FC Cincinnati vs Chicago Fire FC, MLS 2026 REGULAR SEASON

Refresh

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.

FC Cincinnati 34 games · 46 pts (2026/26)
Chicago Fire FC 34 games · 55 pts (2026/26)

Match Details

Referee Malik Badawi (USA)
Assistant 1 Justin Howard (USA)

8 games this season 🟨 3.8/game ⚽ 14.1 goals/game

Standings

#	Team	P	Pts
1	Nashville SC	34	77
2	Internacional CF Miami	34	60
3	New England Revolution	34	58
4	Chicago Fire FC	34	55
5	Charlotte FC	34	54
6	Philadelphia Union	34	50
7	Columbus Crew SC	34	47
8	FC Cincinnati	34	46
9	Orlando City SC	34	46
10	New York City FC	34	42
11	New York Red Bulls	34	42
12	Toronto FC	34	39
13	Atlanta United FC	34	33
14	D.C. United SC	34	33
15	Montreal Impact FC	34	26
16	Vancouver Whitecaps FC	34	64
17	FC Dallas	34	58
18	St. Louis City	34	54
19	San Jose Earthquakes	34	52
20	Houston Dynamo	34	51
21	Los Angeles FC	34	47
22	Portland Timbers	34	46
23	Seattle Sounders FC	34	46
24	Real Salt Lake	34	45
25	Minnesota United FC	34	44
26	Los Angeles Galaxy	34	44
27	Colorado Rapids SC	34	43
28	San Diego FC	34	38
29	Austin FC	34	34
30	Sporting Kansas City	34	26

Head-to-Head

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

Date	Opponent	H/A	Score	Result
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

Date	Opponent	H/A	Score	Result
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
#8	Position	#4
46	Points	55
34	Played	34
12 / 10 / 12	W / D / L	16 / 7 / 11
67	Scored	64
75	Conceded	54
-8	GD	+10
1.35	PPG	1.62
35%	Win %	47%

Key Stats

63% Both Teams to Score
H2H (16 games)

69% Over 2.5 Goals
H2H history

18% Clean Sheets
FC Cincinnati this season

24% Clean Sheets
Chicago Fire FC this season

FC Cincinnati are 8th (46 pts). Chicago Fire FC are 4th (55 pts).

Goal Timing (This Season)

FC Cincinnati

0-15

6/3

16-30

5/11

31-45

10/11

46-60

8/13

61-75

6/7

76+

17/9

■ Scored ■ Conceded

Chicago Fire FC

0-15

9/4

16-30

9/10

31-45

6/9

46-60

10/9

61-75

10/4

76+

6/10

■ Scored ■ Conceded

Top Scorers (This Season)

FC Cincinnati

Kevin Denkey	17 G	2 A
Evander	14 G	13 A
Tom Barlow	10 G	4 A
Pavel Bucha	6 G	3 A

Chicago Fire FC

Maren Haile-Selassie	13 G	5 A
Hugo Cuypers	12 G
Hugo Cuypers	11 G
Robert Lewandowski	9 G	3 A
Philip Zinckernagel	5 G	4 A

Events

Match Events

0' The ball is rolling at TQL Stadium. FC Cincinnati are looking to make home advantage count against Chicago Fire FC.
5' FC Cincinnati has dominated the recent head-to-head record, winning 1 of the last 2 meetings.
7' Samuel Gidi catches the referee's attention in entirely the wrong way. card on 7.
11' A meaty challenge results in booking for Tom Barlow on 11.
16' The referee has had an easy afternoon — neither side has been overly physical in the tackle.
21' Anton Saletros needs to be pretty careful with his discipline considering 0 Yellow cards this season.
26' GOAL! Hugo Cuypers fires home to make it 0-1!
31' Roman Celentano has been one of the livelier players on the pitch with 0 goals to his name this season.
36' Not even hints on scoring a goal over the last 36 minutes.
41' Spectators are craving for more action. Both teams play very cautiously. They need to put some more energy.
42' Tom Barlow does the damage! The net is bulging and FC Cincinnati surge ahead!
46' A tactical swap from FC Cincinnati — Teenage Hadebe on, Gilberto Flores off on 46 minutes.
48' GOAL! Hugo Cuypers fires home to make it 1-2!
50' Philip Zinckernagel does the damage! The net is bulging and Chicago Fire FC surge ahead!
55' A moment of individual brilliance could settle this. Both teams are waiting for that decisive action.
60' It looks like no one’s ball. FC Cincinnati is used to counterattacking playing. None of the sides are ready to take the lead.
64' Another substitution for FC Cincinnati to replace Miles Robinson by Alvas Powell on 64 minute.
69' USA international Miles Robinson has been a key figure this campaign — 0 goals and 0 assists in the Array this season.
70' Time for substitution for FC Cincinnati. Tom Barlow is replaced by Ayoub Jabbari.
73' The Chicago Fire FC manager makes a substitution. Philip Zinckernagel departs to be replaced by Joel Waterman.
78' Dje Davilla is a natural and has been asked to do a very specific job for Chicago Fire FC tonight.
79' with the perfectly-timed delivery and Evander makes no mistake. 2-3!
83' The whistle greets Robin Lod as he departs to be replaced by Puso Dithejane.
86' The Ivory Coast Dje Davilla breaks the deadlock on 86 minutes. 2-4!
86' The crowd applauds Kenji Mboma as he leaves the pitch. Kyle Smith steps in for FC Cincinnati.
90' Bryan Ramirez catches the referee's attention in entirely the wrong way. card on 90.
90' Viktor Radojevic gets the nod from Chicago Fire FC. He replaces Maren Haile-Selassie and will look to change the dynamic.
It finishes all square. FC Cincinnati and Chicago Fire FC share the spoils 3-3.

Lineups

FC Cincinnati Lineups

3-4-1-2

Starting XI

10
Evander
4
Nick Hagglund
12
Miles Robinson ↓ Alvas Powell 64'
20
Pavel Bucha
16
Tom Barlow ↓ Ayoub Jabbari 70'
18
Roman Celentano
17
Kenji Mboma ↓ Kyle Smith 86'
3
Gilberto Flores ↓ Teenage Hadebe 46'
66
Ender Echenique ↓ Gerardo Valenzuela 70'
11
Samuel Gidi
29
Bryan Ramirez

Bench

13
Evan Louro
2
Alvas Powell ↑ 64'
24
Kyle Smith ↑ 86'
15
Teenage Hadebe ↑ 46'
27
Brian Anunga
22
Gerardo Valenzuela ↑ 70'
99
Ayoub Jabbari ↑ 70'

Coach Pat Noonan

Chicago Fire FC Lineups

4-4-2

Starting XI

17
Robin Lod ↓ Puso Dithejane 83'
6
Anton Saletros
3
Jack Elliott
7
Maren Haile-Selassie ↓ Viktor Radojevic 90'
15
Andrew Gutman
11
Philip Zinckernagel ↓ Joel Waterman 73'
1
Chris Brady
9
Hugo Cuypers
24
Jonathan Dean ↓ Dylan Borso 83'
42
Dje Davilla
4
Mbekezeli Mbokazi

Bench

Coach Gregg Berhalter

H2H

H2H Top Scorers

Player	Goals
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

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

2.21 FC Cincinnati xG

Expected Goals

Dixon-Coles · Bivariate Poisson · Neg. Binomial · Elo

2.28 Chicago Fire FC xG

I would bet for: Over 2.5 goals 81% + Both teams to score 79%

Match Result

✗ Wrong

FC Cincinnati40% Draw22% Chicago Fire FC38%

Actual: Draw

Both Teams to Score

✓ Correct

Yes79% 0% No21%

Avg goals/match: 4.49

Actual: Yes — both scored

Over / Under Goals

✓ O/U 2.5

Line	Over	Under
± 0.5	98%	2%
± 1.5	94%	6%
± 2.5	81%	19%
± 3.5	64%	36%
± 4.5	46%	54%

Double Chance

FC Cincinnati or Draw

63%

Draw or Chicago Fire FC

60%

FC Cincinnati or Chicago Fire FC

78%

Half-Time Result

✗ Wrong

FC Cincinnati31% Draw36% Chicago Fire FC33%

Actual: Chicago Fire FC win at HT

Correct Score

✓ In top 12

2 – 2

6.8%

1 – 1

6.4%

1 – 2

6.4%

2 – 1

6.2%

2 – 3

5.1%

3 – 2

1 – 3

4.8%

3 – 1

4.5%

3 – 3

Actual

0 – 2

3.1%

2 – 4

2 – 0

2.9%

Asian Handicap — FC Cincinnati

Handicap	FC Cincinnati covers	Push	Chicago Fire FC covers
-2.5	11%	—	89%
-2	11%	11%	78%
-1.5	22%	—	78%
-1	22%	16%	62%
-0.5	38%	—	62%
+0.5	59%	—	41%
+1	59%	17%	24%
+1.5	76%	—	24%
+2	76%	12%	12%
+2.5	88%	—	12%

Clean Sheet

FC Cincinnati keeps clean sheet

11% ✓

Chicago Fire FC keeps clean sheet

12% ✓

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