Chicago Fire FC will close out the 2025 regular season with a Decision Day road matchup at the New England Revolution. Kickoff at Gillette Stadium is scheduled for 5:00 p.m. CT. The match will be broadcast globally on MLS Season Pass on Apple TV and will be transmitted locally on WLS 890 AM (English) and Que Buena Fire via the Uforia App (Spanish).
Having clinched a spot in the Audi 2025 MLS Cup Playoffs with a 5-3 win at Inter Miami CF on Sept. 30, Chicago will now turn its attention to New England with playoff positioning in mind. With a win, Chicago could climb as high as sixth in the Eastern Conference, avoiding the Wild Card game in the process. Director of Football and Head Coach Gregg Berhalter has named the following Starting XI tasked with sending off the regular season with three points:
- Four changes have been made to the Starting XI that closed out the home portion of the regular season schedule with a 2-2 draw against Toronto FC on Oct. 4 at Soldier Field.
- Defender Jonathan Dean returns to the starting lineup to start his 18th match of the season at right wing back. He will line up on the opposite wing from Andrew Gutman, who becomes the fourth player in Fire history to make every start in the 34-match regular season era.
- A double pivot of Rominigue Kouamé and Dje D’Avilla anchor the midfield for Chicago. Both midfielders checked into the second half of the Fire’s 2-2 draw against Toronto FC, days after starting in the middle of the pitch in the playoff-clinching win at Miami.
- Similarly, Jonathan Bamba returns to the Starting XI after coming off the bench against Toronto FC in the second half. The Ivorian international will resume his role as an attacking piece in the midfield alongside Philip Zinckernagel, who would become the first Fire player with 15 goals and 15 assists in a single season if he tallies.
- Homegrown goalkeeper Chris Brady returns from international duty with the U.S. Men’s National Team to feature in his 28th match of 2025. Brady will look for win number 13 and clean sheet number six of the year.
- The backline trio of Sam Rogers, Joel Waterman and captain Jack Elliott returns to the Starting XI for the fourth time in five matches. Elliott is coming off his first multi-goal performance of his Fire tenure in the 2-2 draw against Toronto, hoping to do more of the same in Foxborough.
- Hugo Cuypers wraps up 2025 with his 33rd start of the year. The forward is looking for his 18th goal, good for second-most in a season by any player in Club history.
- Defenders Leonardo Barroso (lower body) and Viktor Radojević (lower body), and midfielders André Franco (lower body) and Chris Mueller (not due to injury) are unavailable for selection tonight.
- Available off the bench are goalkeeper Jeff Gal; defenders Omar González and Justin Reynolds; midfielders Maren Haile-Selassie, Brian Gutiérrez, Mauricio Pineda, Kellyn Acosta and Sergio Oregel Jr.; and forward Tom Barlow.
