RECAP: Made to Pay—Fire Drop Season Opener in Houston, 2-1
The Chicago Fire’s season opener curse continues. For the 16th season in a row, the Men in Red failed to win their first MLS game of the year.
Despite a strong start, the Fire’s attacking flame fizzled out, and they fell 2-1 to the Houston Dynamo on Saturday evening.
Three new signings were handed their competitive debuts by head coach Gregg Berhalter. The gaffer opted for a 3-4-3 formation in the wake of early-season injury concerns, and it worked for much of the first half.
Eventually, the Dynamo clicked into a new gear after the break and extinguished the Fire.
For Berhalter, it’s back to the drawing board to figure out how to make the best use of the men he has at his disposal.
New and Old Standouts
It’s always important to take season openers with a grain of salt and evaluate both the positives and the negatives. One positive was that Hugo Cuypers is picking up right where he left off. The Belgian talisman put Chicago up 1-0 in the first half after a Houston defensive mishap. Cuypers still has his finishing boots on, and chances are this will be the first of many goals in 2026.
Cuypers wasn’t the only player to shine for the losing side on Saturday. Anton Saletros, who captained the Fire on his debut in the absence of Jack Elliott, was the orchestrator of many Chicago attacks. A deep-lying playmaker is what the club hoped to gain from the Swede, and he has delivered already. At one point early in the game, he weighted a cross perfectly for Maren Haile-Selassie to volley goalwards. The Fire were denied a screamer of a goal (and assist) only by a terrific save from Jonathan Bond.
Finally, it’s impossible not to single out the first-half performance of Mbekezeli Mbokazi. The 20-year-old South African arrived from Orlando Pirates with great fanfare. Following his impressive run with his national team at the Africa Cup of Nations, Mbokazi slotted right into the starting lineup for the Fire. The excitement over his recent arrival tripled when he made a daring goal-line clearance in the first half. Aggressive, hungry to prove himself, Mbokazi was much shakier than that in other segments of the game. Even so, Fire fans can hope he’ll provide a great deal of defensive security as the year goes on.
Reason for Panic at the Back
If the second half of the Dynamo-Fire match told us anything, it’s that defense wins games.
And that’s exactly why the Men in Red lost.
“There’s going to be moments where you’re playing away from home, and the home team gets the advantage, and I think that’s fine,” Gregg Berhalter explained post-game.
“We just have to be smart in those moments, and we weren’t in today’s game.”
Missing their key center-back in Elliott, the Fire took a gamble. Mbokazi was given his debut, while Joel Waterman was a no-brainer to start in any case.
The third spot was a toss-up between Christopher Cupps and Sam Rogers, with the latter ultimately winning out.
“They have been battling all preseason,” Berhalter said of the two defenders.
“Sam has won a lot of games last year being on the field, and we thought that would be a good decision.”
While Rogers started, Cupps replaced him late in the game. Neither looked very confident. Waterman was caught out of position on a few occasions himself, and Mbokazi seemed rather lost at times.
There’s a certain lack of cohesiveness in the Fire back line. It was there last season, and it’s back for 2026. With that being said, the Rogers-Waterman-Mbokazi trio is unlikely to be a starting combination as the year stretches on. Once Elliott returns, he’ll start. Not to mention, as players in other positions return to full fitness, Berhalter will likely revert to a four-man defense with two center-backs. In other words, though they were far from their best, the Fire defenders cannot be written off after just one match.
Early-Season Slog Continues
Perhaps this analysis has ignored the unwritten laws of MLS: the Fire simply don’t win season openers. Better days are almost certainly coming. The damning rule doesn’t extend to home openers, which is good news for Chicago.
The club returns to Soldier Field (in its penultimate season as the Fire’s home stadium) to take on CF Montreal at 1:30 pm on Saturday.
After losing to Houston, the Fire will be as desperate as ever to take all three points at home.
Last season, they took four points from two clashes with Montreal, drawing 1-1 at home.
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