CHICAGO FIRE MEDIA CONFERENCE

July 25, 2026

Joel Waterman

Press Conference

NYCFC - 3, Chicago Fire - 1

Q. Joel, you were part of a historic team of Canada, going through a pretty well area in the World Cup. How do you feel about that, for yourself and your team as well?

JOEL WATERMAN: Individually, always an honor to play for my country, especially at the World Cup. Yeah, it was an unforgettable experience. Hopefully we got to change kind of the soccer culture in Canada and what it looks like. And I know all the boys were really proud to be a part of it.

Q. Talk about the exchange of jerseys. What exchange of jersey, whether a national team or with a team you've played for, whether it's here or Montreal?

JOEL WATERMAN: Probably I got Suarez's (phonetic) jersey and I got Ramiro's from Argentina, so that was pretty cool.

Q. Second game this week. Two tough losses (indiscernible) after the break. What have been the challenges connecting and getting everybody together (indiscernible) you guys were doing so well (indiscernible) World Cup.

JOEL WATERMAN: Yeah, I think the Miami game was a bit different. Obviously our first game back. Getting into the rhythm of things. Yeah, obviously it wasn't the game you expected or wanted.

But tonight we obviously put in the effort, we thought. They capitalized on basically the shots they had, so credit to them.

But, yeah, we'll look at it in the couple days, look at it, learn from our mistakes and hopefully get a win against Charlotte next week.