Fire Will Face Atlanta In The USOC 5th Round

US Soccer held the draw for Fifth Round pairings in the US Open Cup earlier this morning. The Chicago Fire, weary from surviving Round Four against the Columbus Crew through 120 minutes and 11 frames in a penalty shootout, were among those in the pot for the draw.

The Fire now know their opponent for Round Five— Atlanta United.

With regional grouping in place, Atlanta were one of three possible opponents for the Fire. They were also the only other MLS side in our region; Nashville SC and Louisville City were also in the mix.

While the Fire haven’t announced final details for the game, Round Five fixtures will mostly kick off on June 20th. Home teams have the option to schedule their games for June 16-17 as long as the visitors have at least two days’ rest. The Fire are scheduled to travel west to face the Colorado Rapids on June 13th— ATL are in Columbus that same night— and neither team have a game the weekend of the 16th-17th. The ball is in Atlanta’s court at the moment.

The last meeting between these two teams was last month’s disappointing 2-1 loss for the Fire at Toyota Park. With Atlanta boasting one of the strongest forward lines in the league, the Men In Red will have their work cut out for them as they look to survive Round Five and take one more step toward their fifth USOC title.

Since the Fifth Round tie will take place this month, any goals scored by the Fire in that game will count towards our Pride Month Fundraiser.

Here’s the full card for the Fifth Round:

DC United vs. Orlando City SC

Philadelphia Union vs. New York Red Bulls

Atlanta United vs. Chicago Fire

Louisville City FC vs. Nashville SC

Houston Dynamo vs. Minnesota United

Sporting Kansas City vs. FC Dallas

LAFC vs. Sacramento Republic

Portland Timbers vs. LA Galaxy