{"id":667399,"date":"2026-03-19T18:55:13","date_gmt":"2026-03-19T18:55:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/667399\/"},"modified":"2026-03-19T18:55:13","modified_gmt":"2026-03-19T18:55:13","slug":"philadelphia-union-vs-chicago-fire-everything-to-know-for-walmart-saturday-showdown","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/667399\/","title":{"rendered":"Philadelphia Union vs. Chicago Fire: Everything to know for Walmart Saturday Showdown"},"content":{"rendered":"<ul>\n<li>15th in Eastern Conference<\/li>\n<li>0 points, 0W-4L-0D record<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>After a historic 2025 campaign, which included winning their second-ever Supporters&#8217; Shield title with 66 points and a club-record 20 wins, Philly have started slowly in 2026.<\/p>\n<p>The Union have lost each of their first four MLS matches, including three by just one goal. Midweek, they also exited the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.mlssoccer.com\/competitions\/concacaf-champions-league\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Concacaf Champions Cup<\/a> in the Round of 16 to LIGA MX powerhouse Club Am\u00e9rica (2-1 aggregate).<\/p>\n<p>Offensively, Philadelphia have struggled to replace the departure of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.mlssoccer.com\/players\/tai-baribo\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Tai Baribo<\/a>, who led the team with 16 goals last season. DP striker <a href=\"https:\/\/www.mlssoccer.com\/players\/bruno-damiani\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Bruno Damiani<\/a> and club-record signing <a href=\"https:\/\/www.mlssoccer.com\/players\/ezekiel-alladoh\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Ezekiel Alladoh<\/a> have yet to score in league play, while <a href=\"https:\/\/www.mlssoccer.com\/players\/milan-iloski\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Milan Iloski<\/a> is still looking for his first goal contribution this year.<\/p>\n<p>Still, as reigning <a href=\"https:\/\/www.mlssoccer.com\/news\/philadelphia-union-win-2025-supporters-shield\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Shield champions<\/a>, the Union possess plenty of talent at every position. The defense, which was the best in the league a season ago, has kept them in games this season, but the attack has yet to find its footing.<\/p>\n<p>Is this the match that sparks the Union&#8217;s season?<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Bruno Damiani:<\/strong> Leading the line after Baribo&#8217;s <a href=\"https:\/\/www.mlssoccer.com\/news\/dc-united-acquire-tai-baribo-from-philadelphia-union\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">trade to D.C. United<\/a>, the Uruguayan striker has two goals across all competitions this year.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Milan Iloski:<\/strong> After finishing the 2025 MLS season with 12 goals, Iloski is still searching for his first tally of 2026.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Cavan Sullivan:<\/strong> Often heralded as one of the best young talents in the world, the 16-year-old has already played a key role for Philly in CCC with 2g\/3a in four appearances. Will that translate to league play?<\/li>\n<li><strong>Olwethu Makhanya:<\/strong> The South African center back has emerged as one of the best young defenders in MLS and is battling for a place at the 2026 <a href=\"https:\/\/www.mlssoccer.com\/competitions\/fifa-world-cup\/2025\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">FIFA World Cup<\/a>.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Andre Blake:<\/strong> The veteran Jamaican and three-time MLS Goalkeeper of the Year anchors the Union&#8217;s backline. Later this month, he&#8217;s hoping to help guide the Reggae Boyz to a spot at the World Cup via the intercontinental playoff.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Head coach Bradley Carnell is still searching for his first-choice lineup. Plus, there could be squad rotation after their midweek CCC exit.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>7th in Eastern Conference<\/li>\n<li>4 points, 1W-2L-1D record<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>In head coach Gregg Berhalter&#8217;s first year at the helm last season, Chicago returned to the Audi MLS Cup Playoffs for the first time since 2017. After beating <a href=\"https:\/\/www.mlssoccer.com\/clubs\/orlando-city-sc\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Orlando City<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.mlssoccer.com\/competitions\/mls-cup-playoffs\/2025\/matches\/chivsorl-10-22-2025\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">3-1<\/a>, in the Wild Card round, the Fire were eventually knocked out by top-seeded Philly in Round One.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>With a turnaround underway in the Windy City, Chicago are looking to go one step further this season.<\/p>\n<p>Although they suffered a setback last weekend in a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.mlssoccer.com\/competitions\/mls-regular-season\/2026\/matches\/chivsdc-03-14-2026\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">2-1 defeat<\/a> to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.mlssoccer.com\/clubs\/d-c-united\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">D.C. United<\/a>, the Fire have shown quality and progress. Now, it&#8217;s about finding consistency and buckling down defensively to see out results.<\/p>\n<p>Boasting a dangerous attack, Chicago are led by All-Star midfielder <a href=\"https:\/\/www.mlssoccer.com\/players\/philip-zinckernagel\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Philip Zinckernagel<\/a>,\u00a0DP striker <a href=\"https:\/\/www.mlssoccer.com\/players\/hugo-cuypers\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Hugo Cuypers<\/a>\u00a0and DP winger <a href=\"https:\/\/www.mlssoccer.com\/players\/jonathan-bamba\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Jonathan Bamba<\/a>. Zinckernagel is searching for his first goal contribution this year.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Hugo Cuypers:<\/strong> After posting 17g\/3a in 2025, the Belgian striker leads the way with three goals this season.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Jonathan Bamba:<\/strong> The Ivorian winger does his damage in transition and around the penalty area.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Philip Zinckernagel:<\/strong> Last season, the Danish veteran recorded 30 goal contributions (15g\/15a) and was third in MLS Newcomer of the Year voting.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Mbekezeli Mbokazi:<\/strong> After joining Chicago in the winter transfer window, the South African international is one of the Fire&#8217;s most dependable defenders. He&#8217;s chasing a spot at the World Cup.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Chris Brady:<\/strong>\u00a0The homegrown goalkeeper is nearing 100 MLS appearances for Chicago and hopes to be included in the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.mlssoccer.com\/clubs\/us-men-s-national-team\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">USMNT<\/a>&#8216;s final World Cup roster.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>There are a few options with the Fire&#8217;s backline and midfield. Might Berhalter switch things up?<\/p>\n<p>It&#8217;s a matchup of strength against strength as Chicago&#8217;s potent offense goes head-to-head with Philadelphia&#8217;s stout defense. Last season, Chicago netted the second-most goals in the regular season (68), while Philly conceded the fewest (35).<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"15th in Eastern Conference 0 points, 0W-4L-0D record After a historic 2025 campaign, which included winning their second-ever&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":667400,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[5132],"tags":[5229,12420,1448,2830,1311,8895,279538,44204,282136,37638,67,586,132,5230,68,2969],"class_list":["post-667399","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-philadelphia","tag-america","tag-chicago-fire-fc","tag-pa","tag-pennsylvania","tag-philadelphia","tag-philadelphia-union","tag-phivschi-03-21-2026","tag-priority-match","tag-saturday-showdown","tag-sendtonews","tag-united-states","tag-united-states-of-america","tag-unitedstates","tag-unitedstatesofamerica","tag-us","tag-usa"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/116257366375301235","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/667399","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=667399"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/667399\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/667400"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=667399"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=667399"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=667399"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}