Wednesday , 30 September 2026

FC Cincinnati vs Chicago Fire FC, MLS 2026 REGULAR SEASON

MLS · 2026
FC Cincinnati
3 – 3
Full Time
Chicago Fire FC
Sat 18 Apr 2026 · 23:30 UTC TQL Stadium 25,513 HT 45' · FT 45'
0–1 26' Hugo Cuypers
Tom Barlow 42' 1–1
1–2 45+5' Philip Zinckernagel pen
1–3 48' Hugo Cuypers
Evander pen 79' 2–3
Dje Davilla og 86' 3–3
Samuel Gidi 7' Y
Tom Barlow 11' Y
Bryan Ramirez 90' Y
Y 90' Dylan Borso
Pavel Bucha 90' Y
Y 90' Jack Elliott
Y 90' Mbekezeli Mbokazi

Overview

Match Preview

FC Cincinnati vs Chicago Fire FC — MLS at TQL Stadium.

Match Details

  • Referee Malik Badawi (USA)
  • Assistant 1 Justin Howard (USA)
6 games this season 🟨 3.5/game ⚽ 11.3 goals/game

Standings

# Team P Pts
1 Nashville SC 27 60
2 Internacional CF Miami 27 46
3 New England Revolution 27 46
4 Charlotte FC 27 43
5 Chicago Fire FC 26 42
6 Philadelphia Union 27 39
7 Orlando City SC 27 34
8 New York City FC 27 33
9 FC Cincinnati 26 33
10 New York Red Bulls 26 33
11 D.C. United SC 26 30
12 Columbus Crew SC 27 29
13 Toronto FC 27 29
14 Atlanta United FC 27 27
15 Montreal Impact FC 27 24
16 Vancouver Whitecaps FC 26 50
17 FC Dallas 27 47
18 San Jose Earthquakes 27 45
19 St. Louis City 26 44
20 Houston Dynamo 27 44
21 Los Angeles FC 28 41
22 Colorado Rapids SC 27 36
23 Los Angeles Galaxy 28 36
24 Seattle Sounders FC 26 35
25 San Diego FC 27 32
26 Portland Timbers 27 32
27 Real Salt Lake 27 32
28 Austin FC 27 31
29 Minnesota United FC 27 29
30 Sporting Kansas City 26 21

Head-to-Head

8
4
4
FC Cincinnati 16 games · Avg 3.3 goals Chicago Fire FC
Last 5 meetings
2026-04-18 FC Cincinnati 3–3 Chicago Fire FC 2025-07-05 FC Cincinnati 2–1 Chicago Fire FC 2025-04-20 Chicago Fire FC 2–3 FC Cincinnati 2024-07-17 FC Cincinnati 0–1 Chicago Fire FC 2024-03-03 Chicago Fire FC 1–2 FC Cincinnati

Recent Form

FC Cincinnati
DateOpponentH/A ScoreResult
18 Apr Chicago Fire FC H 3–3 D
11 Apr Toronto FC A 1–1 D
04 Apr New York Red Bulls A 2–4 L
22 Mar Montreal Impact FC H 4–3 W
15 Mar New England Revolution A 1–6 L
08 Mar Toronto FC H 0–1 L
Chicago Fire FC
DateOpponentH/A ScoreResult
18 Apr FC Cincinnati A 3–3 D
12 Apr Atlanta United FC H 1–0 W
05 Apr Nashville SC H 1–0 W
21 Mar Philadelphia Union A 2–1 W
15 Mar D.C. United SC H 1–2 L
08 Mar Columbus Crew SC A 0–0 D

Season Stats

FC Cincinnati Chicago Fire FC
#9 Position #5
33 Points 42
26 Played 26
8 / 9 / 9 W / D / L 12 / 6 / 8
55 Scored 46
64 Conceded 38
-9 GD +8
1.27 PPG 1.62
31% Win % 46%

Key Stats

63% Both Teams to Score
H2H (16 games)
69% Over 2.5 Goals
H2H history
15% Clean Sheets
FC Cincinnati this season
31% Clean Sheets
Chicago Fire FC this season

FC Cincinnati are 9th (33 pts). Chicago Fire FC are 5th (42 pts).

Goal Timing (This Season)

FC Cincinnati
0-15
4/3
16-30
5/9
31-45
9/9
46-60
5/11
61-75
4/4
76+
13/7
■ Scored ■ Conceded
Chicago Fire FC
0-15
7/2
16-30
7/5
31-45
3/8
46-60
4/6
61-75
8/–
76+
3/9
■ Scored ■ Conceded

Top Scorers (This Season)

FC Cincinnati
Kevin Denkey 14 G 1 A
Evander 13 G 7 A
Tom Barlow 7 G 2 A
Pavel Bucha 6 G 3 A
Chicago Fire FC
Hugo Cuypers 11 G
Maren Haile-Selassie 8 G 3 A
Philip Zinckernagel 5 G 4 A

Events

Match Events

  • 0' And we are off! FC Cincinnati vs Chicago Fire FC — let the football do the talking.
  • 5' It is a cagey affair so far. FC Cincinnati in their 3-4-1-2 trying to find a way past Chicago Fire FC's compact 4-4-2.
  • 7' That is a card for FC Cincinnati. Samuel Gidi will be fuming at that decision.
  • 11' The referee reaches into his pocket. Out comes the card for Tom Barlow.
  • 16' The tempo has dropped considerably in the last few minutes. Gregg Berhalter will be considering his options from the bench.
  • 21' While there is no rush on the pitch, let’s have a look at some stats. Joel Waterman made 291 appearances and scored 10 goals. He is very likely to score a goal today.
  • 26' A stunning finish from Hugo Cuypers — that came from absolutely nowhere!
  • 31' Ender Echenique needs to be pretty careful with his discipline considering 0 Red cards this season.
  • 36' The teams are not in a rush to score plenty of goals. It might look strange considering Chicago Fire FC that had 286 games and scored 408 goals.
  • 41' Nick Hagglund has been relatively quiet despite scoring 13 goals in his last 292 appearances.
  • 42' Tom Barlow has been a constant threat and now delivers with a goal on 42 minutes.
  • 46' Teenage Hadebe is replacing Gilberto Flores for the FC Cincinnati side.
  • 48' A goal from the Belgium international Hugo Cuypers! He fires home on 48 to make it 1-2!
  • 50' Philip Zinckernagel does the damage! The net is bulging and Chicago Fire FC surge ahead!
  • 55' Roman Celentano has been disciplined this evening — perhaps mindful of those 0 cards already picked up this season.
  • 60' Supporters expect more eagerness from Chris Brady, as he is very good at scoring at TQL Stadium with 0 goals in the last 0 games.
  • 64' Alvas Powell is ready to make an impact after coming on for Miles Robinson at the 64 minute mark.
  • 69' A moment of individual brilliance could settle this. Both teams are waiting for that decisive action.
  • 70' A change in the FC Cincinnati ranks — Tom Barlow exits the field as Ayoub Jabbari enters on 70.
  • 73' Fresh legs for Chicago Fire FC! Joel Waterman comes on to replace Philip Zinckernagel.
  • 78' Both teams are passing the ball around with high level of urgency. FC Cincinnati needs to do something about it to get closer to the goal.
  • 79' Clinical. Composed. Brilliant. Evander makes it 2-3.
  • 83' Chicago Fire FC ring the changes. Robin Lod has done his job and it is now time for Puso Dithejane to step up.
  • 86' Dje Davilla is having a superb {COMPETITION} campaign — that is 2 goals this season for the .
  • 86' The FC Cincinnati manager makes a substitution. Kenji Mboma departs to be replaced by Kyle Smith.
  • 90' A moment of madness from Bryan Ramirez on 90 minutes earns him a card. FC Cincinnati will be frustrated.
  • 90' Viktor Radojevic is ready to make an impact after coming on for Maren Haile-Selassie at the 90 minute mark.
  • Game over. The scoreline of 3-3 tells the full story of an entertaining encounter.

Lineups

FC Cincinnati Lineups

3-4-1-2

Starting XI

Bench

Coach Pat Noonan

Chicago Fire FC Lineups

4-4-2

Starting XI

Bench

Coach Gregg Berhalter

H2H

H2H Top Scorers

PlayerGoals
Evander 7
Hugo Cuypers 5
Luciano Acosta 4
Jhon Duran 3
Brian Gutierrez 3
Robert Beric 3
Brandon Vazquez 2
Rafael Czichos 2

Head to Head

2026-04-18 FC Cincinnati 3–3 Chicago Fire FC 2025-07-05 FC Cincinnati 2–1 Chicago Fire FC 2025-04-20 Chicago Fire FC 2–3 FC Cincinnati 2024-07-17 FC Cincinnati 0–1 Chicago Fire FC 2024-03-03 Chicago Fire FC 1–2 FC Cincinnati

FC Cincinnati Form

2026-04-18 FC Cincinnati 3–3 Chicago Fire FC D 2026-04-11 Toronto FC 1–1 FC Cincinnati D 2026-04-04 New York Red Bulls 4–2 FC Cincinnati L 2026-03-22 FC Cincinnati 4–3 Montreal Impact FC W 2026-03-15 New England Revolution 6–1 FC Cincinnati L 2026-03-08 FC Cincinnati 0–1 Toronto FC L

Chicago Fire FC Form

2026-04-18 FC Cincinnati 3–3 Chicago Fire FC D 2026-04-12 Chicago Fire FC 1–0 Atlanta United FC W 2026-04-05 Chicago Fire FC 1–0 Nashville SC W 2026-03-21 Philadelphia Union 1–2 Chicago Fire FC W 2026-03-15 Chicago Fire FC 1–2 D.C. United SC L 2026-03-08 Columbus Crew SC 0–0 Chicago Fire FC D

Predictions

Prediction accuracy
2 / 4
2.2 FC Cincinnati xG
Expected Goals
Dixon-Coles · Bivariate Poisson · Neg. Binomial · Elo
2.35 Chicago Fire FC xG
I would bet for: Over 2.5 goals 82% + Both teams to score 80%

Match Result

✗ Wrong
FC Cincinnati39% Draw22% Chicago Fire FC39%
Actual: Draw

Both Teams to Score

✓ Correct
Yes80% 0% No20%
Avg goals/match: 4.55
Actual: Yes — both scored

Over / Under Goals

✓ O/U 2.5
Line Over Under
± 0.5 98%
2%
± 1.5 94%
6%
± 2.5 82%
18%
± 3.5 65%
35%
± 4.5 47%
53%

Double Chance

FC Cincinnati or Draw
62%
Draw or Chicago Fire FC
61%
FC Cincinnati or Chicago Fire FC
78%

Half-Time Result

✗ Wrong
FC Cincinnati31% Draw35% Chicago Fire FC34%
Actual: Chicago Fire FC win at HT

Correct Score

✓ In top 12
2 – 2
6.8%
1 – 2
6.3%
1 – 1
6.2%
2 – 1
6%
2 – 3
5.3%
3 – 2
4.9%
1 – 3
4.9%
3 – 1
4.3%
3 – 3
Actual
2 – 4
3.1%
0 – 2
3.1%
1 – 4
2.9%

Asian Handicap — FC Cincinnati

Handicap FC Cincinnati covers Push Chicago Fire FC covers
-2.5 10% — 90%
-2 10% 11% 79%
-1.5 21% — 79%
-1 21% 16% 63%
-0.5 37% — 63%
+0.5 58% — 42%
+1 58% 17% 25%
+1.5 75% — 25%
+2 75% 13% 13%
+2.5 87% — 13%

Clean Sheet

FC Cincinnati keeps clean sheet
10% ✓
Chicago Fire FC keeps clean sheet
12% ✓

Predictions are statistical estimates based on season form, H2H history, and a Poisson model. Not financial advice.