BRIDGEVIEW, Ill. – The Chicago Fire are through to the quarterfinals of Leagues Cup.
A shock 2-1 win over Mexican powerhouse Cruz Azul secured their place in the knockout stages unbeaten. The Fire had already beaten Necaxa 2-0 and Santos Laguna 3-1 last week, and knew avoiding a regulation defeat against la Máquina would be enough to progress. Puso Dithejane scored twice in the second half to notch his first brace with the Fire.
As a result of winning the match in 90 minutes, the Fire will face CF Monterrey at an unspecified venue later this month. That draw sets up a spicy showdown with 29-year-old Belgian center forward Hugo Cuypers — who was sold by the Fire less than a month ago in a widely publicized shock exit. It pits Cuypers, who scored a goal in each of Rayados’ first round games, against new superstar Fire signing Robert Lewandowski, who directly replaced him as the club’s #9. The match will be held between August 25th and 27th.
The Fire's only other Leagues Cup quarterfinal came in the tournament's test-run edition in 2019, when they hosted Cruz Azul at SeatGeek Stadium in what was, officially, the first match in the history of the competition. This is the Fire's first qualification under the current format.
As the quarterfinal will not be held until a midweek window two weeks from now, there will be no changes to the Fire's MLS schedule as a result of advancing. As scheduled, they will face the Portland Timbers on August 16th, Orlando City on August 19th, and the New York Red Bulls on August 22nd. The only way an MLS fixture would be moved to accommodate the Leagues Cup would be if the Fire advanced to the final, which would have repercussions for their September 5th match at Toronto.
