The Chicago Fire Post
Player ratings17 Aug 2026
Nobody could get near Maren Haile-Selassie
Successful dribbles: 35. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Match12 Aug 2026
Chicago Fire march on in the cup
Nashville SC are out and Chicago Fire go through, 2‑1 the final word. The bracket opens up a little, and everyone allows themselves a look at it.
Market17 Aug 2026
Osasuna come back empty-handed
The bid was some way short and Chicago Fire did not need long over it. Nobody in the game reads a first refusal as the end of anything.
Player ratings17 Aug 2026
Robert Lewandowski, 38, rolls back the years — 8.29
There is an age at which every good afternoon gets described as a throwback, which is unfair and also accurate. 8.29 at 38, and nobody on the pitch was better.
Player ratings17 Aug 2026
Djé D'Avilla pops up at the right end — 7.88
7.88, 1 on the scoresheet, and the specific comedy of a back-four player celebrating like somebody who does this every week. He does not, and that is exactly why the ground reacted the way it did.
Squad17 Aug 2026
Tempers go at Chicago Fire
Philip Zinckernagel was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
The terraces17 Aug 2026
The crowd has taken to Djé D'Avilla
At 23 he is being sung about by people twice his age, which is an affection a signing has to earn over years and a local kid gets for turning up. It is also the hardest thing in football to live up to.
Match15 Aug 2026
Robert Lewandowski sends Chicago Fire past Philadelphia Union
It finished 1‑0, and it was Robert Lewandowski’s afternoon: on the scoresheet when it mattered, and the reason the points belong to Chicago Fire.
Squad17 Aug 2026
Mbekezeli Mbokazi gets it from the manager
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
In brief
- Market Talks stall between Chicago Fire and Aaron Herrera
- Squad Words at Chicago Fire training over how hard people work
- Squad Maren Haile-Selassie dropped after a run of poor form