EDITORIAL: Are the Fire Capitalizing on World Cup Fever?
The 2026 FIFA World Cup did wonders for the sport of soccer in the United States.
With the nation playing host to most of the tournament’s games, Americans took notice more than ever before.
The tournament shattered all viewership records for non-NFL sporting events, and the country passionately rallied behind its team.
Alas, the World Cup had to end eventually, and the question remained: would the domestic game retain some of the new fans?
In Chicago, this question was especially pertinent. The Windy City had missed out on hosting the greatest show on earth, having withdrawn from consideration years ago. Even so, a capacity crowd gathered at Soldier Field to send the US Men’s National Team off in its final friendly before the tournament. Watch parties took over much of downtown Chicago during the tournament, and the city seemed to once again fall in love with the beautiful game.
This was music to the ears of the Chicago Fire. The MLS outfit have had a dedicated supporter base for much of its history. However, the club had never quite managed to pull in the everyday casual fan, lagging behind more popular sports.
Surely now, with World Cup fever still running rampant, the club can make use of the cultural momentum?
Lewandowski Captivates the City
Anyone who’s followed the Fire in recent years knew of the club’s interest in Robert Lewandowski. With the striker seemingly destined for an eventual move to Major League Soccer and Chicago boasting a massive Polish diaspora population, the signing felt inevitable.
The timing, however, turned out to be particularly impactful. Lewandowski put pen to paper in the middle of the World Cup, and his first game was slated for the week of the final. The dramatic debut against Thomas Muller’s Vancouver Whitecaps never happened. Wildfire smoke forced a postponement, and the Fire faithful were left waiting to see their star man in action.
When he finally did make his home debut on Saturday night, 32,183 fans came to watch “Lewy” score a brace. Many of them came donning Barcelona or Poland National Team kits. It was a testament to Lewandowski’s ability to pull in otherwise non-match-going fans.
European Football Reigns Supreme?
Despite the marketing success of Lewandowski’s arrival in Chicago, it feels as if there is still untapped potential for the Fire. Less than 24 hours after the Fire’s 2-1 win over Charlotte at Soldier Field, the same venue welcomed 49,128 spectators for a preseason friendly between English sides Liverpool and Leeds United.
They were treated to an entertaining affair in which the Whites came from two goals down at halftime to win 4-2, behind stellar performances from Brendan Aaronson and Dominic Calvert-Lewin.
The atmosphere in Chicago drew praise from none other than Aaronson himself.
“It’s amazing,” the USMNT winger said after the win, in which he registered a goal and an assist.
“Hearing the crowd cheer like that, it was great.”
All in all, it was a successful weekend for the sport of soccer in the Windy City. With more than 80,000 fans visiting Soldier Field across the two days, it was a great display of sporting passion. Even so, the hometown club can aspire for greater heights. Even with a world-class team and manager, affordable match tickets, and heavy community outreach, the Fire still drew less than two-thirds of what their English counterparts attracted.
Finding the Fire’s Niche
Can the Men in Red attract the sort of attention European sides do going forward? Better yet, will they? Exciting times are brewing at the club, that’s for sure. They have one of the best strikers of all time leading the line and are true contenders for a deep playoff run after decades of hurt. At the end of the day, winning is what gets people through the gates, and it could be the secret to pushing Chicago Fire Football Club into the mainstream.
Off the pitch, the organization is certainly winning. In a year and a half, the Fire will move to a state-of-the-art purpose-built stadium. The goal? Sell out every last home game and create an environment no visiting team would want to play in.
Perhaps they’re not quite ready to compete with the Premier League and La Liga for fans.
Nonetheless, the Chicago Fire are giving the city’s soccer fans, old and new, something to cheer about. That counts for something.
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Categorized:Fire Unique Column