Saturday , 12 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)
5 games this season 🟨 3.2/game ⚽ 13.6 goals/game

Standings

# Team P Pts
1 Nashville SC 24 53
2 Internacional CF Miami 24 44
3 New England Revolution 24 40
4 Chicago Fire FC 23 39
5 Charlotte FC 24 39
6 FC Cincinnati 23 31
7 Orlando City SC 24 31
8 Philadelphia Union 24 30
9 New York City FC 24 29
10 Toronto FC 24 29
11 D.C. United SC 23 28
12 New York Red Bulls 24 27
13 Columbus Crew SC 24 23
14 Atlanta United FC 24 22
15 Montreal Impact FC 24 21
16 Vancouver Whitecaps FC 23 46
17 Houston Dynamo 24 43
18 Los Angeles FC 25 40
19 FC Dallas 24 40
20 San Jose Earthquakes 24 38
21 St. Louis City 24 38
22 Portland Timbers 24 32
23 Colorado Rapids SC 24 32
24 San Diego FC 24 30
25 Real Salt Lake 23 29
26 Minnesota United FC 24 29
27 Los Angeles Galaxy 25 29
28 Seattle Sounders FC 22 27
29 Austin FC 24 26
30 Sporting Kansas City 23 15

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
#6 Position #4
31 Points 39
23 Played 23
8 / 7 / 8 W / D / L 11 / 6 / 6
49 Scored 44
56 Conceded 33
-7 GD +11
1.35 PPG 1.70
35% Win % 48%

Key Stats

63% Both Teams to Score
H2H (16 games)
69% Over 2.5 Goals
H2H history
17% Clean Sheets
FC Cincinnati this season
30% Clean Sheets
Chicago Fire FC this season

FC Cincinnati are 6th (31 pts). Chicago Fire FC are 4th (39 pts).

Goal Timing (This Season)

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

Top Scorers (This Season)

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

Events

Match Events

  • 0' Three points are at stake. FC Cincinnati host Chicago Fire FC — let the battle begin!
  • 5' With 1 assists to his name this season, Kenji Mboma is clearly more than just a goal scorer for Chicago Fire FC.
  • 7' Poor challenge from Samuel Gidi. The referee spots it immediately and shows the card.
  • 11' Tom Barlow was booked on 11.
  • 16' named a 3-4-1-2 earlier, and opted for a 4-4-2 in response. A fascinating tactical duel is developing.
  • 21' Chicago Fire FC started playing very sharply right from the kick off. However, it slowed down the tempo rapidly by 21.
  • 26' What composure from Hugo Cuypers! The Belgium international strokes it home. 0-1.
  • 31' Viktor Radojevic has been disciplined this evening — perhaps mindful of those 0 cards already picked up this season.
  • 36' While there is no rush on the pitch, let’s have a look at some stats. Dje Davilla made 280 appearances and scored 4 goals. He is very likely to score a goal today.
  • 41' FC Cincinnati seems to be on a short break. The game is mainly concentrated in the center. It’s high time they got back to action. Otherwise, it looks like a goalless game.
  • 42' A goal from the USA international Tom Barlow! He fires home on 42 to make it 1-1!
  • 46' Fresh legs for FC Cincinnati! Teenage Hadebe comes on to replace Gilberto Flores.
  • 48' What a strike from Hugo Cuypers! The score is 1-2.
  • 50' Philip Zinckernagel makes no mistake. The score reads 1-3 and Chicago Fire FC are in front.
  • 55' Chicago Fire FC are happy to let the opposition have the ball in their own half. The trap is set.
  • 60' Spectators do not have much to choose from both teams. The sides had several scoring chances but they still need a bit more than just a sight of a goal.
  • 64' The whistle greets Miles Robinson as he departs to be replaced by Alvas Powell.
  • 69' 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.
  • 70' Ayoub Jabbari is replacing Tom Barlow for the FC Cincinnati side.
  • 73' Joel Waterman has so much to prove this time. He replaces Philip Zinckernagel on 73 minute.
  • 78' The referee is likely to let players tackle, as he already missed some meaty challenges during opening seconds. He is still to establish what should not be done by the players and what is acceptable on the pitch. It’s going to be a tough game for Gilberto Flores suffering a number of foals already.
  • 79' The Brazil Evander breaks the deadlock on 79 minutes. 2-3!
  • 83' It is a substitution in Chicago Fire FC team. Robin Lod is replaced by Puso Dithejane on 83 minute.
  • 86' The deadlock is broken! Dje Davilla gets on the scoresheet on 86 minutes.
  • 86' A change in the FC Cincinnati ranks — Kenji Mboma exits the field as Kyle Smith enters on 86.
  • 90' A moment of madness from Bryan Ramirez on 90 minutes earns him a card. FC Cincinnati will be frustrated.
  • 90' The whistle greets Maren Haile-Selassie as he departs to be replaced by Viktor Radojevic.
  • 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

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
Junior Moreno 2
Philip Zinckernagel 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
3 / 4
2.19 FC Cincinnati xG
Expected Goals
Dixon-Coles · Bivariate Poisson · Neg. Binomial · Elo
2.45 Chicago Fire FC xG
I would bet for: Over 2.5 goals 83% + Both teams to score 80%

Match Result

✗ Wrong
FC Cincinnati38% Draw22% Chicago Fire FC40%
Actual: Draw

Both Teams to Score

✓ Correct
Yes80% 0% No20%
Avg goals/match: 4.64
Actual: Yes — both scored

Over / Under Goals

✓ O/U 2.5
Line Over Under
± 0.5 98%
2%
± 1.5 94%
6%
± 2.5 83%
17%
± 3.5 67%
33%
± 4.5 48%
52%

Double Chance

FC Cincinnati or Draw
60%
Draw or Chicago Fire FC
62%
FC Cincinnati or Chicago Fire FC
78%

Half-Time Result

✓ Correct
FC Cincinnati30% Draw35% Chicago Fire FC35%
Actual: Chicago Fire FC win at HT

Correct Score

✓ In top 12
2 – 2
6.7%
1 – 2
6.3%
1 – 1
5.9%
2 – 1
5.7%
2 – 3
5.4%
1 – 3
5%
3 – 2
4.8%
3 – 1
4.1%
3 – 3
Actual
2 – 4
3.3%
1 – 4
3.1%
0 – 2
3.1%

Asian Handicap — FC Cincinnati

Handicap FC Cincinnati covers Push Chicago Fire FC covers
-2.5 10% — 90%
-2 10% 11% 80%
-1.5 20% — 80%
-1 20% 15% 64%
-0.5 36% — 64%
+0.5 56% — 44%
+1 56% 17% 27%
+1.5 73% — 27%
+2 73% 13% 14%
+2.5 86% — 14%

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.