BRIDGEVIEW, Ill. (Oct. 22, 2025) – No. 9 Orlando City SC fell 3-1 to No. 8 Chicago Fire FC on Wednesday night at SeatGeek Stadium in the Audi 2025 MLS Cup Playoffs Eastern Conference Wild Card Game.
Following a scoreless first half, the Fire broke the deadlock just minutes after the break when Brian Gutiérrez controlled a cross inside the six-yard box and slotted his shot home. Ten minutes later, Hugo Cuypers doubled the home side’s advantage after a clearance deflected off the forward into the net.
Orlando’s Marco Pašalić nearly halved the deficit shortly after, volleying a shot from outside the box that forced Chris Brady into a diving save at his near post.
Cuypers added to his tally in the 68th minute with a clinical finish at the near post from a Zinckernagel through ball.
The Lions got on the scoresheet in the 89th minute after Adrián Marín fed Tyrese Spicer through on goal and the Trinidadian fired home at the near post. The result would hold, however, bringing Orlando’s 2025 season to an end.
Scoring Summary:
48’ Brian Gutiérrez (Jonathan Dean, Philip Zinckernagel) – CHI 1, ORL 0
57’ Hugo Cuypers – CHI 2, ORL 0
68’ Hugo Cuypers (Philip Zinckernagel, Jonathan Bamba) – CHI 3, ORL 0
89’ Tyrese Spicer (Adrián Marín) – CHI 3, ORL 1
Head Coach Oscar Pareja:
“Frustrated and disappointed just to end up losing in this first game of the playoffs. We have pain knowing that we could have done much better. Probably the second half was an image of what happened in the last few games, that we were fading a little. We were slow in our level and Chicago in the second half was much better and created those three goals that in certain times we could’ve done better. The game in the first half was more equal. We didn’t have too many actions; they didn’t have many either, or just a few instances, but nothing else. But yeah, disappointed. I thought we could have been better. I still want to show our gratitude to our fans and the people we have supporting us during this period and today we feel pain not to advance to the next stage.”
Captain & Defender Robin Jansson:
“The first thing that comes to mind is it’s not good enough. It’s a sad moment. I felt that we came out with at least the energy in the beginning of the first half of the first half. I think we had the energy there. We tried but we didn’t really manage to get the ball up there to create something and then we started to lose a little bit of that energy, I felt like halfway through the first half, and then the second half was just not good enough.”
Match Notes
- The match marked the Lions’ sixth consecutive postseason appearance and first-ever in the Eastern Conference Wild Card Game.
- Forward Tyrese Spicer scored his first career MLS Cup Playoffs goal and his second with Orlando City across all competitions since joining the team in August.
- Head Coach Oscar Pareja made two changes to the Starting XI from the previous match against Toronto FC, reintroducing César Araújo and Robin Jansson to the lineup.
