CHICAGO (April 25, 2026) – Chicago Fire FC (5-2-2, 17 points) earned a 5-0 victory over Sporting KC (1-7-1, 4 points) Saturday night at Soldier Field in Chicago.
Forward Hugo Cuypers recorded his second brace in a row to set a Fire record for most consecutive games with a goal. Winger Philip Zinckernagel opened the scoring with two goals and Maren Haile-Selassie tallied his second goal of the season.
After a quiet first half, Chicago came out of the locker room hungry for the lead. A shot from Andrew Gutman found the hand of a Kansas City defender, setting up a penalty kick less than five minutes into the second half. Cuypers’ attempt was saved by goalkeeper John Pulskamp, but Zinckernagel pounced on the rebound for his third goal of 2026.
In the 65th minute, Zinckernagel sparked a series of touches between Robin Lod and Haile-Selassie that found his feet. The Danish winger took out a defender with a touch that set him up for a clean finish and his first multi-goal match with Chicago.
Less than 10 minutes later, Haile-Selassie spotted a sprinting Zinckernagel on the right channel, who then looked up to see a wide-open Cuypers on the left wing. The Belgian striker finished deftly upon first touch to make it seven goals in six matches played, putting the Fire up by three.
Shortly after entering the match, forward Jason Shokalook initiated a counterattack by feeding left back Andrew Gutman. His through ball found Haile-Selassie in stride, who rounded a charging Pulskamp outside the box to score on an open goal with more than 10 minutes left. The Swiss winger ended a good night in stoppage time with a corner kick that defender Jack Elliott played across goal to Cuypers, who put the match away with his second straight brace.
NEXT MATCH:Â The Fire next faces St. Louis CITY SC in the 2026 Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup at 7 p.m. CT on Wednesday, April 29, at SeatGeek Stadium. The Round of 16 match will be broadcast live on Paramount+. Chicago then plays host to FC Cincinnati in MLS regular season play on Saturday, May 2. Kickoff at Soldier Field is slated 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:
- With his brace against Sporting KC, Hugo Cuypers broke the Fire record for most consecutive games with a goal. The Belgian striker has scored in six straight games in which he has appeared, breaking the mark of five previously held by David Accam and Robert Berić.
- Winger Philip Zinckernagel recorded his first multi-goal scoring appearance with Chicago Fire FC. He has now recorded a goal or an assist in five straight matches across all competitions for Chicago, while notching his first game with three goal contributions since scoring once and assisting twice in a 3-1 win over Orlando City SC on May 31, 2025.
- Maren Haile-Selassie recorded three assists in a single match for the first time since Chicago’s playoff-clinching 5-3 victory over Inter Miami CF on Sept. 30, 2025. In addition to his assists, Haile-Selassie added a goal, giving him his first match with four goal contributions in four seasons with the Fire.
- Chris Brady recorded his second shutout in as many matches against Kansas City. The Homegrown goalkeeper had a quiet night, making a single save behind a stellar Fire defense that earned its fifth clean sheet of the season.
- The Men in Red won their 60th match against Sporting KC, extending their all-time series edge to 29-19-12. Cuypers’ first goal was Fire’s 100th all-time against their old rivals, making Kansas City the fifth team against whom the Men in Red have scored 100 goals in regular season play.
- Robin Lod recorded his second assist of the season on Zinckernagel’s second goal of the night in his 15th match against Kansas City. The former Minnesota United player is now tied with Diego Fagundez for most assists against Sporting KC among active players with six.
- With the win, Chicago reached a season-high five straight MLS games without a loss, matching three such streaks recorded in 2025. The Men in Red went into the 2025 MLS Cup Playoffs on a five-game unbeaten streak, riding the momentum into a 3-1 victory over Orlando City FC in the Eastern Conference Wild Card game on Oct. 22.
- Defender Leonardo Barroso (Lower Body) and wingers Chris Mueller (Lower Body) and Jonathan Bamba (Not Due to Injury) were not available for selection. Midfielder André Franco (Lower Body) remains on the league Injured List and will be unavailable through the World Cup break.
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Box Score:
Chicago Fire FC 5:0 Sporting KC
Goals:
CHI - Zinckernagel (3) (WATCH) 51’
CHI - Zinckernagel (4) (Haile-Selassie 1, Lod 2) (WATCH) 65’
CHI - Cuypers (7) (Zinckernagel 3, Haile-Selassie 2) (WATCH) 73’
CHI - Haile-Selassie (2) (Gutman 2, Shokalook 1) (WATCH) 79’
CHI - Cuypers (8) (Elliott 2, Haile-Selassie 3) (WATCH) 90+8’
Discipline:
CHI - Gutman (Caution) 10’
Chicago Fire FC: GK Brady, D Dean, D Waterman, D Elliott (capt.), D Gutman (Radojević, 84’), M Zinckernagel (Shokalook, 76’), M Salétros (Oregel Jr, 76’), M D’Avilla (Pineda, 84’), M Dithejane (Lod, 61‘), F Haile-Selassie, F Cuypers
Subs not used: GK Cohen, D Mbokazi, D Borso, M Poreba
Head Coach:Â Gregg Berhalter
Sporting KC: GK Pulskamp, D Davis, D James (Meyer, 74’), D Bartlow, D Miller, D Agyabeng, M Harris (Afrifa, 75’), M Johnsen, M GarcÃa, M Capita (Bartlett, 86’), F Joveljić
Subs not used:Â GK Kortkamp, GK Cleveland, D Reid, M Tschantret, F Calheira, F Suleymanov
Head Coach:Â Raphael Wicky
Stats Summary: CHI / SKC
Shots: 18 / 7
Shots on Goal: 7 / 1
Saves: 1 / 2
Passing Accuracy: 91.0% / 75.7%
Corners: 4 / 2
Fouls: 15 / 17
Offsides: 0 / 0
Possession: 69.3% / 30.7%
Venue:Â Soldier Field (Chicago)
Attendance:Â 17,992
Referee:Â Brandon Stevis
Assistant Referees:Â Ian McKay, Tyler Wyrostek
Fourth Official:Â Sergii Boiko
VAR:Â Edvin Jurisevic
AVAR:Â Fabio Tovar
