Chicago Fire Clinch Playoff Berth
For the first time since 2017, the Chicago Fire will play in the MLS Cup Playoffs. Tuesday's 5-3 win at Inter Miami officially secures that outcome, guaranteeing that the Fire will finish no lower than 9th place – the final wildcard spot. They did it in style, putting on an offensive clinic against Lionel Messi and Co., with Djé D'Avilla, Jonathan Dean, Rominigue Kouamé, Justin Reynolds, and Brian Gutiérrez being the unlikely goalscorers.
As the Fire clinch a postseason place, they cut short the longest active playoff drought in MLS and avoid the ignominy of extending it to the longest drought in league history. They have not played a single minute of playoff soccer since Veljko Paunović's second season, when Bastian Schweinsteiger, Nemanja Nikolić, and Dax McCarty made up the team's core. The Red Bulls – who defeated the Fire 4-0 in the club's most recent playoff game – are eliminated for the first time in 16 years, ending the longest playoff streak in league history.
After five seasons of not even being competitive in MLS under Sporting Director Georg Heitz, the playoff berth represents a significant feather in Gregg Berhalter's cap; the former USMNT manager took over as the team's Director of Football and Head Coach ahead of the 2025 season, and has already navigated the team back to where they belong within a few months.
The regular season also reflects very well on Berhalter's moves as the team's main sporting decision-maker. Nearly all of his transfer moves have been successes, with Philip Zinckernagel finding MLS Newcomer of the Year form, Djé D'Avilla stepping up as a future star number six, and André Franco proving to be an incredibly valuable and savvy summer addition.
Berhalter has seen the team evolve significantly since the start of the season. In the early stages, a still-incomplete roster relied on homegrown talents like Sergio Oregel and Brian Gutiérrez to get points on the board, but as the year went on, the likes of Zinckernagel, Hugo Cuypers, Jonathan Bamba, and D'Avilla have stepped up as key pieces, finding their best form. In September, Berhalter tactically adjusted to a back three, a surprising move that has nonetheless given the team a new dimension, pushing the team toward accomplishing its goals in the final weeks of the season.
With two games still to come, the Fire still have plenty of things to play for in the regular season. Securing home-field advantage for the wildcard game is now likely, and finding a win over Toronto (October 4th) or New England (October 18th) in the final two matches would almost guarantee that. Furthermore, if they manage to go 2-for-2 in their final two fixtures, finishing higher than 8th and avoiding the need for a wildcard test is very much in play.
Now, there's no doubt about it, and Fire fans can sleep well tonight. The team is finally back in the postseason, even if it might first require a wildcard showdown on October 22nd. MLS Cup – set for December 6th – seems a long way away, but for a club that has waited eight years to just get into the bracket, qualification alone is something to celebrate.
