For the first time since 2017, the Chicago Fire are going into Decision Day knowing that whatever the results on MLS’s final matchday, their season will not be over.

Hugo Cuypers, the team’s leading goal scorer, appreciates what it took to get the team to this point. Noting that last year – his first with the club – was “challenging” – “now I also see the benefits of having such a challenging season to start with [in MLS] and all of the positives that came from it.”

The target this year was clearly making the postseason and “the main target has been achieved,” according to the Belgian striker, “Now, am I satisfied by this target? No.”

That means performing in the playoffs but first, “we want to see what our team is going to do” in the regular season. “This is not a game that you can take easily, and so absolutely not what we’re going to do.”

That message was reinforced by Gregg Berhalter, who said, as he always does, that his squad will treat this game like every one in front of them. “We want to win the game, put ourselves in a good position, and we'll see from there. And then, you know, when we get to the playoffs, we'll do the same thing, and we'll be ready to compete.”

The Fire do have things to compete for: A win guarantees the Fire will finish no lower than 8th and get a home playoff game, whether that means hosting the Wild Card or making it directly into the first round.

Trivia nerds, here’s one for you: This is the first time in Fire history that the team will have played against the same team in three different states in one year, after the Fire’s U.S. Open Cup game against the Revolution was played in Providence, Rhode Island.¹

This game will be kicking off simultaneously with every game in the Eastern Conference, at 5 P.M. CT.

Series History

All time: 28W-21D-25L Last match: September 6, 2025: Chicago Fire 3-2 New England Revolution, SeatGeek Stadium, Bridgeview, Ill.Last away match (MLS): September 28, 2024: Chicago Fire 1-1 Toronto at

What to Expect

New England Revolution

The Fire’s win against New England in early September made the Revs’ playoff chances all but an impossibility. Speaking after the match, Caleb Porter, then the team’s Head Coach, seemed resigned to his fate and was dismissed slightly more than a week later after the team’s 1-1 draw against Toronto.

Since then, the Revs have losses against the Supporters’ Shield-winning Philadelphia Union and Inter Miami and a win against Atlanta United under Pablo Moreira, a longtime Porter assistant whose time with him dates back to the University of Akron. In a parallel to the coaching staff under the Revs’ former head coach Bruce Arena, Moreira  played for Porter at the college level, then became an assistant coach a few years after graduating.

The Revs roster was thoroughly reworked to Porter’s specifications in the offseason, meaning the team has relatively few expiring contracts at the end of the year, but a new coach will likely ask for latitude to bring in players that fit their system, meaning even players on deals  through 2026 or beyond know they need to put together as much of a highlight reel as possible – whether to impress Porter’s replacement or improve their chances of a desirable landing spot elsewhere next season.

Amongst those who do have to play for their contracts: Former Chicago Fire fan-favorite Wyatt Omsberg, who was given a one-year deal with a team option for 2026.

Despite their record, the Revs shouldn’t be considered pushovers. Back to Berhalter on this one:  “They have quality. You know, we know they have quality up top. They have, you know, good midfielders. They have a really good playmaker, good players in wide positions. So, you know, obviously the goalkeeper and, you know, parts of the back line are really good. So, it'll be a difficult game.”

Carles Gil is still one of the best No. 10 attacking midfielders in the league who doesn’t wear a pink jersey and earn $20 million a year, but Matt Turner, the former Revolution goalkeeper who returned on loan after a move to the Premier League didn’t work as planned deserves special mention.

Since returning to MLS in the summer, he has been putting up unreal numbers, saving an average of 0.33 goals more than expected per game according to Opta, despite playing in front of a squad that has had issues defending all year. The Revs may not be in the playoffs, but they certainly have MLS Best XI-caliber players, even if some are in off years.

Chicago Fire

The Fire’s last game against Toronto came shortly after the euphoric victory over Miami that secured the team’s entry into the postseason. That game was on short rest and was the first where André Franco, whose ability to set the tempo in the midfield was a key part of the Fire’s surge that led them back to the promised land.

It was, however, something of a disappointment: A draw against Toronto was less than the team might have hoped for, but throughout the match, the team didn’t look as convincing or in control as it had in the trio of wins that led up to it.

Some of that was opponent and situation: They faced a rotated squad in Minnesota, a depleted one against Columbus, and pulled out all the stops against an Inter Miami team that had put on a ton of minutes.

Still, for anyone hoping that the team would remain the form they had shown with Franco in his absence, well, they’d have been disappointed. There is a caveat: Toronto may not be a playoff team, but their defense has certainly been playing like one, but that just reinforces the core point: The Fire need to find more ways to break down playoff-caliber defenses while maintaining the defensive stability that the squad showed since switching to playing with three center backs.

With two weeks to rest and train, a key hope for the game is that the Fire can try some of that out – and hopefully have it work – against the Revs before the postseason starts, whether that be a wildcard game on Wednesday or a first round game over the weekend.

Still, the Fire have the tools, and according to their coach, they’re ready to go: “When I look at training this week,” Berhalter said, “if you put, you know, an A team against a B team or you mix up the teams, it's so equal and everybody's competing at a high level. And that's what I've been most excited about. We could easily pick 18 starters for this game. That's how competitive training has been. And our job this week has become really difficult because a number of players are doing a great job.”

Projected Starting XI

Match Information and How to WatchDate and Time: Saturday, October 18, 2025, 5:00 PM CTForecast: Clear with temperatures in the 50s Location: Gillette Stadium, Foxborough, Mass.TV: Apple TV – MLS Season PassRadio: WLS 890 AM (English), Que Buena Fire via the Uforia App (Spanish).

¹In 2020, the Fire played the Sounders in both Washington state and Florida as part of MLS Is Back, but not Illinois. Even though all three MLS Cup Finals the team has made to date were held in neutral locations, the 2003 final was played in Carson, California against the San Jose Earthquakes, also based in-state, and the Fire’s other two MLS Cup appearances involved Washington, D.C.: The 1998 final was against D.C United, played at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, California, but the Fire’s away games at D.C. were played in the district – not a state. Similarly, the Fire’s 2000 MLS Cup appearance against Kansas City took place at Robert F. Kennedy Memorial Stadium in the nation’s capital.