Soccer
Dean Smith outlined his ambition to lead Charlotte FC to silverware during his time at the club after celebrating his 100th game in charge with a victory.
Smith watched on as his team beat New York City FC in their last MLS encounter, with early quickfire goals from Pep Biel and captain Ashley Westwood doing the damage.
Since joining from Leicester City in 2023, Smith has managed to win 43 of his matches at the helm across all competitions (D15 L39), averaging a win percentage of 43%, which is the highest of his managerial career to date.
The 55-year-old has overseen season-by-season improvement since taking over at Charlotte, finishing fifth in his first year in charge before ending the 2025 campaign in fourth.
However, trophies have evaded Smith since his arrival in the MLS. They have been dumped out of the playoffs in the first round in both of the seasons under the former Aston Villa boss by New York City FC and Orlando City SC, respectively.
And ahead of his 101st game in charge of Charlotte against the Chicago Fire at Soldier Field this weekend, Smith is hoping his team can continue to build on the solid foundations laid in his first two campaigns at the helm.
“I like the fact that we have moulded an identity around the team during my time here, and we have been able to go on and create our own history,” Smith said.
“We have to keep evolving as a club. We finished fifth in my first year, fourth in the second, but we want to win trophies. That is what I came here to try and achieve.
“We want people to be talking about Charlotte FC in two, three and four years and saying ‘I can see an identity and a togetherness’. That is my word, always.”
Here’s to you, Dean Smith pic.twitter.com/nEamoMAsXX
— Charlotte FC (@CharlotteFC) July 26, 2026
Charlotte are fifth in the Eastern Conference, one point and two places adrift of their next opponents Chicago, who were beaten 3-1 by NYCFC in their last league game.
Joel Waterman had cancelled out Nicolas Fernandez’s 10th-minute opener, but further first-half strikes from Agustin Ojeda and Malachi Jones sealed the win for the Pigeons.
However, ahead of their clash with Charlotte, Chicago boss Gregg Berhalter confirmed that defender Mbekezeli Mbokazi is set for an extended spell on the sidelines.
Mbokazi was a part of South Africa’s World Cup squad but sustained a thigh issue while on international duty, ruling him out of the MLS All-Star game, and potentially up to two months of the Fire’s campaign.
“It’s not good,” Berhalter conceded. “He’s going to be out a while. He took a shot in training, hit the ground a little bit, scuffed the ground, and ended up tearing his thigh.
“And it’s serious. He won’t be back for a good amount of time. It is a miss. We feel like we have good centre-backs there anyway.
“But because he’s a top centre-back, we’re going to be missing him for a while. So we’ve got to get used to the new normal.”
PLAYERS TO WATCH
Chicago Fire – Philip Zinckernagel
Zinckernagel had a goal and an assist against Charlotte in the last meeting between these two teams in June 2025.
Since coming to MLS, he has recorded the fifth-most games (12) with multiple goal contributions, and he will be hoping to build on his goal in the All-Star match in midweek.
Charlotte – Pep Biel
Biel recorded his 29th league game with a goal contribution, scoring last weekend and matching team-mate Kerwin Vargas, who had an assist in the match.
Only Karol Swiderski (30) has more regular-season matches with a goal contribution in club history, though Biel will be out to equal him here.
MATCH PREDICTION: CHICAGO FIRE WIN
Chicago and Charlotte have combined to score 33 goals across their eight previous meetings. More than half those goals (17) have come in the last three matches, and five of the eight all-time meetings have featured five or more goals.
The Fire have, however, scored in 13 straight MLS matches, tied for the third-longest active scoring streak in MLS. This is their longest streak of consecutive MLS games with a goal in a single season since a 16-game stretch during the 2005 season.
Charlotte, meanwhile, recorded just four shots but still managed two goals in their win against NYRB last weekend. The four shots were the fewest attempted by an MLS team while scoring multiple goals in a match this season.
OPTA WIN PROBABILITY
Chicago Fire – 59.2%
Draw – 19.8%
Charlotte – 21%
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