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Robert Lewandowski's anticipated reunion with Thomas Müller and his Major League Soccer debut with the Chicago Fire will have to be pushed to the autumn after MLS called off Thursday evening's fixture between the Polish star's new club and the Vancouver Whitecaps.
The game was cancelled five hours before the opening whistle due to dangerous air quality conditions in Chicago. The third-biggest city in the United States has been blanketed in dense smoke for the past two days, carried southward by wildfires burning in Northeastern Ontario, Canada.
According to the Swiss air quality monitoring index, IQ Air, Chicago's air quality had climbed to "hazardous" levels and was ranked the worst in the world at the time the decision was made. Four of the five cities with the poorest air quality were located in North America, with Chicago leading the list, followed by Minneapolis, Detroit, and Toronto.
The two sides will now have to wait until Oct. 6 to face each other, the final day of the September-October four-game FIFA International Window, which may leave several players unavailable due to international commitments. No alternative dates were feasible, given constraints around stadium availability, the MLS All-Star Game, Leagues Cup, the Canadian Championship, and the remainder of the MLS regular season calendar.
An update on tonight's match against Vancouver. #cf97 pic.twitter.com/tVpBd57Hpz
Lewandowski, 37, joined the Fire in June and was officially unveiled on Wednesday, ahead of what would have been his first professional appearance outside of Europe. The former Bayern Munich and Barcelona forward had been heavily linked with a move to MLS for some time before completing his transfer to the Fire in a city that, per a 2023 Census, is home to more than 720,000 residents of Polish heritage.
The fixture would have marked the 23rd meeting between him and Müller, after the pair also lined up together 333 times at Bayern, claiming the 2020 UEFA Champions League title among numerous other honours.
"We share our fans' disappointment, especially given the excitement surrounding our first match back following the FIFA World Cup break and the anticipation of welcoming more than 40,000 fans to Soldier Field," said Dave Baldwin, Chicago Fire's president of business operations.
"Tonight was expected to be a special evening at Soldier Field. While we know this decision is disappointing, health and safety must come first. We appreciate our fans' understanding and look forward to welcoming them back soon."
A Hit to MLS's World Cup Plans
The postponement of this high-profile matchup will be a letdown for the anticipated crowd of 30,000 at Soldier Field and the large television audience that had been expected to tune in for Lewandowski's debut.
The contest was one of six that MLS had lined up for Thursday and Friday nights between the World Cup semifinals and the final, aiming to capitalise on the enormous soccer enthusiasm sweeping the U.S. this summer.
Instead, supporters will have to direct their attention to three other games on Thursday, including the Canadian Classique between CF Montréal and Toronto FC, the Heartland Derby between St. Louis CITY SC and Sporting Kansas City, and the fiercely contested Cascadia Clash between the Seattle Sounders and the Portland Timbers.
On Friday, fans can look forward to Nashville SC taking on Atlanta United, as well as El Trafico between LAFC and the LA Galaxy, to be broadcast on the main Fox channel that has also aired the World Cup.