Chicago Fire eliminated from playoff contention
The Chicago Fire have officially been eliminated from playoff contention, with Saturday's 1-1 draw with Toronto FC ensuring this outcome. This extends the team's drought to seven seasons – the longest active streak in Major League Soccer.
The Fire's unceremonious elimination was a long time coming, with last week's 2-0 loss at Montréal all but sealing their fate. Entering tonight's match in Bridgeview, the Fire had a less than 1% chance of even sneaking into the wild-card round, but the draw with Toronto annulled that statistical anomaly.
Admittedly, entering 2024, the Fire seemed to have bolstered their MLS chances by completing a solid offseason and securing the additions of Hugo Cuypers and Kellyn Acosta. An impressive preseason had fans excited, and a thrilling Matchday 1 draw at Philadelphia seemed like a sign of things to come. A week later, they dropped their home opener to Cincinnati, 2-1, and never looked back.
The Fire did have their moments this season – an unbelievable 4-3 comeback against Montréal, a 4-1 victory at Toronto, and a 1-0 win at Cincinnati were among them – but such moments were far and few between. In fact, those three spectacular wins represent nearly half of the Fire's seven total wins for the whole season; Frank Klopas' team has won just one of their last 12 games across all competitions.
Unlike last season, when the Fire's fate wasn't sealed until the final whistle on Decision Day, this year's mathematical elimination comes with two games still remaining in the regular season. This means that Wednesday's road game in Charlotte and the October 19th match against Nashville will effectively be dead-rubbers.
With sporting director Georg Heitz having already announced that he will leave his post at the end of the season, this offseason will be another one of transition in Chicago. While Klopas is still under contract for 2025, there is no guarantee that he'd remain in his current role for next season. The new sporting director and a possible new head coach will have several key pieces to build around, namely Cuypers, Acosta, and Brian Gutiérrez, who all remain under contract, but there could be a tremendous shakeup throughout the rest of the roster.
Now, the season is, for all intents and purposes, over; the Fire have been extinguished, and it's back to square one. The pursuit of a return to the playoffs for the first time since 2017 will endure for another year, and they're now one away from equalling the longest such streak in league history.
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