Recap: Nashville SC drop first preseason match of 2026 to Chicago Fire

Nashville SC started off their 2026 preseason with a lopsided loss to the Chicago Fire, falling 4-1 in their first friendly of the year.

The XI

With his squad set up to play the game in 30-minute shifts, head coach BJ Callaghan started out the game with what looked like a full-strength lineup, including newly-signed winger Cristian Espinoza.

Notably, goalkeeper Brian Schwake got the start ahead of Joe Willis, potentially signifying his place in the pecking order heading into 2026.

On the pitch

Chicago midfielder David Poreba opened the scoring just minutes into the first half, and new signing Anton Saletros curled in a gorgeous direct free kick to put them up 2-0 within the first 30 minutes, just before Nashville made their first shift change of the match.

Nashville made a full shift change shortly after the goal, with Willis entering in net, behind a backline of trialist Nick Pariano at left back, Jack Maher and Josh Bauer in the center, and Jordan Knight on the right. The Fire grabbed another goal through three of their best attackers, with Jonathan Bamba and Robin Lod combining to set up Philip Zinckernagel for a tap-in.

After a final set of substitutions for Nashville, the Fire forced a fourth when defender Chris Applewhite was caught wrong-footed, deflecting a cross past goalkeeper Xavier Valdez into his own net. Midfielder Charles-Emil Brunet, a third-round pick in last month's SuperDraft, pulled a goal back for Nashville.

Takeaways

There's not a ton for fans and media to take away from a closed-door friendly, but the initial lineup gives a good look at where Callaghan sees the squad. Schwake has been internally viewed as the first-choice option, but Willis's re-signing made that less clear. Seeing him get the start added validation to that idea.

Newly signed defender Maxwell Woledzi slotted straight into the backline next to Jeisson Palacios. With his profile as a Best XI mainstay in Norway, expectations are high for the Ghanaian in 2026. Designated Player Cristian Espinoza also got his first taste of action on the right side of the flank.

Callaghan said the squad is still working on fitness, as evidenced by the 30-minute shifts.

"The fitness component is getting there, I think intentionally, it's growing in the right direction," he told the media after the match. "But you know... we're not 90 minutes fit. But it's intentional. We're going to build through this preseason."

Callaghan also noted that the squad played out of the base 4-2-2-2 formation that they used for the majority of the 2025 season, but emphasized that it's not a set choice, rather one that made sense in the first friendly of the year.

"In our first game, we kind of came out in our base and then worked on little ways of maybe adapting that shape through the run of play, but that was the main shape."

While the 4-1 scoreline may have raised eyebrows among fans, Callaghan wasn't at all concerned, pointing out the emphasis on fitness and that Nashville avoided picking up any additional injuries (although he did say that Huntsville City forward Alioune Ka is currently dealing with an issue).

"We're not going to look at the result just because of the way different lineups are put out and everything," he said. "For us, it's just more about setting clear objectives of what we've worked on in the first week. And then being clear with how we're going to evaluate the game, which would be on certain objectives, a couple phases of play that we were focused on, and then we'll go back and evaluate how well we did on an individual level, a mind level, and a team level."