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Arriving at the Chicago Fire from Norwegian club FK Bodø/Glimt, Philip Zinckernagel didn’t necessarily roll into town with the grandest expectations. While expected to play, the Dane was not the blockbuster addition of the Fire’s offseason.
Zinckernagel didn’t join the club as a DP, but he’s producing like one. Six months on from his arrival, he’s statistically on course for the best individual season in club history and is gearing up for the MLS All-Star game. A second half assist to Jack Elliott last weekend in Montréal secured a 2-0 win north of the border, but it also made him the first-ever player to record a 10 goal, 10 assist season for the Fire in MLS.
“It’s something I’m proud of,” Zinckernagel told MIR97 Media on Saturday at Stade Saputo. “I think one of my aims for the season before was to get 10 goals and 10 assists, maybe for the whole season, or at least get double digits on both. It's a good mark and now I just have to keep going.”
Offensive Pilot
One of the biggest adjustments that European players coming to MLS endure is the incredible haul of travel that teams experience. While Zinckernagel is not a stranger to using air travel for domestic road games – Bodø/Glimt are located north of the Arctic Circle and fly to every away match – the distances in MLS are far, far greater.
For instance, in a two week span starting with the July 5th trip to Cincinnati and ending with the game in Montréal, the Fire flew more than 5,000 total miles across four road trips, with one additional home game in the middle of it. For their last game in Montréal, they crossed an international boundary and landed in a completely different culture, something highly unusual for domestic football anywhere in the world.
Despite those challenges, Zinckernagel has taken it all in stride and has seemingly had no trouble adjusting to the taxing schedule.
“The biggest challenge has been the time difference and all the travel,” Zinckernagel said. “We have had more success on the road, so I can't really complain, it's been great. I'm really happy here and MLS has been really fun. Very open and good for attackers. So, that's nice.”
Zinckernagel has not just been good away from home, but he’s thrived. In fact, he’s on one of the greatest runs ever by a player on the road in MLS history. His assist against Montréal marked his tenth successive road game with a goal contribution, tying the league record held by legendary forward Josef Martínez that he set in his historic 2018 MVP season.
All-Star nod
Zinckernagel’s exceptional performances in 2025 so far earned him a nod with the MLS All-Star team, and he was named a coach’s selection by Nico Estévez when the group was announced a few weeks ago. Estévez was Berhalter’s former assistant coach with the U.S. Men’s National Team and is now the head coach at Austin FC, who will host the All-Star game against the Liga MX All-Stars on Wednesday night.
Excluding Kei Kamara’s token selection in 2023 as a commissioner’s pick, Zinckernagel is the first Fire player named to the All-Star team off the back of their performances since 2019, when Bastian Schweinsteiger made it as a center back.
“I’m happy and proud of course,” Zinckernagel said after he was named an All-Star last month. “It’s a very American concept and it’s not something I’m used to, so I don’t really know what I’m in for, but I’m looking forward to trying it and seeing what it is.”
Now at camp with the best of MLS the Fire’s unexpected star is waving the flag for the team looking to re-establish itself among the league’s top sides. While defensively, the Fire have been just as poor as in years past, their offense is clicking in a way not seen in years and have scored the second most goals of any team in the East. That’s enough to have surpassed their goal and point tally from last season, and there’s still a third of the season to play.
While Hugo Cuypers and Andrew Gutman have been big parts of the Fire’s offensive success this year, it’s ultimately Zinckernagel who rightfully gets the recognition and makes the All-Star team. Only a handful of players in MLS have more goal contributions than the 30-year-old, with one of them being a certain Lionel Messi.
Now, Zinckernagel will have gone from playing in the Norwegian mountains to playing with the sport’s biggest star in just a few short months. Even if the All-Star game is just an exhibition, it’s still a golden, once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.
“It's an honor to be able to play with the best player in the world, in the history of football,” Zinckernagel said. “it's just incredible. Hopefully I can learn a thing or two.”
