Match Information
Chicago Fire FC (0-0-0, 0 points) at Houston Dynamo FC (0-0-0, 0 points)
Saturday, Feb. 21, 2026
7:30 p.m. CT
Shell Energy Stadium – Houston, Texas
How to Watch: Apple TV
English: Christian Miles & Kacey White
Spanish: Pablo Ramirez & Jesus Bracamontes
How to Listen: WLSAM.com // Que Buena Fire on Uforia App by Trebel
English: Max Anderson & Joe Chatz
Spanish: Omar Ramos & Teresa Limón
Match Preview
Chicago Fire FC will begin its 29th season in Major League Soccer on Saturday, Feb. 21, when it opens the 2026 regular season against Houston Dynamo FC in the Lone Star State.
The Fire will take the field at Shell Energy Stadium coming off a historic 2025 season that resulted in their first postseason appearance since 2017. Chicago finished the year with a Club-record 68 goals, 43 of them on the road – the second-best mark in league history. The goals powered a record nine wins away from home, a form that the Men in Red look to carry into Houston, where they have a 3-7-4 all-time mark since the Dynamo’s inaugural 2006 season.
Houston will hope for a better start to 2026 than a year ago, when it dropped its first three home matches of the season. The setbacks factored into a 12th place finish in the Western Conference, missing the MLS Cup Playoffs for the first time since 2022. But Houston still saw plenty of success on the field, particularly from forward Ezequiel Ponce – who paced the Orange Crush with 10 goals – and 22-year-old midfielder Jack McGlynn’s club-leading 14 goal contributions.
All-Time MLS Regular Season Record vs. HOU: (9-11-8)
Last Game vs. HOU: April 6, 2024 (2-1 W) – Soldier Field – Chicago (Match Recap)
Last Game at HOU: June 25, 2022 (0-2 L) – Shell Energy Stadium – Houston (Match Recap)
Hyundai Keys to the Match:
- A New Hope: Chicago Fire FC begins its 29th season in Major League Soccer on Saturday with a new set of hopes and expectations. Gone is an eight-year-long postseason drought; now, the goals are loftier, and the bar is raised. But Gregg Berhalter and his Men in Red know it all begins on a steamy night in Houston. “Anytime it's a home opener, you know they're going to be fired up to play,” said the head coach about the Dynamo. “The weather is going to be perfect. So we're really looking forward to this game.”
- Nordic Combined: Danish winger Philip Zinckernagel returns to MLS in 2026 with a target on his back, having paced the Fire with a Club-record 30 goal contributions in 2025. Houston and the rest of the league are well aware of his work, but now they will contend with a new challenge: his chemistry with Robin Lod and Anton Salétros. The three have developed a strong chemistry in the midfield, with veteran Finnish midfielder Lod swapping spaces with “Zinck” at will, and Swedish set piece specialist Salétros finding gaps in the defense to unlock his two Nordic teammates.
- Break the Streak: The Men in Red broke plenty of droughts in 2025, most notably winning their first postseason match since 2009. That year also marked the last time Chicago won its season opener – a 2-1 victory in Texas against FC Dallas on March 21. That victory kicked off a season that culminated in the Eastern Conference finals against eventual champions Real Salt Lake. The 2026 season opener in the Lone Star State would be a good time to break another streak and set the stage for a deep postseason run.
Match Notes
- Chicago will open its 29th season on the road against Houston Dynamo FC on Saturday, Feb. 21 at Shell Energy Stadium. This will be the earliest season opener in Club history, one calendar day earlier than the Feb. 22 opener at Columbus in 2025.
- Chicago’s 29th all-time meeting against Houston will mark the first time the Fire open a season against the Dynamo. But the Men in Red have plenty of experience opening in Texas, facing Brimstone Cup rival FC Dallas in the Lone Star State five times since 2000, most recently in 2011.
- The season opening tilt against Houston will also be the Fire’s first interconference match of 2026 and their 317th match against a Western Conference opponent in regular season play. Chicago finished the 2025 season with a record of 4-1-1 against the West, including a perfect 3-0-0 record on the road.
- Midfielder Robin Lod, who could make his Fire debut Saturday night in Houston, leads the 2026 Chicago Fire FC roster in appearances, minutes and goals against the Dynamo. Lod is tied for third with Vancouver forward Brian White and former Minnesota teammate Bongi Hlongwane for most goals against Houston among active MLS players with five.
- In his Major League Soccer debut in the 2025 season opening match against Columbus, Jonathan Bamba became only the second player in Fire history to record two assists in his first league appearance. Only one Fire player has recorded two assists in a match against the Dynamo: midfielder Freddie Ljungberg in a 3-4 loss in Houston on Aug. 21, 2010. No Fire player has scored two or more goals against the Dynamo in series history.
Lineups
Chicago Fire FC Director of Football and Head Coach Gregg Berhalter named the following Starting XI to kick off the campaign against the Dynamo:
- For the third consecutive year, Homegrown goalkeeper Chris Brady will draw a season-opening start in goal for the Fire. The 21-year-old is coming off a third consecutive annual mention as the only goalkeeper on the 22 Under 22 list presented by BodyArmor, honoring the best players under 22 in Major League Soccer.
- Making his MLS and Fire debut will be Mbekezeli Mbokazi, the 20-year-old South African center back who joined the Club in the offseason. He will become only the second player born in South Africa to take the field for Chicago in league play after John Thorrington, the Johannesburg midfielder who played 59 games in six seasons with the Men in Red.
- Joining Mbokazi on the backline will be Canadian international Joel Waterman, who starts only his seventh regular season match for the Fire after joining the squad late in the 2025 season; and Sam Rogers, who makes his 21st start for the Fire in the beginning of his second year in Chicago.
- Marshaling the midfield and wearing the captain’s armband is Swedish midfielder Anton Salétros, who will make his own league debut following a decorated career across Europe, most recently at his hometown club AIK of Stockholm. He will be joined by Dje D’Avilla, who will line up in the middle of the pitch for the 12th regular season start of his career.
- Defender Leonardo Barroso will make the first season-opening start of his career on the right wing. The Portuguese wingback has good memories of Texas, making his debut just under a year ago in a match against FC Dallas at Toyota Stadium in Frisco on March 8, 2025. Six minutes in, he scored his first goal as a professional, becoming the 12th player to score on his Fire debut.
- The versatile Maren Haile-Selassie will appear in his 90th regular season match with the Fire as a left wingback. This will be the third time the Swiss player has started against the Dynamo in his career, both in regular season play in 2024 and in the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup in 2023 – the only current Fire player to start in the last two official matches between the sides.
- Leading the attack is the Fire’s 2025 Golden Boot winner Hugo Cuypers. The Belgian striker led Chicago in 2024 with 10 goals, before blowing away his first-year numbers with 17 in 2025. His first two campaigns made him the first Fire player since 2019 to score double digit goals in consecutive seasons.
- Newcomer Robin Lod will make his first appearance and start for Chicago shuttling between Cuypers and the midfield. Lod arrived in Chicago this offseason after seven years with Minnesota United FC, where he scored more goals (41) than any other player in club history.
- A welcome sight will line up next to Lod: Philip Zinckernagel, who makes his 32nd start for Chicago after posting a Club-record 30 goal contributions in a 2025 team MVP campaign. His 15 assists were the most by any player in a single Fire season, also making him the only player in Club history to have double-digit goals and assists in one year.
- Available off the bench for Berhalter will be goalkeeper Josh Cohen; defender Christopher Cupps; midfielders Mauricio Pineda, David Poreba and Sergio Oregel Jr.; wingers Chris Mueller and Puso Dithejane; and forward Jason Shokalook.
- Defenders Jack Elliott (Head), Viktor Radojević (Lower Body), Andrew Gutman (Lower Body) and Jonathan Dean (Not Due to Injury); and winger Jonathan Bamba (Lower Body) will not be available for the season opener. Midfielder André Franco (Lower Body) was placed on the league Injured List and will be unavailable through the start of the 2026 regular season. Dean did not travel with the team as he and his wife welcomed their first child early Saturday morning.
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