Chicago Fire FC opened the 2026 Coachella Valley Invitational with a 3-2 victory against the LA Galaxy Sunday afternoon at the Empire Polo Club in Indio, California.
The Fire’s 2025 Golden Boot winner, forward Hugo Cuypers, tallied the opening goal in the first half, followed shortly by 2025 team MVP Philip Zinckernagel’s first of the preseason. In the closing moments of the match, Schaumburg, Ill. native Chris Mueller recorded the game-winning goal to preserve the Fire’s 3-0 preseason record.
Half an hour into the match, the Fire opened the scoring in a familiar way. Zinckernagel took off from the left wing, drawing defenders into the edge of the box, before laying off to a wide-open Cuypers to finish. Eight minutes later, the Danish winger doubled the Fire’s lead with a shot from beyond the box that he tucked under the glove of Galaxy goalkeeper Novak Micovic.
Los Angeles answered shortly after the half, with midfielder Gabriel Pec peeling away from the Fire defense to cut the deficit in half. After a flurry of substitutions in the 61st minute for Chicago, Pec got the equalizer in the 77th minute.
In the closing six minutes, midfielder Sergio Oregel Jr. swung a ball out to Omari Glasgow on the left. The Guyanese wingback dribbled into the box and crossed to the far post, where Mueller finished coolly for the game-winner.
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Box Score:
Chicago Fire FC 3:2 LA Galaxy
Goals:
CHI - Cuypers (1) (Zinckernagel 1) 30’
CHI - Zinckernagel (1) (Haile-Selassie 1) 38’
LAG - Pec (1) (Klauss 1) 51’
LAG - Pec (2) 77’
CHI - Mueller (1) (Glasgow 1) 84’
Discipline:
LAG - Wynder (Caution) 43’
CHI - Barroso (Caution) 45’
Chicago Fire FC: GK Brady (Gal, 61’), D Barroso (Dean, 61’), D Elliott (capt.) (Rogers, 61’), D Mbokazi (Waterman, 46’), D Gutman (Glasgow, 61’), M D’Avilla (Cupps, 61’), M Salétros (Pineda, 61’), M Lod (Oregel Jr, 61’), F Zinckernagel (Poreba, 61’), F Cuypers (Shokalook, 61’), F Haile-Selassie (Mueller, 61’)
Subs not used: GK Cohen, M Hlyut
Head Coach: Gregg Berhalter
LA Galaxy: GK Micovic, D Yamane, D Haak, D Glesnes, D Aude (Nelson, 61’), D Garces, M Pec, M Reus (capt.), M Wynder, M Paintsil, F Klauss (Nascimento, 61’)
Subs not used: GK Marcinkowski, GK Scott, D Yoshida, D Cuevas, D Rindov, D Placias, D M. Vanney, M Cerrillo, M Sanabria, M Lepley, M Ramos, M Miller, M Thommy, M D. Vanney, F Ramirez
Head Coach: Greg Vanney
Referee: Ricardo Fierro
Assistant Referees: Diego Blas, Clarence Clark
Fourth Official: Abdu Razzaq Juma
Venue: Empire Polo Club (Indio, Calif.)