CHGO Chicago Fire Podcast

The 2026 World Cup across the United States, Mexico and Canada is upon us! Following a pair of warmup matches in Charlotte and at Soldier Field, Mauricio Pochettino’s men are gearing up for their Group D opener against Paraguay on Friday night in LA. On this first of a series of special World Cup podcast episodes, we’ll get you up to speed on the US team, what we’ve learned from these recent friendlies, what lies ahead of them and how far they might be able to go? Alex Campbell of CHGO Fire and CHGO Stars is joined by Alex Calabrese of Men In Red 97 Media + MLSsoccer.com as we count down to kickoff! Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See https://pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

📬 Chicago sports in your inbox: https://allchgo.com/newsletter The long wait is finally over: the Chicago Fire are headed back to the MLS Cup Playoffs for the first time since 2017! The Fire booked their ticket to the postseason in style with a 5-3 thrilling win in Miami over Messi and Friends following a dominant 2-0 home win over the Columbus Crew. Meanwhile, Philip Zinckernagel broke Nemanja Nikolic’s 2017 club record for goal contributions in a season as he reached 29 on 14 goals and 15 assists with one match still to play thanks to assisting both of Jack Elliot’s goals in Saturday’s 2-2 draw with Toronto FC. To what to the Fire owe their change in fortune? How much credit to Berhalter, Zinckernagel and others deserve? What should the expectations be for this team when the playoffs begin in two weeks? Alex is joined by Matt Doyle of MLSsoccer.com and AppleTV’s MLS coverage to survey the Fire’s strong season so far. An ALLCITY Network Production PARTY WITH US: https://bit.ly/3SRS03z ALL THINGS CHGO: https://linktr.ee/chgosports WATCH YOUR FAVORITE TEAMS: https://www.fubotv.com/chgo Empire Today: Schedule a free in-home estimate today! All listeners can receive a $350 OFF discount when they use the promo code CHGO. Restrictions apply. See https://empiretoday.com/chgo for details. Ray Auto Group: Get into your next vehicle with Ray Auto in Fox Lake! Ray Chevy: https://www.raychevrolet.com/ Ray CDJR: https://www.raycdjr.com/ Presented by Coors Light. Official Domestic Beer Partner of Chicago Fire FC. Chicago, Choose Chill. Go to https://coorslight.com/CHGOSoccer to get Coors Light delivered straight to your door. Celebrate Responsibly. Coors Brewing Company, Golden, Colorado. Download the Gametime app, create an account, and use code CHGO for $20 off your first purchase. Check out FOCO for merch and collectibles here https://foco.vegb.net/CHGO and use promo code “CHGO10” for 10% off your order on all non Pre Order items. When you shop through links in the description, we may earn affiliate commissions. Copyright Disclaimer under section 107 of the Copyright Act 1976, allowance is made for “fair use” for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, education and research. Fair use is a use permitted by copyright statute that might otherwise be infringing. #ChicagoFire #cf97 #VamosFire #ReturnToRed Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See https://pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

📬 Chicago sports in your inbox: https://allchgo.com/newsletter The summer transfer window for Major League Soccer shut this week, and the Fire got deals done for a new number 10 and a couple of defenders while Carlos Teran departed for Brazil. Are the Fire better off after the changes? And after a wild back and forth win over St. Louis, only one side scored the goals in Philly on Saturday as the Fire were flattened 4-0. How worried should we be about what we saw, and where does that leave things with less than 2 months of the regular season to go? Alex is joined by Joe Chatz of On Tap Sports Net to review another busy couple of weeks as the Fire try to hold on to the hope of breaking their playoff drought. An ALLCITY Network Production PARTY WITH US: https://bit.ly/3SRS03z ALL THINGS CHGO: https://linktr.ee/chgosports WATCH YOUR FAVORITE TEAMS: https://www.fubotv.com/chgo Empire Today: Schedule a free in-home estimate today! All listeners can receive a $350 OFF discount when they use the promo code CHGO. Restrictions apply. See https://empiretoday.com/chgo for details. Ray Auto Group: Get into your next vehicle with Ray Auto in Fox Lake! Ray Chevy: https://www.raychevrolet.com/ Ray CDJR: https://www.raycdjr.com/ Presented by Coors Light. Official Domestic Beer Partner of Chicago Fire FC. Chicago, Choose Chill. Go to https://coorslight.com/CHGOSoccer to get Coors Light delivered straight to your door. Celebrate Responsibly. Coors Brewing Company, Golden, Colorado. Download the Gametime app, create an account, and use code CHGO for $20 off your first purchase. Check out FOCO for merch and collectibles here https://foco.vegb.net/CHGO and use promo code “CHGO10” for 10% off your order on all non Pre Order items. When you shop through links in the description, we may earn affiliate commissions. Copyright Disclaimer under section 107 of the Copyright Act 1976, allowance is made for “fair use” for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, education and research. Fair use is a use permitted by copyright statute that might otherwise be infringing. #ChicagoFire #cf97 #VamosFire #ReturnToRed Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See https://pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

It’s been quite a mix of good and bad in recent weeks, even by the Chicago Fire’s usual erratic standards! Philip Zinckernagel continues to impress, setting records in a history-making first season that will deservedly see him represent the team at this week’s All Star Game. At the opposite end of things, Omar Gonzalez effectively knocked the Fire out of the Open Cup when he appeared to try and knock out Minnesota’s Julian Gressell. Throw in another heartbreaking late goal to drop points and actually dominating a terrible team like you’re supposed to and it’s been a full few weeks! Plus, Alex along with Joe Chatz of On Tap Sportsnet take your questions! Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See https://pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

The Chicago Fire just had their best week in a long time! Maybe ever? A road win in Orlando powered by a Hugo Cuypers brace, the announcement of a new stadium, Chris Brady is going to the Gold Cup, and a barnstorming blowout of DC United featuring a hat trick by Tom Barlow of all people! Alex is joined by Fire radio broadcaster Max Thoma to enjoy all the good news and good vibes ahead of this week’s Stars/Fire doubleheader at Soldier Field! Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Last week started well for the Fire, with a dominant 4-1 win on the road against Charlotte FC powered by two goals and an assist for Brian Gutierrez. It ended Sunday with a 1-0 lead that turned into a 3-1 loss to NYCFC at Yankee Stadium in large part due to Gutierrez elbowing an opponent in the face and being sent off. This will be the second time he’s been suspended this season, and by the end of the suspension he will have missed seven matches due to either suspension, injury or national team duty. What do we make of the enigma that is Guti? Also, the Fire advanced in the Open Cup and we now know their path to a potential record breaking fifth title. Can they do it? Should it be prioritized over the league? Alex is joined by Kiril Anastasov of Chicago Sports Nation for all that and more. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See https://pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

The Fire have played three games since our last show: an entertaining draw vs Messi and friends, a sloppy and crazy 3-2 loss to Cincinnati, and an humiliating blowout at the hands of Gregg Berhalter’s former assistant B.J. Callaghan and Nashville SC. What’s gone wrong, what’s not working, and what can we conclude after 10 games? Then, the Chicago grassroots soccer community, Edgewater Castle FC President and General Manager Andrew Swanson joins the show to talk about the team’s new podcast ‘Stone By Stone,’ promotion and relegation and the state of the lower-division landscape. An ALLCITY Network Production PARTY WITH US: https://bit.ly/3SRS03z ALL THINGS CHGO: https://linktr.ee/chgosports WATCH YOUR FAVORITE TEAMS: https://www.fubotv.com/chgo Empire Today: Schedule a free in-home estimate today! All listeners can receive a $350 OFF discount when they use the promo code CHGO. Restrictions apply. See https://empiretoday.com/chgo for details. Ray Auto Group: Get into your next vehicle with Ray Auto in Fox Lake! Ray Chevy: https://www.raychevrolet.com/ Ray CDJR: https://www.raycdjr.com/ Sunnyside Cannabis Dispensary: Head to https://sunnyside.shop and use code ‘HICHGO’ at checkout for 50% off your first 3 online orders on our favorite brands like Cresco, Good News, & more to elevate your first purchase! Sunnyside* Cannabis Dispensary -Bright buys, every day. Only for 21+ or IL medical card holders Presented by Coors Light. Official Domestic Beer Partner of Chicago Fire FC. Chicago, Choose Chill. Go to https://coorslight.com/CHGOSoccer to get Coors Light delivered straight to your door. Celebrate Responsibly. Coors Brewing Company, Golden, Colorado. Download the Gametime app, create an account, and use code CHGO for $20 off your first purchase. Check out FOCO for merch and collectibles here https://foco.vegb.net/CHGO and use promo code “CHGO10” for 10% off your order on all non Pre Order items. When you shop through links in the description, we may earn affiliate commissions. Copyright Disclaimer under section 107 of the Copyright Act 1976, allowance is made for “fair use” for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, education and research. Fair use is a use permitted by copyright statute that might otherwise be infringing. #ChicagoFire #cf97 #VamosFire #ReturnToRed Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See https://pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.