The Wild Card round of the 2025 MLS Cup Playoffs begins on Wednesday in the Windy City, as the Chicago Fire gets set to host Orlando City.

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Despite having a sluggish start to the season, the Fire managed to rally in the second half of the campaign, and played well enough to earn the franchise’s first postseason berth since 2017. While other teams around them started to flounder in the final months of the regular season, Chicago kept pace, earning points in six of its past seven matches, including important wins over the Columbus Crew and Inter Miami.

The Fire’s last playoff win came back in 2009, when the club made it to the Eastern Conference Final.

At one point, Orlando was a team fighting for home-field advantage in the opening round

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