VANCOUVER, British Columbia (March 22, 2025) – Chicago Fire FC wraps up a three-game road trip with a second stop north of the border, facing off against Vancouver Whitecaps FC Saturday night at BC Place in Vancouver, British Columbia. First kick in Canada is scheduled for 9:30 p.m. CT. The match will be broadcast across the globe on MLS Season Pass on Apple TV, and transmitted locally in English on WLS 890 AM and wlsam.com and in Spanish on Que Buena 105.1 FM via the Uforia App.
Looking to for a third win in a row on the road, Chicago Fire FC Director of Football and Head Coach Gregg Berhalter has named the following starting XI against the ‘Caps tonight:
- Two changes have been made to the Starting XI that came back to earn a 2-1 victory on the road against Toronto FC last Saturday in Canada.
- Leonardo Barroso earns his first start with the Men in Red after scoring one goal and contributing to one more in a combined 85 minutes over the last two matches. The Portuguese right back checked in for Jonathan Dean in the 17th minute of the match against Toronto, who will be unavailable (torso) due to injury tonight.
- Sam Williams will fill in for Brian Gutiérrez in the midfield, who is currently on international duty with the U.S. Men’s National Team. Williams earned his first start in Major League Soccer in Chicago’s home opener against D.C. United on March 1, playing 84 minutes in his MLS debut in place of Gutiérrez. He will line up next to fellow Homegrowns Mauricio Pineda and Sergio Oregel, Jr., the latter of whom earns his fifth consecutive start this season.
- Playing in his 69th MLS regular season match tonight, Chris Brady also makes his fifth start of 2025 in goal, looking for his third win and first clean sheet of the year.
- Defender Jack Elliott will don the captain’s armband for the second consecutive match, pairing up with Sam Rogers at center back for the fourth time in a row. Andrew Gutman joins Barroso, Elliott, and Rogers in the backline having played every minute of the season thus far.
- Hunting down the league lead in goals scored is Hugo Cuypers, who has scored four goals in the last three matches, including the game-winner against Toronto. He will start his fifth match in a row alongside winger Jonathan Bamba, who will also be joined by Philip Zinckernagel on the right wing.
- Aside from Dean and Gutiérrez, defender Chase Gasper (Lower Body) and midfielders Kellyn Acosta (Lower Body), David Poreba (Lower Body), Omari Glasgow (International Duty), and Chris Mueller (Not Due to Injury) will not be available for selection tonight.
- Goalkeeper Jeff Gal; defenders Carlos Terán, Omar González, Justin Reynolds and Diego Konincks; midfielders Rominigue Kouamé, Maren Haile-Selassie and Dylan Borso; and forward Tom Barlow will be available off the bench for tonight’s match.
