Three wins to go: Chicago Fire vs Minnesota United U.S. Open Cup Preview

Less than 70 hours after the final whistle in their match against FC Cincinnati, the Chicago Fire are back in action. They’re facing Minnesota United in the U.S. Open Cup, with a spot in the semifinals on the line.

Although none of the eight teams left in the competition are pushovers, the winner of Tuesday’s clash in St. Paul, Minnesota will likely look favorably on their chances at making the final, as they’ll face the winner of the game between San Jose (ranked sixth in the Western Conference in league play, level with the Fire on 28 points) and Austin (10th, with 26 points). The other side of the bracket features Nashville and Philadelphia, the second and third place teams in the MLS Eastern Conference.

It will be the first U.S. Open Cup match between the two teams. Incredibly, that means the Fire will have faced Minnesota in three separate competitions across the eight matches between the two sides, with six MLS regular season games joined by the Leagues Cup meetup two years ago.

That Leagues Cup group stage match was the most recent meeting between the two clubs, and gave former Fire midfielder Xherdan Shaqiri what was almost certainly his most memorable singular moment for the Men in Red, bantering with Loons goalkeeper Dayne St. Clair before burying a penalty in the back of his net.

The equalizer was part of a furious half hour with five goals scored between the two teams, concluding with Kei Kamara’s 83rd minute effort that proved to be the game winner. The victory leveled the series between the teams, with three wins and a draw for each side.

Kamara is gone, as is Shaqiri. In fact, only two players who started in that Leagues Cup matchup – Brian Gutiérrez and Maren Haile-Selassie – remain with the Fire, and of the five players who came off the bench, Mauricio Pineda is the lone holdover.

The turnover has been less profound on the other side of the pitch. St. Clair is still playing for Minnesota, as is Bongokuhle Hlongwane who scored both the Loons goals in that meetup just under two years ago. In fact, five of Minnesota’s starters from that game remain with the team, including veteran midfielder Will Trapp who leads the team in minutes so far this season.

Minnesota a new, tougher opponent

That isn’t so say that there hasn’t been profound change in St. Paul since the Fire walked away with their group stage victory. First came Khaled El-Ahmad to head the team’s sporting side, joining from Barnsley in England after spending most of his earlier career with City Football Group.

El-Ahmad had a clear vision for what he wanted from the team, bringing on Welsh manager Eric Ramsay. Ramsay had been the interim manager for Shrewsbury, becoming the youngest-ever British coach to receive a full UEFA Pro coaching certification, and then spent time at Manchester United.

Under Ramsay, the team finished sixth in the Western Conference last season and became a much stronger team after a busy summer window from El-Ahmad that saw six players join Minnesota from outside of the club. Amongst them was Italian forward Kelvin Yeboah, currently second on the team with six goals behind Tani Oluwaseyi, with eight goals and six assists.

While those numbers may pale in comparison to the Fire’s leaders (Hugo Cuypers, with 11 goals, and Philip Zinckernagel, with nine goals and eight assists; Gutiérrez also has seven goals and an assist), they’ve been more than enough for Minnesota to have the strongest start in team history.

They’ve done that by playing fast, counter-attacking soccer. Playing primarily out of a five-player back line (not unlike FC Cincinnati on Saturday), the team isn’t afraid to push the wingbacks forward, trusting that they – and the midfield – will get back in time to aid in defense when needed while typically staying far enough out to be a good option for springing the attack.

To say that Minnesota are comfortable without the ball would be a drastic understatement: No team has had less of the ball than Minnesota United, who have averaged just 38.3% possession in league play this year, with the 29th placed team, FC Dallas, sitting a full six percent ahead at 44.3%

It’s worked. Minnesota have been adept at allowing teams who want possession as much of the ball as they’d desire, and using it against them. They embarrassed Inter Miami at home 4-1 back on May 10th. They dropped their next game against Houston four days later, but their only loss since was to conference-topping San Diego (who, incidentally, the Fire face on Saturday).

Minnesota lacks the high-end attacking talent of say, Evander on FC Cincinnati, but the system has still propelled the squad to results. Minnesota is defensively stout, sitting 25th in expected goals against at 24.3.

Match a Key Test for the Fire

The story in recent weeks has been that the Fire are a much-improved team but still struggle to get results against top-end opponents. After embarrassing themselves in Nashville 7-2 loss, strung together good results against teams lower in the table, culminating in a 7-1 beatdown of D.C. United in the nation’s capital. They then lost a closer decision to Nashville 2-0 (currently second in the East), followed by a 1-0 loss against Philadelphia (third in the conference). A win over mid-table Charlotte was followed up with a loss to Cincinnati, now atop the conference.

The story almost writes itself: The team has high-end attacking talent but has all too often been the victim of their own mistakes in the back, and the attack can’t save the day against top teams.

Still, the Fire came very close against Cincinnati, a team that, like Minnesota, is comfortable without the ball, playing a five-man backline with wingbacks busy at both ends of the pitch. The Fire stood up well against the conference leader, and arguably deserved at least a point for their efforts.

The effort should give them confidence that they can hold their own – or more than – the best teams in the country if they stick to their principles and are able to cut down on some of the mistakes. While none of the players injured for Saturday’s match against FC Cincinnati are likely to be available, there is a real chance that goalkeeper Chris Brady, who wasn’t used throughout the Gold Cup, could be back for the Fire.

A win would put the team back in the U.S. Open Cup semifinals for the first time since 2018, putting the team just two wins away from their first major trophy since winning the Cup in 2006. They can dream – but first, on Tuesday, they must do.

Match Information and How to Watch

Date and Time: Tuesday, July 8 2025, 7:00 PM CT Forecast: Temperatures in the upper 70s; mostly sunny at kickoff Location: Allianz Field, St. Paul, MN TV: Paramount+, CBS Sports