CHGO Chicago Fire Podcast

The United States Men’s National team won their first knockout match at a World Cup since 2002 last Wednesday when they defeated Bosnia and Herzegovina 2-0 to advance to the Round of 16 Monday night in Seattle to face Belgium. Folarin Balogun and Malik Tillman provided the goals, while Balogun was suspended… until he wasn’t, maybe or maybe not thanks to the White House?? The US will look to avenge...

The United States Men’s National Team may have lost to Turkiye on the last kick of the game, but who cares! They won their group and now it is time for the knockouts. They’ll face Bosnia and Herzegovina on Wednesday night in Silicon Valley in search of their first knockout stage win since 2002. We get to know their opponents (including a Chicago connection!) and plot the course toward a potentiall...

IT’S HAPPENING! According to multiple reports, the Fire have agreed to sign Polish legend and former Bayern Munich + Barcelona striker Robert Lewandowski on a 2-year contract. Alex reacts to the news and takes your questions on this CHGO Fire Emergency Podcast! Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See https://pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for ad...

After making history with a record four-goal performance in their opener against Paraguay, the United States Men’s National Team have done it again. In another first since 1930, they’ve won consecutive games at a World Cup for the first time. Not only that, thanks to new tiebreaker rules that prioritize head-to-head results, they’ve already won Group D with a game to spare. More bizarrely, their f...

What a start! The US Men’s National Team made history on Friday night in Los Angeles, defeating Paraguay 4-1 in the highest scoring performance in USMNT World Cup history. Folarin Balogun became the first US men’s player in almost 100 years to score two goals in a World Cup game, while a Paraguay own goal and ludicrous last-minute strike from Gio Reyna supplied the other tallies. Now the US prepar...

The 2026 World Cup across the United States, Mexico and Canada is upon us! Following a pair of warmup matches in Charlotte and at Soldier Field, Mauricio Pochettino’s men are gearing up for their Group D opener against Paraguay on Friday night in LA. On this first of a series of special World Cup podcast episodes, we’ll get you up to speed on the US team, what we’ve learned from these recent frien...

Fire goalkeeper and Naperville, IL native Chris Brady is on the USMNT roster for the World Cup! We sing his praises and look back at both how he got here and the history of Fire players at the tournament (which will possibly also include Mbekezeli Mbokazi and Joel Waterman this summer). Meanwhile, Hugo Cuypers’ record-setting goal-scoring streak helps the Fire go into the break on a three-game win...

The Chicago Fire defense is suddenly falling apart at the worst possible time, allowing three goals in three of their last four MLS matches and slipping down the Eastern Conference standings. Despite Hugo Cuypers continuing his incredible goal-scoring form, Gregg Berhalter’s squad has struggled to stop opponents like FC Cincinnati, Evander, and a young New York Red Bulls team that looked far more...

Hugo Cuypers is living up to the ‘Hugoal’ nickname, as the Fire striker has now scored in a team record six straight games! His goals weren’t enough to get better than a frustrating draw in Cincinnati, but they did aid in an absolute demolition of former Fire head coach Rafaeal Wicky’s MLS-worst Sporting Kansas City team. The Fire now sit in third place in the Eastern Conference only behind Nashvi...

Following a second straight clean sheet and third straight win, the Chicago Fire find themselves in 2nd place in the MLS Eastern Conference only trailing Nashville SC who they deal their first loss of the season between victories in Philadelphia and against Atlanta. What’s changed to get the Fire into this rhythm? Who has stood out? Is winning games 1-0 sustainable for this team? Does this make us...

The Chicago Fire split their last two matches since the last show. First, in a deja vu of last year, they blew at late lead at home vs DC United and came up empty in a frustrating performance. Then, on the road in Philadelphia, they took the lead twice and held it the second time to take 3 points from the hapless Union in a game that saw the return of Andrew Gutman but an early exit for Philip Zin...

The Chicago Fire Football Club broke ground today for their new stadium site at The 78! CHGO Fire host, Alex Campbell attended the event and will discuss this historic day for Chicago Soccer! An ALLCITY Network Production Copyright Disclaimer under section 107 of the Copyright Act 1976, allowance is made for “fair use” for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship,...

Somehow, the 2026 Major League Soccer Season is upon us! After looking back last episode at the Fire’s offseason, we recap and look for takeaways from their preseason trips to Florida and Coachella. How does the Fire’s depth chart shake out with meaningful games less than a week away? Who will be the Fire’s top performers this year? Where do/will they stack up in MLS? Can anybody reasonably compet...

At long last, the Chicago Fire return to warm up Chicago soccer fans from this brutally cold winter and they’ve hoping to build on a strong 2025 season! Brian Gutierrez and Kellyn Acosta are gone, but there’s several exciting arrivals including Mbekezeli Mbokazi from South Africa and Anton Saletros from Sweden. Will Robert Lewandowski join them this summer? Lots to catch up on as winter break ends...

From Wooden Spoon ‘winners’ to returning to the playoffs for the first time in eight seasons, 2025 was a year of substantial improvement for the Chicago Fire. In Gregg Berhalter’s first season as sporting director and head coach, the team made huge strides as returning players found new life, new additions shined, and young players were given the opportunity to prove their worth. Off the field, th...

📬 Chicago sports in your inbox: https://allchgo.com/newsletter Saturday night’s 3-0 loss at home to the Philadelphia Union was not at all how the Chicago Fire would have liked for their season to end. After battling back to a draw in Game 2 in Philadelphia, the Fire were flattened in the opening minutes at SeatGeek Stadium as stand-in goalkeeper Jeff Gal made two crucial errors that led to Union...

📬 Chicago sports in your inbox: https://allchgo.com/newsletter It’s the hope that kills you. After going down 2-0 in Chester, PA on Sunday night in a game they played without star man Philip Zinckernagel the Chicago Fire fought back to equalize and force penalties in Game 1 of their Round 1 series with the Philadelphia Union. After he scored against his old club in stoppage time to send the game...

They did it! The Chicago Fire won their first postseason game since 2009, defeating Orlando City 3-1 on Wednesday night at SeatGeek Stadium thanks to goals from homegrown Brian Gutierrez and star striker Hugo Cuypers. Alex is joined by Alex Calabrese of MLSsoccer.com and Men In Red 97 to recap a fun night in the suburbs and a game the Fire completely dominated. But there’s not much time to relax,...

📬 Chicago sports in your inbox: https://allchgo.com/newsletter The regular season is over and the MLS Cup Playoffs are set! Decision Day wasn’t without its drama as the Fire left it late to secure a draw and hosting rights to Wednesday night’s Eastern Conference Wild Card Game. But was it a missed opportunity, or just emblematic of the Fire’s biggest strengths and weaknesses? Then we look ahead t...

📬 Chicago sports in your inbox: https://allchgo.com/newsletter The long wait is finally over: the Chicago Fire are headed back to the MLS Cup Playoffs for the first time since 2017! The Fire booked their ticket to the postseason in style with a 5-3 thrilling win in Miami over Messi and Friends following a dominant 2-0 home win over the Columbus Crew.  Meanwhile, Philip Zinckernagel broke Nemanja...

After a change in formation to a back 3 and a 3-0 win up north in St. Paul, the Chicago Fire look an increasingly strong bet to qualify for the 2025 MLS Cup Playoffs in one of the wild card spots. Why did the tactical changeup from Gregg Berhalter work? Will we see more of it? How is the Eastern Conference playoff picture shaping up with the 9 teams all but settled? What about out West? Alex is jo...

📬 Chicago sports in your inbox: https://allchgo.com/newsletter The summer transfer window for Major League Soccer shut this week, and the Fire got deals done for a new number 10 and a couple of defenders while Carlos Teran departed for Brazil. Are the Fire better off after the changes? And after a wild back and forth win over St. Louis, only one side scored the goals in Philly on Saturday as the...

📬 Chicago sports in your inbox: https://allchgo.com/newsletter With no Leagues Cup, the Fire got a week off following wins over Montreal and the Red Bulls. In the meantime, the Fire have made some roster moves and are looking to make additions to boost their playoff odds. Alex and Alex Calabrese of Men in Red 97 Media and MLSsoccer.com check on where things stand for the Fire, and what we can exp...

It’s been quite a mix of good and bad in recent weeks, even by the Chicago Fire’s usual erratic standards! Philip Zinckernagel continues to impress, setting records in a history-making first season that will deservedly see him represent the team at this week’s All Star Game. At the opposite end of things, Omar Gonzalez effectively knocked the Fire out of the Open Cup when he appeared to try and kn...

📬 Chicago sports in your inbox: https://allchgo.com/newsletter The Chicago Fire just wrapped up another strange homestand, as two dour and goalless performances vs Nashville and Philly were followed up by a 3-2 win over Charlotte that lifted the Fire into a playoff position. The most consistent thing has been Philip Zinckernagel, who was named to the MLS All Star roster and continued his historic...