CINCINNATI (April 18, 2026) – Chicago Fire FC (4-2-2, 14 points) played FC Cincinnati (2-4-2, 8 points) to a 3-3 draw on Saturday night at TQL Stadium in Cincinnati as Hugo Cuypers scored twice and Philip Zinckernagel tallied his second goal of the season.
Chris Brady became the third Chicago Fire Homegrown player to play 100 matches for the Men in Red, starting all 100 games he has backstopped. Cuypers also tied the Fire record for most consecutive games with a goal, tallying his fifth and sixth goals in his fifth consecutive match.
Zinckernagel carried the ball up the right flank and sent a cross to the top of the box where Cuypers had pulled away from the backline. Cuypers touched the ball into the air and sent a half volley toward goal that bounced under Roman Celentano and into the net.
Former Fire forward Tom Barlow leveled the score in the 42nd minute, but Chicago responded with a second tally before the end of the first half. Cuypers was taken down in the box and Zinckernagel sent home the penalty for his second goal of the season.Â
Cuypers scored his second half-volley of the game in the 48th minute when Andrew Gutman spotted him from the left side and sent a ball across the box that Miles Robinson headed up. Cuypers pounced on the rebound and tucked the ball into the lower left corner. Cincinnati pulled one back in the 79th minute when Evander finished a penalty kick, and an own goal rounded out the score at 3-3 in the 86th minute.
NEXT MATCH: The Fire returns to Soldier Field to kick off a four-game homestand across all competitions, starting with an interconference match against Sporting KC on Saturday, April 25. Kickoff is set for 7:30 p.m. CT and the match will be broadcast globally on Apple TV. It will be transmitted locally on WLS 890 AM in English and the Uforia by TREBEL app in Spanish.
Match Notes:
- Chris Brady became the 23rd player in Club history to reach 100 regular season appearances. Brady is the first Homegrown goalkeeper to reach the mark for Chicago, joining Mauricio Pineda and Brian Gutiérrez as the third Homegrown player overall to make at least 100 starts for their hometown team.
- Forward Hugo Cuypers’s first goal of the match was his fifth goal in his fifth start of the season. The tally tied the Fire record for most consecutive games with a goal, set by David Accam and Robert Berić. With his second goal of the evening, Cuypers also joined Andrew Gutman as the only player on the current Fire roster to have scored more than one goal against FC Cincinnati.
- With his assist and his goal against FC Cincinnati, Philip Zinckernagel has scored or assisted in four consecutive matches for the Fire across all competitions, including setting up Jason Shokalook’s goal in the win against Detroit on Tuesday in the 2026 Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup.
- Defender Leonardo Barroso (Lower Body) and wingers Chris Mueller (Not Due to Injury) and Jonathan Bamba (Not Due to Injury) were unavailable for selection. Midfielder André Franco (Lower Body) remains on the league Injured List and unavailable for multiple weeks.
Social: Twitter - @chicagofire, @vamosfire (Hashtags: #cf97 #VamosFire) | Instagram - @chicagofire | Facebook
\\Box Score:
\\FC Cincinnati 3:3 Chicago Fire FC
Goals:
CHI - Cuypers (5) (Zinckernagel 2) (WATCH) 26’
CIN - Barlow (2) (WATCH) 42’
CHI - Zinckernagel (2) (penalty) (WATCH) 45+5’
CHI - Cuypers (6) (WATCH) 48’
CIN - Evander (1) (penalty) (WATCH) 79’
CIN - Own Goal (D’Avilla) (WATCH) 86’
Discipline:
CIN - Gidi (Caution) 7’
CIN - Barlow (Caution) 11’
CIN - RamÃrez (Caution) 90’
CHI - Borson (Caution) 90’
CIN - Bucha (Caution) 90’
CHI - Mbokazi (Caution) 90+9’
CHI - Elliott (Caution) 90+9’
Chicago Fire FC: GK Brady, D Dean (Borso, 83’), D Elliott (capt.), D Mbokazi, D Gutman, M Salétros, M D’Avilla, M Zinckernagel (Waterman, 73’), M Haile-Selassie (Radojević, 90+4’), F Lod (Dithejane, 83’), F Cuypers
Subs not used: GK Cohen, M Pineda, M Poreba, M Oregel Jr., F Shokalook
Head Coach: Gregg Berhalter
FC Cincinnati: GK Celentano, D Flores (Hadebe, 46’), D Hagglund, D Robinson (capt.) (Powell, 64’), M Echenique (Valenzuela, 70’), M Evander, M Gidi, M Bucha, M RamÃrez, F Barlow (Jabbari, 70’), F Mboma Dem (Smith, 85’)
Subs not used: GK Louro, M Anunga
Head Coach: Pat Noonan
\\Stats Summary: CIN / CHI
\\Shots: 23 / 18
Shots on Goal: 10 / 6
Saves: 3 / 8
Passing Accuracy: 86.1% / 80.5%
Corners: 9 / 1
Fouls: 11 / 9
Offsides: 1 / 0
Possession: 52.7% / 46.2%
Venue: TQL Stadium (Cincinnati)
Attendance: 25,513
Referee: Malik Badawi
Assistant Referees: Justin Howard, Matthew Nelson
Fourth Official: Rosendo Mendoza
VAR: Kevin Terry, Jr.
AVAR: TJ Zablocki
