As announced on Friday, single-game tickets to the Chicago Fire's 2019 regular season home matches are officially on-sale now, with 50 days remaining between until the Club's SeatGeek Stadium debut on March 9. Keep your 2019 schedule handy and be sure to snag your seats to these six can't-miss matches from the upcoming campaign:
Home openers are always an occasion not to miss, as months of preseason hype culminate in fans’ first opportunity to see members of the Men In Red both old and new in person for the first time. The Fire will welcome Eastern Conference counterparts Orlando City SC to SeatGeek Stadium for the occasion, against whom they’ve won three straight matches dating back to 2017.
In late March, the 2018 Supporters Shield winners visit SeatGeek Stadium for the pair of clubs’ first of two matches in 2019. With the Red Bulls come head coach Chris Armas, who spent 10 seasons patrolling the Fire midfield (1998-2007) and is a member of the Club’s Ring of Honor. The Fire took three points from a spring meeting at Red Bull Arena last season, and will look to repeat that feat at SeatGeek in 2019.
The Fire will welcome the reigning MLS Cup champions to the Windy City for a midweek contest on the eve of Independence Day. Atlanta took two wins off of the Fire in MLS play last season, but the Men In Red are unbeaten over the last eight seasons in matches leading up to July 4 (4-0-4), including wins in each of the last three years. They’ll look to right the ship from last season against new Atlanta United head coach Frank de Boer and 2018 MLS Golden Boot winner Josef Martinez.
With the 2019 season comes another addition to the league in the form of MLS debutantes FC Cincinnati. The potential for an additional rivalry against a team from Ohio begins when FCC visit SeatGeek Stadium for a first-ever MLS meeting with the Fire in mid-July. The Fire are 3-4-2 against teams in their expansion seasons dating back to 2015.
A meeting of former Manchester United teammates and World Cup opponents Bastian Schweinsteiger and Wayne Rooney highlight a late July visit from D.C. United. The match marks the third head-to-head meeting of the two former international captains (Germany and England, respectively) since Rooney joined MLS last Summer, with Schweinsteiger aiming to come out on top in front of the home crowd after a 0-0 Decision Day draw last October.
Mid-September brings a visit from FC Dallas for what will be the latest installment of the Brimstone Cup, awarded annually to the winner of this matchup. Dallas and new head coach Luchi Gonzalez are the current Cup-holders, but the Fire have won their last four meetings at home against their east Texas counterparts dating back to 2012, and will look to extend that streak to five on Sept. 14.
