Robert Lewandowski’s reunion with Thomas Müller and his Major League Soccer debut with the Chicago Fire will have to wait until the fall after MLS postponed Thursday night’s clash between the Pole’s new team and Vancouver Whitecaps. The match was called off five hours before kickoff due to poor air quality in Chicago. The third-largest city in the U.S. has been wrapped in thick smoke for the last two days, drifting south from wildfires in Northeastern Ontario, Canada.According to the Swiss air quality measurement index, IQ Air, Chicago’s air quality had reached “hazardous” levels and ranked as the world’s worst at the time of the decision. Four of the top five worst cities for air quality were in North America, with Chicago followed by Minneapolis, Detroit and Toronto.The two teams will now wait until Oct. 6 to play, the final day of the September-October four-game FIFA International Window, which could see several players unavailable due to international duty. No other options were available, given stadium availability, the MLS All-Star Game, Leagues Cup, the Canadian Championship and the remaining MLS regular season schedule.An update on tonight‘s match against Vancouver. #cf97 pic.twitter.com/tVpBd57Hpz— Chicago Fire FC (@ChicagoFire) July 16, 2026Lewandowski, 37, signed with the Fire in June and was formally introduced on Wednesday, in the lead-up to his first professional game outside of Europe. The former Bayern Munich and Barcelona striker had long been linked with an MLS move before putting pen to paper with the Fire in a city which, according to a 2023 Census, has over 720,000 people of Polish descent.The matchup would have seen him take on Müller for the 23rd time, after the two also played together 333 times with Bayern, winning the 2020 UEFA Champions League among other trophies. “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 PlansThomas Müller will have to wait to return to MLS action. | Elizabeth Ruiz Ruiz/Getty ImagesPostponing the marquee matchup will be a disappointment for the expected crowd of 30,000 at Soldier Field and the anticipated large TV audience that would have tuned in for Lewandowski’s debut. The game was set to be one of six that MLS has scheduled for Thursday and Friday nights between the World Cup semifinals and final, hoping to cash in on the immense soccer buzz in the U.S. this summer. Instead, fans will have to turn their attention to three other matches 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 heated Cascadia Clash between the Seattle Sounders and the Portland Timbers. On Friday, fans will be treated to Nashville SC vs. Atlanta United, as well as El Trafico between LAFC and the LA Galaxy, to be shown on the main Fox channel that has also broadcast the World Cup. READ THE LATEST MLS NEWS, ANALYSIS AND INSIGHT FROM SI FCAdd us as a preferred source on GoogleFollow