Back to the Philadelphia Union Newsfeed

A century of Chicago, Philadelphia enmity

Philadelphia Union and Chicago Fire meet in the semifinals on Wednesday in what is the latest installment of U.S. Open Cup rivalry that goes back a full century.

When the Chicago Fire and Philadelphia Union meet this week in the 2018 Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup Semifinal Round, the match will revive an historic soccer rivalry between the two cities that stretches back 100 years.

Things kicked off in the early days of the National Challenge Cup (now the U.S. Open Cup), when Joliet Steel Works FC was winning Chicago’s Peel Cup – and the fabled Bethlehem Steel FC was dominating Philadelphia’s Allied American FA.