hired in
Note: This is the second part of a four part series. If you haven’t already, check out Part I where we put the Fire’s results in the past four years into context. Perhaps unsurprisingly given the team’s high roster spend and generally disappointing results, many of the
The Fire’s loss on Decision Day gave them an ignominious honor: They now have the longest active playoff drought in the league and are the sole owners of the second-longest playoff drought in league history at six seasons, following only Toronto FC’s eight season stretch from 2007-2014. We’
And so it ends. On March 4, 2023, the Fire opened their 26th regular season in MLS against New York City FC and 231 days later, they face the same opponent – this time in Queens, NY – to finish their regular season. Both teams enter the match with a chance at
Xherdan Shaqiri has company. In what has become a semi-annual tradition, the MLS Players Association has released its salary guide, revealing the pay of each player in the league, and the league has a new highest-paid player: Inter Miami’s Lionel Messi, who has guaranteed annual compensation of $20,446,
With the Fire’s 2-0 loss to Charlotte last Saturday, the Fire are back in a familiar place: on the outside looking in at MLS Cup playoff spots. If the Fire do not secure a postseason position on Decision Day, the team’s playoff drought will stretch to six seasons,