A crowd of 63,094 packed into the iconic Chicago stadium on Wednesday as the Fire and Miami played out a 1-1 draw.
The attendance surpassed Chicago’s previous club record of 62,358, which was also set against Messi and Inter Miami at Soldier Field in April 2025.
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It continues a remarkable trend for Miami’s visits to Chicago. In October 2023, 62,124 supporters attended the fixture between the sides, which was the Fire’s record at the time, despite Messi ultimately missing the match through injury.
The record was broken when Messi finally played at Soldier Field in 2025, before another 736 supporters were added to the mark for his latest appearance.
This time there was no shortage of star power on the pitch.
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Robert Lewandowski opened the scoring for Chicago after 10 minutes, converting Andrew Gutman’s cross for his sixth goal in nine MLS appearances.
Messi then had a direct hand in Miami’s equaliser shortly after half-time. The Argentine delivered a corner for Casemiro, who headed past Chris Brady to make it 1-1.
Neither side could find a winner, but the night provided another reminder of the pulling power surrounding Messi in the United States.
Chicago now have considerable star appeal of their own through Lewandowski, but for the third time since 2023, an Inter Miami visit has coincided with the Fire setting a new attendance benchmark.
Watch: Lewandowski and Messi share the MLS stage
🚨LA MESSIMANIA, y su sana costumbre de romper records de asistencia en los estadios en USA !
Hoy en el Soldier Field en Chicago: 63094, rompiendo el record de asistencia del año pasado: 62358 !…record en la historia del Chicago Fire !
LIONEL ANDRÉS el amo y dueño de las… pic.twitter.com/wX4KcVL8S1
— KING MESSI 10 (@messi10_rey) September 10, 2026
Photo: Geoff Stellfox/Getty Images
