Chicago Fire Notebook: Inter Miami, Availability Update, CB Options & More

It’s Inter Miami week once again in Chicago and it appears that Lionel Messi is actually going to be available when his side takes on the Fire at Soldier Field on Sunday afternoon.

The Fire (3-2-2, 11 points) are coming off a frustrating 2-1 loss on the road to the New York Bulls, a match in which they had plenty of chances in the second half to leave New Jersey with a share of the points but didn’t capitalize on any of them.

For a Chicago side that hasn’t made the MLS Playoffs since 2017, competing against top sides in the Eastern Conference like Miami and RBNY is a productive litmus test for their playoff hopes.

“Any time you get to play against a team that's close to the top of the table in your conference, it's some type of measuring stick, right?” said Fire Director of Football and Head Coach Gregg Berhalter. “And for us, you know, looking at Red Bull last week, a team that made it to the final last year, we're playing away, we want to measure ourselves and how we can do.

“And so for Miami, it's no different. This is a group that has high aspirations, and if we have these high aspirations, we have to be able to compete against teams like Miami. So we expect Sunday to be a good game, and we're looking forward to it.”

It remains to be seen which of Inter Miami’s high-profile players will actually play on Sunday after they had a CONCACAF Champions Cup match earlier this week, but it won’t be an easy match for the Fire regardless of how their opposition lines up.

“Obviously if [Lionel] Messi or [Luis] Suárez, you know, if they don't play, the team's different, but it's not necessarily worse for them. You know, they have the best of both worlds, almost, because the guys that come on are trying to show themselves and trying to prove themselves. And then when Messi and Suárez play, they have this amazing quality.

“I expect Messi to be fully playing. He's a guy that wants to compete. He has done well at Soldier Field. Soldier Field is a great stadium, an iconic stadium. Guys like that, they play. They play games. That's what they do. So we're expecting them to play. We know it's going to be a challenging game. And for us it's about doing our thing, having a clear game plan, executing it, and trying to make it as difficult as possible for them.”

From the rest of my notebook:

Christopher Cupps MLS debut?

The Fire might be missing center backs Sam Rogers and Jack Elliott when they face Inter Miami’s high-powered attack, leaving a question as to who will start at center back alongside Carlos Terán.

The veteran option is Omar González, who replaced Rogers when he went down with an injury against the New York Red Bulls last weekend. González, 36, signed with the Fire during the preseason and has only made two appearances off the bench in 2025. Gregg Berhalter noted that Gonzalez would bring experience to the fold if he got the start on Saturday

“You get some calmness,” Berhalter said of González. “You get leadership ability on the field. You get a guy that's been through it and seen it before.”

The wildcard option is Homegrown center back Christopher Cupps, 16, who has yet to make his MLS debut after signing a first-team deal in the offseason. Berhalter doesn’t appear to be shying away from the possibility of having Cupps on the pitch against Inter Miami.

“With the young guy, you get opportunity, and future. Chris is a guy that we really believe in, and it's really interesting to think about him playing in this game. Even if he fails in this game, it's a wonderful opportunity for him to be out there.”

If neither Rogers nor Elliott are available, it’s likely you’ll see minutes from both Cupps and González on Sunday.

Maren Haile-Selassie

The Fire had chances to get a result last weekend against RBNY and frustration was felt throughout locker room afterwards and that’s something they want to use as motivation against Inter Miami, according to Maren Haile-Selassie.

“​​We get the opportunity to learn from our mistakes and to get a bounce back win,” Haile-Selassie told reporters on Thursday. “I would say, yeah, we did an analysis of our game, our previous game, and obviously we saw some things that we can and we have to improve for the next game. Because we have to be spot-on on Sunday because they are a dangerous team who can use our mistakes.”

Brian Gutiérrez availability

The Fire’s Homegrown attacker hasn’t featured since suffering an injury while with the USMNT last month. Gregg Berhalter expects Gutiérrez to be available against Inter Miami but said that his minutes will come down to “how much he can play” once he’s actually back in a competitive situation.

Inter Miami availability:

We shall see if Lionel Messi and company will be available when Inter Miami come to Soldier Field on Sunday but all signs are pointing to the Argentine superstar being on the matchday roster in some capacity.

Inter Miami have played three games in the last week and a half between MLS and CONCACAF Champions Cup ahead of their trip to Chicago and Messi played the entirety of all of them, a trend for healthy players under new Miami head coach Javier Mascherano.

Unless there is an injury that comes up in the next 48 hours, there is no reason that Messi will not be available in some capacity at Soldier Field.

Chicago Fire II

Chicago’s MLS Next Pro side have the weekend off after their match against New England Revolution II, originally scheduled for April 12, was rescheduled to June 8 at SeatGeek Stadium in Bridgeview.

The schedule change gave Fire II an extra week to prepare for their trip to Huntsville FC, the side that defeated them 4-1 in their season opener.

It’s a welcome reset for the side after dropping their last match 3-2 to New York Red Bulls II despite goals from Dylan Borso and Claudio Cassano.

What’s On Tap Next?

The Fire will host Inter Miami at Soldier Field on April 13. The match is scheduled to kick off at 3:30 p.m. CT and will be broadcast on MLS Season Pass on Apple TV+.