Chicago thumps Orlando to seal first MLS playoff win since 2009

It was the Chicago Fire's to lose from the start

The game, pitched as a close affair between two offensively strong but defensively inconsistent sides, wound up being Chicago's from the start. Orlando looked exhausted from the opening whistle. It's hard to blame the club for that—it made knockout-level runs in three tournaments this season, after all—but that exhaustion kept Orlando from building any momentum. It kept it from bringing any momentum into the game, too; it recorded just one win in its last seven league matches, largely due to its tired legs. In the end, Orlando looked spent enough to make missing out on the playoffs seem like a blessing.

Chicago, though, was gutsy from the start, and its quartet of hometown players—goalkeeper Chris Brady (Naperville), defender Andrew Gutman (Hinsdale), midfielder Sergio Oregel (Evergreen Park) and winger Brian Gutierrez (Berwyn)—were the gutsiest. It was Gutierrez who found the breakthrough goal in the 48th minute, exploiting a scrambled Orlando defense to slam an uncontested ball past goalkeeper Pedro Gallese. The strike was 22-year-old Gutierrez's 10th goal of the MLS season.

Gregg Berhalter lifts another striker

Belgian Designated Player Hugo Cuypers scored the second and third in quick succession to put the game out of reach for Orlando. They sealed Cuypers's remarkable rise within MLS; he nearly doubled his 2024 goalscoring record for Chicago under Berhalter's watchful eye.

This isn't the first time Berhalter has rebuilt and reinvigorated an MLS striker. He turned around Kei Kamara's MLS career while working in Columbus in 2015; he made Gyasi Zardes a USMNT star while working in Austin three years later.

Chicago will face the Philadelphia Union, the winner of the 2025 Supporters' Shield and owner of the league's strongest overall record, in a best-of-three series to kick off its official MLS Cup playoff journey. The opening match of that series will kick off on Sunday at 6:30 p.m. ET in Chester, Pennsylvania. 

Chicago lost 5-0 on aggregate to Philadelphia in earlier games this season; it will need every ounce of momentum it can get if it hopes to scrape through. There is precedence for this sort of upset, though: Eastern Conference wildcard entrant Atlanta United knocked off Supporters' Shield winner Inter Miami in the first round of the playoffs last season.

Chicago will aim to pull off the same stunt. Under Berhalter, the sleeping giant is starting to wake up.