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, the new Endeavor Health Performance Center opened and the team secured all approvals needed to begin construction on a new downtown stadium. 

While the season ended in a tough home playoff loss, there were certainly more positives than  negatives.

Now the Fire head into the offseason, which is already underway with the permanent signing of Andre Franco and acquisition of Swedish international midfielder Anton Saletros. What do those moves mean for the Fire, and where else do they need to add to the squad to continue this year’s upward trajectory?

Alex is joined by Joe Chatz and Tim Hotze to cover all that and more, as well as handout some superlatives, on this season finale of CHGO Fire Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See https://pcm.adswizz.com

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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 goals. Brian Gutierrez missed a penalty, the game had to be halted due to homophobic chanting, and it was generally a miserable evening in Bridgeview. We recap the bad and the worse of it, then try to find some silver linings.

Also, the offseason just started and the Fire might have already made their first signing of the winter?!

Alex is joined by Chicago Fire Radio’s Max Anderson on this final game of the season episode of CHGO Fire      

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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 to a shootout, Jack Elliott was one of two Fire players to miss their spot kicks and Philly escaped with the win. Next Saturday’s Game 2 at SeatGeek Stadium is now a must win for the Fire to force a decisive Game 3. Alex is joined by John Thornton, host of Men In Red 97 Media’s ‘The Bonfire’ to break down the emotional rollercoaster of last night and set the scene for Saturday’s suburban showdown.

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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, as the Fire now prepare for a best-of-three series with Supporters Shield winners the Philadelphia Union beginning on Sunday. Do the Fire have any chance to upset the top seed? How might they do it?

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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 to tomorrow’s matchup with Orlando City, who come in without a win in a month and having struggled against the Men in Red this season. Alex is joined by two good friends of the show for this first ever postseason edition of CHGO Fire: Joe Chatz from On Tap SportsNet and Tim Hotze of Men in Red 97 Media.

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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 Nikolic’s 2017 club record for goal contributions in a season as he reached 29 on 14 goals and 15 assists with one match still to play thanks to assisting both of Jack Elliot’s goals in Saturday’s 2-2 draw with Toronto FC.

To what to the Fire owe their change in fortune? How much credit to Berhalter, Zinckernagel and others deserve? What should the expectations be for this team when the playoffs begin in two weeks? Alex is joined by Matt Doyle of MLSsoccer.com and AppleTV’s MLS coverage to survey the Fire’s strong season so far.

      

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Download the Gametime app, create an account, and use code CHGO for $20 off your first purchase.

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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 joined by Minnesota’s own Jeff Rueter of The Athletic and Total Soccer Show to discuss those questions and more. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See https://pcm.adswizz.com

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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 Fire were flattened 4-0. How worried should we be about what we saw, and where does that leave things with less than 2 months of the regular season to go? Alex is joined by Joe Chatz of On Tap Sports Net to review another busy couple of weeks as the Fire try to hold on to the hope of breaking their playoff drought.

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Presented by Coors Light. Official Domestic Beer Partner of Chicago Fire FC. Chicago, Choose Chill. Go to https://coorslight.com/CHGOSoccer to get Coors Light delivered straight to your door. Celebrate Responsibly. Coors Brewing Company, Golden, Colorado.

Download the Gametime app, create an account, and use code CHGO for $20 off your first purchase.

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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 expect them to do in the market. Then, they’re joined by LAFC radio voice Dave Denholm ahead of this week’s visit by the Black and Gold to Soldier Field to look ahead to the match and discuss the biggest MLS move of the summer: Son Heung-Min’s transfer to LAFC from Tottenham.

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Presented by Coors Light. Official Domestic Beer Partner of Chicago Fire FC. Chicago, Choose Chill. Go to https://coorslight.com/CHGOSoccer to get Coors Light delivered straight to your door. Celebrate Responsibly. Coors Brewing Company, Golden, Colorado.

Download the Gametime app, create an account, and use code CHGO for $20 off your first purchase.

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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 knock out Minnesota’s Julian Gressell. Throw in another heartbreaking late goal to drop points and actually dominating a terrible team like you’re supposed to and it’s been a full few weeks!

Plus, Alex along with Joe Chatz of On Tap Sportsnet take your questions! Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See https://pcm.adswizz.com

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