Saturday, Jan. 24, 2026
The Gardens North County District Park – West Palm Beach, Fla.
Chicago Fire FC 1:0 Sporting Kansas City
Chicago Fire FC Director of Football & Head Coach Gregg Berhalter
On improvements from the first preseason match…
“I think it's a good ending to a great camp. The guys have been working extremely hard and it's nice to finish showing the progress throughout the week. The pressure was good, some of the ball movement was good, creating chances. So overall, happy with the game. And now, it's about phase two in preseason.”
On wrapping the first phase of preseason…
“The intensity is high. The level of the group is high. We have a lot of competition for spots. We purposely mix the lineups in all the games and you don't see a drop off between the teams so for us, it's a good sign.”
On the excitement for the potential for this team…
“We want to put ourselves in position to compete to win every game. And that's the mentality of the group. So you can see that right away. And then we need depth and we need to keep getting better. I think if we can do those things, we'll be fine.”
Chicago Fire FC Midfielder Chris Mueller
On his return to the field…
“I think for all of us it's great just to get back out here and start getting that camaraderie back, that team chemistry. It's great to see a lot of familiar faces, some new ones as well. But it's great to be out here. We love to play; it's what we've been itching for all off season, so it's great to get back, great to get working.
“For me personally, obviously a big milestone for me to be out here and just getting real minutes in again. Really grateful for that and just thankful to be out here.”
On the differences between this preseason and the last…
“I think there's a lot of positives to be taken away, honestly. I think we're strides ahead of where we were coming into preseason last year. And I think, just with the new additions that we've made, with the players that we've kept and just how we already have a little bit of a clear identity in terms of what we were building last season, I think that right now it seems like we're a few steps ahead and and we're being really proactive about that.”
On the potential of the team coming off a playoff appearance…
“Yeah, I think just that we feel like we're real contenders. You know, we can go out, we could beat anybody anywhere, anytime. So, I think that that in and of itself, that belief that comes within the group, is the most positive thing that we could take away. And I think that just little results, even if it's preseason, it feels good to get that confidence going to start to build that belief within the team that we could find ways to win, that we can score goals, we can keep clean sheets. So yeah, we're all really thrilled.”
