ORLANDO, Fla. (May 31, 2025) – Chicago Fire FC (6-5-4, 22 points) defeated Orlando City SC (7-4-6, 27 points) 3-1 Saturday night at Inter&Co Stadium in Orlando. Forward Hugo Cuypers scored his second brace of the season in record time, twice assisted by winger Philip Zinckernagel, who also tallied in for the third straight match in Major League Soccer.
Orlando took much of the possession in the early part of the match, but Chicago quickly turned the game on its head. With some space outside of the box, Zinckernagel laced a shot directly at Orlando goalkeeper Pedro Gallese. The ball knuckled through his gloves then into the net for Zinckernagel’s sixth goal of the season, and third in as many regular season games.
The visitors kept a compact shape, allowing little to get through and taking space when offered. In the 31st minute, Jonathan Dean found an open pocket on the right wing, delivering the ball to Zinckernagel. The Danish winger looked up and sent a pass through the legs of a defender to an open Cuypers on the left of the box, who struck a one-timer to double the Fire lead.
Within seconds of the restart, Zinckernagel got the ball on a counter attack through the middle of the pitch. He once again spotted Cuypers on the run, passing to him before the Belgian striker rifled a shot to the far post that Gallese could do little to stop. The brace gave the Fire a 3-0 lead that would be cut by one following Alex Freeman’s header in the 40th minute.
The hosts set off in the second half looking for a second goal, but the Fire defense held firm through much of the half. A pair of saves in clear-cut chances for Chris Brady would keep Orlando off the scoring sheet in the second half, and the Fire walked out of downtown Orlando with their fifth road win of the year.
NEXT MATCH: Chicago wraps up a five-game East Coast road trip with a regular season rematch against D.C. United in our nation’s capital. Kickoff at Audi Field is set for 6:30 p.m. CT next Saturday, June 7. The match will be broadcast globally on MLS Season Pass on Apple TV, and transmitted locally on wlsam.com (English), and Que Buena 105.1 via the Uforia app (Spanish).
Notes:
- Forward Hugo Cuypers delivered his second multi-goal game of the season, becoming the first Fire player to score two game-winning goals in 2025. The forward also set a record for the fastest brace in Club history, scoring twice within a 1:17-minute span. The goals were tallied 10 seconds faster than Przemysław Frankowski’s brace on November 8, 2020 against New York City FC.
- Philip Zinckernagel tallied his sixth goal of the season, making it four matches in a row across all competitions with a goal – all of them on the road. The winger has also notched at least one goal contribution in six consecutive road matches for Chicago, setting a Club record in the process.
- Zinckernagel recorded a season-high three goal contributions in the match. The winger has notched two goal contributions in a single match two times this year, including the Fire’s 3-1 victory at Vancouver Whitecaps FC. The performance in that match saw him named to the MLS Team of the Matchday for Matchday 4.
- Homegrown defender Christopher Cupps made the second regular season start of his career – and second against Orlando – in place of Sam Rogers (torso) at center back. He played a full 90 minutes in the match alongside Jack Elliott, who wore the captain’s armband for the 10th time from the start in 2025.
- Chicago Fire FC recorded its fifth regular season road win of the season in 2025. The victory marked the first time Chicago won five games on the road since 2012, with over half the season yet to play to reach the current Club record of eight.
- Beside Rogers, defenders Carlos Terán (Lower Body) and Chase Gasper (Lower Body); and midfielders Brian Gutiérrez (suspended) David Poreba (Lower Body) and Chris Mueller (Not Due to Injury) were unavailable for selection in Orlando.
Social: Twitter - @chicagofire, @vamosfire (Hashtags: #CF97 #VamosFire) | Instagram - @chicagofire | Facebook
Box Score:
Orlando City SC 1:3 Chicago Fire FC
Goals:
CHI - Zinckernagel (6) (Pineda 1) (WATCH) 5’
CHI - Cuypers (9) (Zinckernagel 5, Dean 2) (WATCH) 31’
CHI - Cuypers (10) (Zinckernagel 6) (WATCH) 32’
ORL - Freeman (4) (Ojeda 5) (WATCH) 40’
Discipline:
CHI - Cupps (Yellow Card) 22’
CHI - Pineda (Yellow Card) 28’
ORL - Jansson (Yellow Card) 45’
ORL - Schlegel (Yellow Card) 49’
Chicago Fire FC: GK Brady, D Dean D Cupps, D Elliott (capt.), D Gutman (Barroso, 76’), M Oregel Jr. (González, 84’), M Pineda , M Kouamé (Acosta, 76’), F Zinckernagel (Haile-Selassie, 84’), F Cuypers (Barlow, 76’), F Bamba
Subs not used: GK Gal, M Glasgow, M D’Avilla, M Williams
Orlando City SC: GK Gallese, D Freeman, D Schlegel (Santos, 54’), D Jansson (capt.), D Brekalo, M Pašalić (Caraballo, 88’), M Gerbet (Thorhallsson, 77’), M Atuesta, M Angulo (Enrique, 46’), F Ojeda, F Muriel
Subs not used: GK Otero, D Smith, D Williams, F Mohammed, M Taifi
Stats Summary: ORL / CHI
Shots: 28 / 10
Shots on Goal: 5 / 4
Saves: 1 / 4
Passing Accuracy: 88.8% / 83.5%
Corners: 13 / 1
Fouls: 12 / 13
Offsides: 2 / 0
Possession: 54.5% / 45.5%
Attendance: 21,024
Referee: Ricardo Fierro
Assistant Referees: Ian McKay, Ben Pilgrim
Fourth Official: Joshua Encarnacion
VAR: Shawn Tehini
AVAR: Craig Lowry
