The Chicago Fire made a triumphant return to the MLS Cup playoffs for the first time since 2017 this fall, but one of head coach Gregg Berhalter’s final managerial moments in 2025 came with the fans, not the players.
The Fire fell 3–0 to the Philadelphia Union in game two of their best-of-three series and were eliminated from the postseason on Saturday night. The match had to be stopped twice in the second half due to discriminatory chants from Fire supporters. The infamous chant uses discriminatory language widely considered to be homophobic.
While the first few chants went on without punishment, the match officials began FIFA’s “Three Step Protocol” soon after, briefly suspending the game for an in-stadium announcement in the 78th minute.
“I think that it’s not who we are, it’s not who we’ve been all year,” Berhalter said following the loss. “We want a type of environment where people love coming to the stadium, love celebrating the game of soccer, and that chant has nothing to do with the game of soccer.”
