The Chicago Fire Need to Take Advantage of Their 'Great Opportunity' in the 2025 U.S. Open Cup

It’s put up or shut up time for the Chicago Fire in the 2025 U.S. Open Cup as they travel to take on Minnesota United for a spot in the semifinals in September.

The Fire will take the pitch in St. Paul less than 72 hours after their loss in Ohio to FC Cincinnati and need to show up ready to play if they want to be one of the final four teams in this tournament.

Fire director of football and head coach Gregg Berhatler described this match as “a great opportunity for us” after the match in Cincinnati and it’s expected that Chicago will dispatch a team of mostly MLS regulars on Tuesday evening.

With the quick turnaround and only two days of training after a match that saw the Fire wait until the 73rd minute to match a substitution, some rotation will happen. The Fire should be bolstered by the return of starting goalkeeper Chris Brady after his time with the USMNT during their run to the CONCACAF Gold Cup final.

Though there is a quick turnaround for the Fire between these two road matches, the locker room remains excited about the opportunity to continue their quest for a trophy in 2025.

“The guys are super excited to play a game that could potentially get us into a semifinal of a tournament,” Fire left back Andrew Gutman said after the loss in Cincinnati. “We're going to rest, we're going to recover and we're going do be able to go again on Tuesday and hopefully get a win.”

The Fire will be going against a Loons side that is not an easy opponent at all. Minnesota United are a strong side that has proven incredibly difficult to break down under second-year head coach Eric Ramsay as they sit third in the Western Conference table with 37 points and a +11 goal differential through 21 MLS matches.

A playoff team in 2024, Minnesota did well to find goals while leading scorer Tani Oluwaseyi was with Canada for the Gold Cup but he returned to MLS play last weekend with a goal against FC Dallas and should be a major factor in the Loons’ attack against the Fire.

Another name to look out for on Minnesota’s roster is Bourbonnais, Illinois native and Northern Illinois graduate Anthony Markanich, who is fourth on the the Loons with four MLS goals in 2025. Markanich and his twin brother Nick, who plays for CD Castellón in Spain, were both members of the Chicago Fire Academy for a brief period as youth players.

The Fire need to take advantage of the opportunity they have in Minnesota.

The club invested heavily in its future over the last year as Berhalter was installed at the top of the organization. A trophy run would validate the club’s decision earlier than most expected.

While another U.S. Open Cup trophy would be nice for the Chicago Fire, the primary goal in 2025 remains making the postseason for the first time since 2017. If that happens, any run the Fire make in this tournament becomes validated as the club becomes what it hoped to be when it hired Berhalter: a force to be reckoned with in Major League Soccer.

Who: Chicago Fire vs Minnesota United

What: U.S. Open Cup Quarter Final

When: July 8, 2025

Where: Allianz Field, St. Paul, Minnesota

How to watch: CBS Sports Network or Paramount+