Chicago Fire FC will welcome longtime rivals Columbus Crew to Soldier Field on Saturday, Sept. 27 in a key Eastern Conference matchup on Hispanic Heritage Night, presented by Meridian.
The Men in Red will be eager to take the field on Saturday following a 3-0 shutout of Minnesota United FC on Saturday, Sept. 20 at Allianz Field in St. Paul, Minn. Defender Joel Waterman and midfielder Dje D’Avilla each scored their first goals with the Fire in the first half, before Philip Zinckernagel closed out the scoring with his 14th goal of 2025. The victory also held the Fire two points above the New York Red Bulls in ninth place in the East, the last berth in the 2025 MLS Cup Playoffs, with a game in hand.
Columbus arrives in the Windy City following a 1-1 home draw against Toronto FC on Saturday night. New Designated Player Wessam Abou Ali opened the scoring just over a quarter hour in, but veteran defender Richie Laryea equalized shortly after halftime for Toronto. The Crew now come into Soldier Field having won only once in their last seven matches and only one spot above the Fire in eighth.
Game Information
CHICAGO FIRE FC (13-11-6, 45 points) vs. Columbus Crew (13-7-11, 50 points)
Saturday, Sept. 27, 2025
Soldier Field – Chicago
All-Time MLS Regular Season Record vs. CLB: (27-28-23)
Last Game vs. CLB: May 18, 2024 (1-3 L) – Soldier Field – Chicago (Match Recap)
Last Game at CLB: Feb. 22, 2025 (2-4 L) – Lower.com Field – Columbus, Ohio (Match Recap)
Keys to the Match
- Renew the Rivalry: Saturday will mark the 79th regular season meeting between Chicago and Columbus, the most matches against a single opponent in Fire history. The Crew took the lead in the series in the opening match of the 2025 season. But 30 games later, both teams are very different from the start of the year, and the Fire will be itching to get a result against their longtime rivals.
- Keep the Sheet Clean: Goalkeeper Chris Brady and the Fire defense earned the team’s fifth clean sheet of the season last week at Minnesota United. They will now hope to carry over that complete performance into the lakefront against Columbus. The last time the team got two shutout victories in a row was in July, when they blanked CF Montréal on the road before coming home to shut out the New York Red Bulls at Soldier Field. With the playoffs around the corner, now is a good time to repeat the formula and post back-to-back clean sheets again.
- 2x15: Chicago had never seen two goal scorers with double-digit goals in the same season prior to 2025; now, they may see two go for 15. Hugo Cuypers leads the way with 16, but after a goal-scoring performance in Minnesota, Philip Zinckernagel is one tally short of the 15-goal mark as well. Scoring would not only give Chicago two players with 15 goals but also give Zinckernagel a share of the Fire record for goal contributions in a single season: 28, the mark set by Nemanja Nikolic in 2017, the last time the Fire made the postseason.
By the Numbers
1 – Defender Joel Waterman and midfielder Dje D’Avilla each scored their first goal as members of the Fire on Saturday night. For D’Avilla, the moment was extra sweet – the goal was also the first of his professional career following stints at clubs in Ivory Coast, United Arab Emirates and Portugal. For Waterman, it was the first game-winning goal of his career since 2022 in only his second match with the Men in Red.
2 – Chicago scored twice from set piece goals on Saturday, totaling 12 such goals this season – the third best mark in the league. Both goals were similar to each other, with André Franco serving a cross from the left side to the far side of the box, where a teammate got a header. Crucially, the Fire held off the league’s top set piece scoring team, Minnesota United FC, from scoring in any capacity in the 3-0 clean sheet.
200 – Director of Football and Head Coach Gregg Berhalter coached his 200th MLS regular season match on Saturday, earning the 80th victory of his career. His career total is tied for 21st all-time in Major League Soccer history with Columbus’ Wilfried Nancy. A win on Saturday against the Crew would place Berhalter in the top 20, tied with the Dallas Burn’s Dave Dir with 81.
How to Watch
The 79th regular season meeting between the longtime Eastern Conference rivals is scheduled to kick off at 7:30 p.m. CT. The match will be broadcast globally on MLS Season Pass on Apple TV and will be transmitted locally on wlsam.com (English) and Que Buena Fire via the Uforia App (Spanish). A replay of the match will be available on Marquee Sports Network on Monday, Sept. 29 at 8 p.m. CT.
