The 2023 Chicago Fire FC season was the club's 25th year of existence, as well as their 26th in Major League Soccer. On May 8, 2023, the Fire formally fired their head coach Ezra Hendrickson and assistant coach Junior Gonzalez after the club went 2-3-5 through their first ten games. Assistant coach Frank Klopas was named interim coach for the third time in his career, following stints in 2011 (which led to him retaining the job for two more years) and 2021. Notably, the Fire saw their largest turnout in club history on the October 4 match against Inter Miami, selling out Soldier Field with 62,124 in attendance. The Fire would ultimately miss the playoffs for the sixth consecutive season, the second longest streak in MLS history.
Current squad Players signed as of September 10, 2023
No. Name Nationality Position Date of birth (age) Previous club Player Notes Goalkeepers 18 Spencer Richey G Seattle Sounders FC 25 Jeff Gal G Degerfors IF 34 Chris Brady G Chicago Fire Academy Homegrown Defenders 2 Arnaud Souquet D Montpellier HSC International 3 Alonso Aceves D Pachuca InternationalU-22 4 Carlos Terán D Envigado F.C. 5 Rafael Czichos D 1. FC KölnCaptainInternational 6 Miguel Navarro D Deportivo La Guaira F.C. 16 Wyatt Omsberg D Minnesota United FC 22 Mauricio Pineda D North Carolina Tar Heels 24 Jonathan Dean D Birmingham Legion FC 27 Kendall Burks D Washington Huskies 36 Justin Reynolds D Chicago Fire FC II Homegrown Midfielders 7 Maren Haile-Selassie M FC Lugano InternationalLoaned In10 Xherdan Shaqiri M Olympique Lyonnais Designated PlayerInternational 17 Brian Gutiérrez M Chicago Fire Academy Homegrown 21 Fabian Herbers M Philadelphia Union 26 Ousmane Doumbia M FC Lugano InternationalLoaned InDesignated Player 30 Gastón Giménez M Vélez Sarsfield 31 Federico Navarro M Talleres de Cordoba InternationalU-22 Initiative 35 Sergio Oregel M Chicago Fire AcademyHomegrown 37 Javier Casas M Chicago Fire Academy Homegrown 38 Alex Monis M Chicago Fire Academy HomegrownLoaned Out 39 Allan Rodriguez M Chicago Fire Academy HomegrownLoaned Out Forwards 8 Chris Mueller F Hibernian F.C. 11 Kacper Przybyłko F Philadelphia Union 19 Georgios Koutsias F PAOK FC InternationalU-22 20 Jairo Torres F Atlas F.C. InternationalYoung DP 23 Kei Kamara F CF Montréal 32 Missael Rodriguez F Chicago Fire AcademyHomegrown 33 Victor Bezerra F Indiana HoosiersHomegrown
Player movement
Returning, options, and new contracts DatePlayerPositionNotesRefOctober 31, 2022 Kendall Burks D Option for 2023 exercised October 31, 2022 Wyatt Omsberg D Option for 2023 exercised April 29, 2023 Carlos Terán D Signed a new contract through 2026 with an option for 2027 May 24, 2023 Mauricio Pineda D Signed a new contract through 2026 with an option for 2027
In DatePlayerPositionPrevious clubNotesRefMay 12, 2022 Justin Reynolds D Chicago Fire FC II Signed to a homegrown contract through 2026 with an option for 2027 January 9, 2023 Arnaud Souquet D Montpellier HSC Signed as a free agent through 2025 January 11, 2023 Jeff Gal G Degerfors IF Signed as a free agent through 2023 with options for 2024 and 2025 January 12, 2023 Jonathan Dean D Birmingham Legion FC Acquired from Birmingham through 2023 with options for 2024 and 2025 February 24, 2023 Kei Kamara F CF Montréal Acquired from Montréal for the 2023 season in exchange for $250k in GAM over 2023 and 2024 along with up to $150k in performance-related GAM February 28, 2023 Georgios Koutsias F PAOK Acquired as a U-22 roster slot player on a contract through 2026 with an option for 2027
Loaned In DatePlayerPositionLoaning ClubNotesRefDecember 27, 2022 Maren Haile-Selassie M FC Lugano Loaned for 2023 with an option to buy March 15, 2023 Alonso Aceves D Pachuca Loaned for 2023 with an option to buy June 28, 2023 Ousmane Doumbia M FC Lugano Loaned in as a designated player for the rest of 2023 with an option to buy
Out DatePlayerPositionDestination ClubNotesRefDecember 31, 2022 Gabriel Slonina G Chelsea End of loan following being sold to Chelsea on August 2, 2022 October 31, 2022 Jonathan Bornstein D Vida Out of contract October 31, 2022 Andre Reynolds II D Retired Option declined October 31, 2022 Boris Sekulić D Górnik Zabrze Out of contract December 27, 2022 Jhon Espinoza D FC Lugano Mutually agreed to terminate contract, allowing Espinoza to join FC Lugano January 13, 2023 Stanislav Ivanov F FC Arda Kardzhali Mutually agreed to terminate contract January 16, 2023 Jhon Durán F Aston Villa Sold for a reported club-record of $18 million with up to $4 million in add-ons and a sell-on fee.
Loaned out DatePlayerPositionDestination ClubNotesRefSeptember 6, 2023 Alex Monis M Rio Grande Valley FC Loaned to Rio Grande Valley for the remainder of the USL Season
Second team movement PlayerPositionMovementNotesRef Allan Rodriguez MF Sent to Fire II Was not listed in the Fire's official app roster, and did not participate in preseason with the first team. Charlie Ostrem DF Loaned to the first team Signed to a short-term loan for the June 3 game against Cincinnati and then again for the June 21 match against Portland
Unsigned draft picks and trialists PickPlayerPositionPrevious clubNotesRefDrafteeDraft Pick R3, P64 Noah Egan D Vermont Catamounts Signed with Chicago Fire II DrafteeDraft Pick R3, P67 Billy Hency D Loyola Ramblers Signed with Chicago Fire II DrafteeDraft Pick R3, P76 Wilmer Cabrera Jr. M Butler Bulldogs Signed with Rio Grande Valley FC Trialist Paul Kruse G Creighton Bluejays Additionally, Fire II defender Charlie Ostrem and goalkeeper Mihajlo Mišković trained with the Fire during preseason.
Technical staff
Competitions Major League Soccer
Eastern Conference table
Overall table
Results summary
Match results Preseason
Regular season
Leagues Cup
Central 2
U.S. Open Cup
Statistics Note: italics indicates a player who left during the season
Games played NameMLSLeagues CupOpen CupTotalStartsMinutesStartsMinutesStartsMinutesStartsMinutes2DFArnaud Souquet22251834723172332252731223173DFAlonso Aceves920850911902117831122929144DFCarlos Terán1924157233270222716635DFRafael Czichos27312511129212218013035278326DFMiguel Navarro222519735221801443602831251367MFMaren Haile-Selassie20321911123185442702639236618FWChris Mueller81070914481175310MFXherdan Shaqiri2228205223204332402734249611FWKacper Przybyłko11259696131191386113311174716DFWyatt Omsberg71170418221809138841817MFBrian Gutiérrez283223992231913324433382804218GKSpencer Richey4542025121101443609118902619FWGeorgios Koutsias13271012223140346115331198320FWJairo Torres8227592221722401026972221MFFabian Herbers24321979221111253126362141222DFMauricio Pineda162515663231964433122322093323FWKei Kamara1527152031243324518311789324DFJonathan Dean13221371412981119015251549525GKJeff Gal7341426MFOusmane Doumbia911813232041114101827DFKendall Burks595061531313616126421930MFGastón Giménez2731221033237342663338273331MFFederico Navarro15161084111514429219211411232MFMissael Rodriguez1141531122261833FWVictor Bezerra1134GKChris Brady3030264022160132322800135MFSergio Oregel14414436DFJustin Reynolds2137MFJavier Casas352101444961038FWAlex Monis1923190299539MFAllan Rodriguez48DFCharlie Ostrem22
Goalkeeping NameMLSLeagues CupOpen CupTotalClean SheetsSavesClean SheetsSavesClean SheetsSavesClean SheetsSaves18Spencer Richey107322952221425Jeff Gal34Chris Brady8944472810146
Goals Player MLS League's Cup Open Cup Total 1 Maren Haile-Selassie 6 0 1 7 Xherdan Shaqiri 5 2 0 73 Kei Kamara 5 1 0 6 Kacper Przybyłko 4 0 2 65 Fabian Herbers 4 0 1 56 Rafael Czichos 2 0 1 3 Georgios Koutsias 3 0 0 38 Kendall Burks 0 0 2 2 Brian Gutiérrez 2 0 0 2 Chris Mueller 2 0 0 212 Gastón Giménez 1 0 0 1 Mauricio Pineda 1 0 0 1 Arnaud Souquet 0 1 0 1 Carlos Terán 1 0 0 1
Assists Player MLS League's Cup Open Cup Total 1 Brian Gutiérrez 9 0 2 112 Xherdan Shaqiri 5 0 2 7 Miguel Navarro 4 1 1 64 Maren Haile-Selassie 4 0 0 45 Fabian Herbers 3 0 0 3 Arnaud Souquet 3 0 0 37 Jonathan Dean 2 0 0 2 Ousmane Doumbia 2 0 0 2 Gastón Giménez 2 0 0 2 Kei Kamara 2 0 0 2 Georgios Koutsias 2 0 0 2 Chris Mueller 2 0 0 2 Mauricio Pineda 0 1 1 2 Kacper Przybyłko 2 0 0 215 Alonso Aceves 0 0 1 1 Javier Casas 1 0 0 1 Wyatt Omsberg 0 0 1 1 Jairo Torres 1 0 0 1
Disciplinary record Player MLS League's Cup Open Cup Total 1 Gastón Giménez 8 1 0 1 0 0 1 0 0 10 1 02 Fabian Herbers 6 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 7 1 03 Arnaud Souquet 4 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 5 1 04 Xherdan Shaqiri 2 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 3 1 05 Federico Navarro 1 1 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 2 1 06 Kei Kamara 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 07 Mauricio Pineda 7 0 0 1 0 0 2 0 0 10 0 08 Miguel Navarro 6 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 7 0 09 Rafael Czichos 6 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 6 0 0 Carlos Terán 5 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 6 0 011 Jonathan Dean 5 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 5 0 012 Chris Brady 3 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 4 0 0 Ousmane Doumbia 4 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 4 0 0 Georgios Koutsias 4 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 4 0 015 Brian Gutiérrez 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 Wyatt Omsberg 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 Kacper Przybyłko 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 Jairo Torres 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 019 Alonso Aceves 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 Kendall Burks 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 1 0 0 Chris Mueller 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0
Awards
Man of the Match awards Game #PlayerStatsReference1 Fabian Herbers1 goal2None awarded3 Chris Mueller1 goal4 Carlos Terán (1)1 goal5 Rafael Czichos3 tackles, 16 duels won6 Kei Kamara2 goals7 Maren Haile-Selassie (1)1 goal8None awarded9None awarded10None awarded11 Xherdan Shaqiri (1)1 assist12None awarded13 Maren Haile-Selassie (2)1 goal, 1 assist14 Xherdan Shaqiri (2)1 assist15None awarded16None awarded17None awarded18 Gastón Giménez (1)1 assist19 Chris Brady (1)4 saves, clean sheet20 Chris Brady (2)6 saves21 Chris Brady (3)2 saves, clean sheet22 Mauricio Pineda1 tackle, 1 block, 5 recoveries23 Maren Haile-Selassie (3)2 key passes, 87.5% passing accuracy24None awarded25None awarded26None awarded27None awarded28 Chris Brady (4)4 saves29None awarded30 Brian Gutiérrez1 goal, 1 assist31 Carlos Terán (2)1 tackle, 6 duels won32 Gastón Giménez (2)1 assist33None awarded34 Federico Navarro1 tackle, 7 duels
MLS Team of the Matchday MatchdayPlayerPositionReport2 Fabian Herbers (1)MF5 Carlos TeránDF Brian Gutiérrez (1)Bench7 Kei KamaraFW12 Xherdan Shaqiri (1)MF Rafael CzichosBench Brian Gutiérrez (2)Bench14 Maren Haile-Selassie (1)Bench15 Xherdan Shaqiri (2)Bench20 Brian Gutiérrez (3)MF21 Fabian Herbers (2)MF24 Mauricio PinedaDF Fabian Herbers (3)Bench25 Xherdan Shaqiri (3)MF Maren Haile-Selassie (2)Bench26 Miguel NavarroBench32 Chris BradyGK34 Brian Gutiérrez (4)Bench36 Xherdan Shaqiri (4)MF Gastón GiménezBench Maren Haile-Selassie (3)Bench Frank KlopasCoach
MLS All-Star Game PlayerAll-Star StatisticsReport Kei Kamara21 minutes played
Second team statistics Note: Stats are for regular and post season combined
Games played NameMLS Next ProStartsMinutes3DFAlonso Aceves5528516DFWyatt Omsberg7758418GKSpencer Richey2218024DFJonathan Dean2213525GKJeff Gal1313112527DFKendall Burks1314100132MFMissael Rodriguez1020104033FWVictor Bezerra71045635MFSergio Oregel1724138936DFJustin Reynolds2426200637MFJavier Casas101159738FWAlex Monis1319105639MFAllan Rodriguez36265
Goalkeeping NameMLS Next ProClean SheetsSaves18Spencer Richey13225Jeff Gal34213
Goals and assists RankPlayer1 Alex Monis622 Sergio Oregel323 Victor Bezerra314 Missael Rodriguez215 Justin Reynolds136 Jonathan Dean1 Wyatt Omsberg
Cards RankPlayer1 Javier Casas112 Sergio Oregel33 Justin Reynolds2 Allan Rodriguez Missael Rodriguez6 Victor Bezerra1 Jeff Gal Alex Monis
Notes </onlyinclude>
References
External links