On Friday, Chris Brady will step onto his biggest field yet. Brady, 22, will likely make his World Cup debut as a goalkeeper for the United States men’s national team.
The Naperville native got his start playing soccer as a kid for a local park league, then trained pre-professionally at the Chicago Fire FC’s academy program, where he now plays for the club’s top team. Brady says he wears the city’s crest with pride.
“I’m super appreciative to be able to represent my hometown, my family, my people and my club,” Brady said.
Brady is one of just 26 men to represent the U.S. in the 2026 World Cup. Even more rare, he is one of three Chicagoans participating in the world-class soccer tournament. Former Fire player Brian Gutiérrez and artist Brian Herrera will bring a bit of Chicagoland to Mexico’s national team.
“This is rare air that we are talking about here and it’s an amazing achievement,” said Fire head coach Gregg Berhalter, who has worked with Brady over the last 18 months.
The World Cup is widely considered the largest sporting event in the world and FIFA projects around 6 billion people will tune in. If the projection is correct, that would be around 50 times more viewers than the 2026 Super Bowl.
Earning the chance to play in the World Cup has been a longtime goal of Brady’s, said his dad, Keith Brady. Chris Brady has been playing soccer since he was young, first starting in Naperville’s park-sponsored leagues before joining a travel team and ultimately enrolling with the Chicago Fire academy.
“I’m just excited for Chris,” his father said. “It’s a big step forward in his career, moving up in the soccer world.”
Brady is the sole current representative of the Chicago Fire on the U.S. men’s team. However, Gutiérrez, a former Fire midfielder and Berwyn native, will make his World Cup debut with the Mexican national team. The two players stay in touch, talking every day, Brady said.
“He’s excited to be in the position he’s in and he knows I’m excited too,” Brady said. “It’s kind of incredible to look back at where we started from, where we originated from and to see how far we’ve come. It’s an incredible thing, the growth of a player. To be experiencing that with one of my buddies from way back when, it’s kind of surreal.”
The Mexican Football Association and Gutiérrez did not respond to the Tribune’s request for comment.
Chicago at the intersection of art and athletics
When Brian Herrera got an Instagram message asking him to design an official fan jersey for Team Mexico, he said he thought it was a scam. Herrera was born in Veracruz, Mexico, where he grew up playing soccer. He came to Chicago when he was 12 years old and now works as a multiform artist.
“It just seemed like a crazy opportunity,” Herrera said.
Designing the Mexico World Cup fan jerseys is a “full circle moment” for the 29-year-old as he integrates traditional Mexican culture and Chicago street art into the fan jerseys, sold by World Soccer Shop.
The Herrera-designed jersey uses the same Adidas base design as the one the players, including Gutiérrez, will wear on the field. However, customized letters and numbers will come with the fan jersey, according to the artist.
The lettering is inspired by the street art and graffiti near Herrera’s Little Village home and traditional central Mexican symbols. Herrera calls his style of art “Mesofuturismo.”
“Mesofuturismo is this self-coined term that I use to explore the past, present and future within my identity and where I stand,” Herrera said. “(It’s) how I can bring back this ancient knowledge from Mesoamerica, specifically from the central region where I am from, of the Olmec, the Mashika and the Nawat language; bringing that back with a contemporary lens.”
Herrera’s favorite facets of his design are the animals carefully interwoven into the numbering. The strong animals and “fuerza” design represent the strength and relentlessness of the Mexican soccer team itself, the Mexican community and Mexican immigrants living in Chicago.
“It’s really manifesting this attitude of being resilient, working hard and looking out for each other. ‘Fuerza’ means more than just pure strength. To me, I thought the word also meant not only strength within ourselves, but strength within our community and strength within each other.”
Cheers from a hometown crowd
Chicago fans can cheer on Brady, Gutiérrez and their favorite national teams without leaving the city. The Chicago Fire will host official watch parties for World Cup fans during the tournament at Recess, 838 W. Kinzie St., beginning Thursday through July 19.
The watch parties will feature 21 indoor TV screens and a 360-degree jumbotron. Throughout the monthlong celebration, there will be live music, DJs, a makers market, a meet-and-greet with Fire players and more.
