Cruz Azul vs Chicago Fire — Leagues Cup: stats, lineups & analysis
Match Events
play_arrow2 clips- 18′Cruz Azul, yellow card:Argument
- 31′Chicago Fire, yellow card:Foul
- 44′Cruz Azul, substitution:off
- Half-time
- 67′Chicago Fire, goal:0–1
- 68′Chicago Fire, substitution:off
- 68′Chicago Fire, substitution:off
- 78′Cruz Azul, substitution:off
- 79′Chicago Fire, substitution:off
- 81′Cruz Azul, goal:1–1assist
- 88′Chicago Fire, yellow card:Foul
- 90′Chicago Fire, goal:1–2assist
- 90+5′Cruz Azul, substitution:off
- 90+7′Chicago Fire, substitution:off
- Full-time1 – 2
Lineups
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Key Stats
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Player Ratings
Cruz Azul
Chicago Fire
Match report
Dithejane double sinks Cruz Azul as Chicago Fire snatch late Leagues Cup win
Chicago Fire came from behind at half-time to beat Cruz Azul 2-1 in this Leagues Cup Group Stage fixture at SeatGeek Stadium, a contest that stayed goalless until well into the second half. Puso Dithejane broke the deadlock in the 67th minute, turning a tight, scoreless opening period into a lead for the visitors.
AI-assisted match report written from official match data.
Cruz Azul responded through Nicolás Ibáñez, who levelled matters in the 81st minute after being set up by José Paradela, dragging the hosts back into contention with the scoreline at 1-1. But Chicago Fire had the final word deep into stoppage time, as Dithejane struck again in the 90+3rd minute, assisted by Maren Haile-Selassie, to make it 1-2 and settle the contest in the away side's favour.
The match was tightly contested territorially, with possession split evenly between the two sides, though Cruz Azul had the greater share of attempts on goal without finding a way past their opponents until the closing stages proved costly.
Dithejane scored both of Chicago Fire's goals, including the decisive stoppage-time winner, finishing with a rating of 8.6.
Cruz Azul managed 17 shots to Chicago Fire's 11, yet it was the visitors who made their opportunities count.
Chicago Fire won 2–1 away against Cruz Azul (half-time 0–0).
Cruz Azul met Chicago Fire in the Leagues Cup (Group Stage). Kick-off was Friday, 14 August 2026, 01:00 UTC at SeatGeek Stadium. Referee: Pierre-Luc Lauziere.
Team pages: Cruz Azul · Chicago Fire · Leagues Cup
Key moments
- 67' Goal: Puso Dithejane — 0–1 · Watch Puso Dithejane's goal video (67')
- 81' Goal: Nicolás Ibáñez (assist: José Paradela) — 1–1
- 90' Goal: Puso Dithejane (assist: Maren Haile-Selassie) — 1–2 · Watch Puso Dithejane's goal video (90')
Starting line-ups
Cruz Azul (4-1-4-1)
Chicago Fire (4-3-3)
Sirius · Why these numbers
Before kick-off Sirius gave Cruz Azul 33%, the draw 25%, Chicago Fire 42%. It finished Cruz Azul 1–2 Chicago Fire.
Chicago Fire's rating edge on neutral ground — Chicago Fire are the stronger side on our strength rating, and neutral ground on top gives Chicago Fire the lean. The draw at 25% is nudged down by the same factors that shape the win chances.
Why Chicago Fire at 42%?
Chicago Fire sit 80 points higher on our strength rating — 1524 to 1604. Sides with a 50–100-point rating edge on the road won 32.9% of 10,500 such games. Leagues Cup is played on neutral grounds: Cruz Azul are the listed home side but get none of the usual home lift, so the class read is re-centred. On grounds we detect as neutral, listed-home sides won 44.6% of 26,893 games vs 45.2% at real homes — so a tournament game away from a side's own ground scores the class edge venue-free, as the average of the home and away reads.
Why only 42%?
Chicago Fire scored +0.33 goals per game beyond chance-quality lately — hot streaks like that have cooled off. Visitors running this hot went on to win 29.1% of 1,434 games, vs 28.9% for visitors finishing normally.
Why the draw at 25%?
With a rating gap this size the draw starts at 28.3%. These teams' recent games average 3.0 goals — a typical goals environment. Games in that environment drew 24.6% of 24,767. The cool-off factor takes 2.2 points off the draw.
What did we measure but not count?
Chicago Fire have played 3+ games in the last two weeks; their opponents haven't. Between equals, congested home sides won 47.0% of 2417 measured games and congested visitors 28.2% of 2461 — the cells disagree with each other and with the flat rest table, so schedule stays a watch item at 0 points. Cruz Azul arrive with 15 fully-tracked matches, so their strength number is a first estimate that will move quickly; Chicago Fire bring a 417-game record. New-to-the-record sides are where our rating knows least.
Sirius probabilities, frozen at kick-off. Analysis, not betting advice. How Sirius is doing this season · Full breakdown, evidence cards and squad news in the Match Insights tab
About this match
On this page: the Cruz Azul vs Chicago Fire final score and result, goal highlights and video clips of every goal, who scored, starting lineups, match stats and the full match report from this Leagues Cup fixture.
- Who scored and when — a goal-by-goal timeline of the match.
- Match stats — possession, shots, expected goals (xG), corners and cards.
- Starting lineups and player ratings for both teams.
- Head-to-head record and recent form for both sides.
- Watch Puso Dithejane's goal against Cruz Azul (67').
- Watch Puso Dithejane's goal against Cruz Azul (90').
Watch the goals: goal highlights and video clips of every goal from Cruz Azul 1–2 Chicago Fire. Explore more on the Cruz Azul and Chicago Fire team pages or the Leagues Cup page.