Orlando might be nicer this time of year, but the Chicago Fire is fine with staying home.
An own goal by New England in the 99th minute gave the Fire a 2-2 tie on Oct. 18 on the road. That allowed the Fire, seeded eighth in the Eastern Conference, to play an MLS wild-card home game at SeatGeek Stadium in Bridgeview Oct. 22 against ninth-seeded Orlando. It’s the first time the Fire hosted a playoff game since 2017.
Had the Fire (15-11-8) lost, they would have played the game in Orlando.
Fire defender Joel Waterman appreciated getting to open at home, even though it wasn’t at their main facility: Soldier Field.
“We made the playoffs and we get a home playoff game,” he said after the game. “We’ll be in front of our home fans.”
If the Fire pull off the wild-card win they would enter a best-of-three series against top-seeded Philadelphia. According to MLS, the first game is at Philadelphia at 4:30 p.m. Oct. 26 and the second takes place at 4:30 p.m. Nov. 1 at home; Ticketmaster has that potential game in Bridgeview as well. If needed, the third game would be Nov. 8 in Philadelphia.
Tickets for the wild card match are on sale at bit.ly/FireVsOrlando. Gates open at 6 p.m. and kickoff takes place at 7:30 p.m.
MLS Season Pass and Apple TV will broadcast every match of the Audi 2025 MLS Cup Playoffs. The match will be transmitted locally on WLS 890 AM (English) and Que Buena Fire via the Uforia App (Spanish).
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