2024 MLS Schedule Released
The Chicago Fire's 2024 schedule was announced Wednesday as the Men in Red learned what their path will be for next season. It is a challenging schedule for the Fire, who narrowly missed the playoffs in 2023 on Decision Day to extend their postseason drought to six seasons.
On opening day (February 24th), the Fire will go on the road to face the Philadelphia Union in Chester, Pennsylvania, where they have historically struggled. Last year, the Fire lost 1-0 on a late Joaquin Torres goal, and in 2022, they were crushed 4-1 by the Union. The home opener will fall a week later, on March 2nd, and they will host reigning Supporters Shield winner FC Cincinnati at Soldier Field, though they will be without Matt Miazga, who will still be suspended following his playoff antics. The difficult spring schedule also involves home matches against Canadian Championship runners-up CF Montréal (March 16th), U.S. Open Cup winners Houston Dynamo (April 6th), Real Salt Lake (April 20th), Atlanta United (April 27th), and the New England Revolution (May 4th).
A road trip most Fire fans will immediately circle on their calendar falls on May 11th when the Fire will travel to St. Louis in MLS play for the first time ever. The Fire stunned St. Louis CITY, who would go on to win the regular season Western Conference title, 1-0 behind a Rafa Czichos goal in the first league meeting between the two midwestern rivals. As St. Louis is only a short drive or train ride away, the Fire should expect to enjoy an unprecedented number of traveling supporters at CITYPARK.
For the second time in three seasons, the Los Angeles Galaxy will travel to Soldier Field (June 1st), though this time they'll do so without departing Mexican legend Chicharito, who drew nearly 30,000 fans to the lakefront last time he visited. It represents the third straight season that the Fire have faced the Galaxy, despite the fact that teams now only play six opponents from the opposite conference. An extremely challenging road stretch against Toronto FC (June 15th), Orlando City (June 22nd), and the Seattle Sounders (June 29th) will follow, and after the Galaxy game, the Fire will play just two regular season home games before the end of August.
That stretch could be heavily disrupted by Copa América and the European Championships, which both start a week apart in mid-June and both conclude on July 14. The Fire will most likely be without DP Xherdan Shaqiri for the duration of Switzerland's participation in the Euros, though considering the Nati's current form, that may not be much longer than two weeks.
At the end of the summer, though, the Fire will have the biggest game of their regular season, as they host Lionel Messi's Inter Miami at Soldier Field (August 31st). Backed by new reinforcements, namely Luis Suárez, potentially Julian Gressel, and others, Miami are expected to be the most formidable team in MLS next season, so this will prove an extremely challenging match. It will be the first of a crucial three-game homestand which will likely heavily influence if the Fire will make the playoffs or not as they face D.C. United (September 7th) and the New York Red Bulls (September 14th).
The Fire's final stretch is also challenging, as three of their final five matches will be on the road. Nashville (September 18th) and Montréal (September 21st) will be two of them, followed by a home match against Toronto (September 28th) and a road test at Charlotte (October 2nd).
Decision Day will, for the second year straight, fall on the opposite side of an international break. The Fire will host Nashville on October 19th, and playing the final game at home could be an advantage if playoffs are still on the line at that point. While Nashville are a strong team and a formidable defensive unit, the Fire will have to fancy their chances at home in front of their Soldier Field crowd.
The full schedule can be found below:
https://twitter.com/ChicagoFire/status/1737551252483891465?s=20
