After getting three points in their home opener for their first time since 2020, the Chicago Fire are back on the road as they take on the Columbus Crew.

The game will be the Crew’s home opener, marking the first time that fans in Columbus will get the opportunity to see new Head Coach Henrik Rydström’s squad in person following two road games. 

The game marks the second year in a row when a new manager is being introduced in the Crew’s home opener, Fire Head Coach Gregg Berhalter made his debut a year ago in Columbus, a city he knows well after coaching the Crew for five years before being named Head Coach of the U.S. Men’s National Team.

Asked about his return to Columbus, Berhalter said “It's a celebration of sorts. I understand that they want to win a game, their fans want to win a game. I think it doesn't take away from the fact that I had a lot of great years there, raised kids there, made a lot of friends, and really connected with the fans and the people in the club. So it's always going to be a special place to go back to. I love the facilities, I love the stadium. I love what they've done with the club.”

The return will be personal: “I get to see a lot of friends and people that I worked with, so it's going to be fun.”

Rydström is still looking for his first win as Crew manager after a late goal from Diego Rossi earned the team their first point of 2026 following an opening week loss in Portland. 

The Fire are looking to take the performance they found at home with them on the road, after their 3-0 throttling of CF Montréal while playing down a man for much of the match.

If the Fire are able to do so, they’ll cement their place in rarified company in MLS this season, joining just four teams to win on the road in MLS in the season’s opening weeks.

They’ll also be fighting against recent history in Columbus: The Crew’s only blemish in home openers since opening Scotts-Miracle Gro (née Lower.com) Field comes in their first game there in 2021, when they played the Union to a 0-0 draw. Even then, there’s an asterisk: Three days prior, they defeated Nicaragua’s Real Estelí in CONCACAF Champions League play at Historic Crew Stadium.

Columbus’s last loss in their home opener came in 2016. The Fire’s last win in Columbus came in 2013 – before Gregg Berhalter’s arrival. 

A year ago, Berhalter’s first game back in Columbus showed the promise and the problems with the new-look Fire. 

Streaks are made to be broken.

What to Expect

Columbus

Two games into Rydström’s tenure, the Crew have felt like a work in progress – and they are. Still, they’re starting from a familiar foundation. Here’s Berhalter on what he’s seen so far:

“I think it's great what they did with the new coach. You hire someone that has similar DNA to Wilfried. Wilfried was very successful there, had a great period building a team, I think even adding to the complexity of the in-possession and overloads and what they're doing. It’s what Columbus starts to stand for is a team that plays soccer. Any team that goes to Columbus knows they're in for a soccer game. I love that. I love that about Columbus. It was true when I was there and it's true now.”

It’s clear that Rydström isn’t throwing out Nancy’s playbook - but he’s not just working off it without changes, either. Nancy’s Crew teams prized possession and methodical build from the back. It’s clear that Rydström’s team wants the ball – but they want it to do what Berhalter has called “possession with a purpose.”  Like Berhalter, they are trying to use the ball to destabilize opponents. And when they do — be ready to strike quickly. 

It hasn’t all been smooth sailing, however: The attack, which was very fluid under Nancy, seems to be more structured and positional under Rydström. In the long run, the extra structure can simplify the game – particularly for supporting players – and help the team solve a problem they’ve had since selling Cucho Hernández to Real Betis. 

In the short run? It’s also caused them problems, as has switching to more of a man-marking system and pushing the Crew’s once notoriously high line of defense further back. Some players adjust quicker than others, and under pressure, many on the squad – which has not seen significant overhaul in the offseason – can revert to old habits.

So far this season, the Crew have been exposed in transition moments, and the Portland Timbers and Sporting Kansas City have both found ways to make them pay.

Still: This is a dangerous squad, now with another high-quality defender in center back Rudy Camacho, who missed the entire 2025 regular season with an injury. They also have high-end goal scoring talent in Wessam Abou Ali – who has yet to play against the Fire – Diego Rossi and Dániel Gazdag. 

As John and I said on The Bonfire talking about this matchup.

Gazdag – an MLS Best XI selection in 2022 who scored 17 goals for the Union during his last fully year in Philadelphia in 2024 – was incredibly ineffective under Nancy. Still, the talent is there and Rydström might well find a way to unlock it as part of the Crew’s attack.

Chicago Fire 

This game will be a measuring stick of kinds for the Fire, coming just over a year after Berhalter’s first game in charge of the squad against the same opponent. In that game, the Fire came out flying, going up a goal before conceding, restoring the lead just two minutes later – and eventually falling prey to defensive lapses, when an own goal put the Fire behind before eventually falling 4-2.

“Yeah, that was an interesting point for us because it was, okay, this is your first competitive game. What are we going to do? How are we going to show up? The guys caused them a lot of problems,” Berhalter said of that game.  “Now the expectations are a little bit different. We are more confident going into this match. We have a deeper squad.”

That sentiment was echoed by team captain Jack Elliott, who reflected on the improved familiarity of the squad:

“Yeah, I feel like there is. Obviously we’ve been together. A lot of guys have been here for last year and really started to gel last year and found a rhythm, and this season it feels like that in pre-season and training. Just being around the facility and the locker room, I think everyone is gelling really well. Yeah, it does feel different to last year in the best way possible.”

Prompted with the fact that Robin Lod started the first game, was benched for the start of last week’s matchup before coming on late and scoring, while Mauricio Pineda started and had one of his most complete Fire games, here’s what Berhalter said: 

With Mauricio and Robin, it really comes down to competition. We need competition for starting 11 spots and guys need to feel that if they don't perform well in the game and training they're not going to keep their starting 11 spot. That's how you get and that's how you maintain that high standard and high level. It doesn't mean we give up on players. Doesn't mean we don't give players some leeway. We want guys pushing and competing every single day and in the games to make their impact.

Still, it won’t be a full-strength Fire squad: Andrew Gutman and Sam Rogers are all but certain to be out with injuries, and Jonathan Dean is once again unavailable – this time due to a one-game suspension after being issued a red card in the last game. 

When that happened in the season opener, Maren Haile-Selassie filled in – that’s something I suspect we’ll see again. As Berhalter said – there’s also competition in the midfield, with Anton Salétros, Robin Lod, Mauricio Pineda and, to some extent, Jonathan Bamba all vying for spots in the rotation.

Salétros had a better outing last week than the week prior and he’s familiar with Ryström’s tactics, having played against his Malmö squad several times during his time with AIK Stockholm. Lod scored a goal after coming on late (very late) after an ineffective performance week one – but he also started on the wing, not his best position. 

What are we likely to see here?

Zinckernagel looked good playing centrally in preseason but I still hope he reverts to the spot on the right wing where he was so effective – at least nominally.

Lying deeper: I think there’s a great question about whether Djé D’Avilla and Mauricio Pineda would be a better fit for this game. I wouldn’t be upset to see either. D’Avilla can be an incredibly strong defender and can eat space when on his game – when off his game, however, he still can find it hard to shake a mistake off. Pineda has been the underrated workhorse for the squad under four different Fire coaches and had one of his best games a week ago with the start. Long run? D’Avilla has a higher ceiling.

For now? I’m not sure how you tell Pineda that he lost his spot after the performance he had last week. 

Matchday Information and How To Watch

Date and Time: Saturday, March 7, 2026, 6:30 PM CT
Location: Scotts Miracle-Grow Field, Columbus, OH
TV: Apple TV
Radio: WLS 890 AM (English), Que Buena Fire via the Uforia App (Spanish)