Kellyn Acosta Talks Chicago Fire, Future, and Becoming an Owner at 30 | OneFootball

Kellyn Acosta sat down with Urban Pitch to talk about his new venture into the USL with Edgewater Castle FC, the Chicago Fire’s rollercoaster MLS season, and the lessons he’s carried with him from his time with the USMNT.

It was an up-and-down 2025 MLS season for Kellyn Acosta. The 2022 World Cup veteran started the year captaining Gregg Berhalter’s revamped Chicago Fire squad, but would battle injuries and eventually lose his starting role, and he finished the season in an unfamiliar place: the bench.

After playing just four minutes in the Fire’s MLS Cup Playoffs play-in game against Orlando City, Acosta didn’t see any action in either leg of the team’s first-round matchup with the Philadelphia Union.

Photo by Michael Reaves/Getty Images

Acosta has long been a workhorse in MLS, putting up exorbitant minutes year in and year out, and the 634 minutes he logged in league play in 2025 is nearly a quarter of what he registered the year prior.

Looking for a bounce back 2026 season, Acosta opened up to Urban Pitch about how he’s approaching the offseason, his goals for next year as he enters a contract season with the Fire, and the lessons he took from the United States men’s national team World Cup run in Qatar.

Acosta is also stepping into club ownership, recently becoming a minority owner of USL League Two side Edgewater Castle FC — a significant move for an active player who’s still only 30 years old.

Kellyn Acosta, The Owner

Urban Pitch: What is the appeal behind all this investment from former and current MLS and USMNT players in the USL? What do you see in the league?

Kellyn Acosta: First, increasing access to the game helps everyone, and ECFC has done that well enough to earn its way into USL. That kind of upward mobility is inspiring.

Second, USL offers a model with multiple leagues and tiers, giving clubs different pathways to grow. Their ambition for the future of the sport is exciting for lower-league teams like ours.

Portfolios seem to be the trend for athletes — in soccer we’re seeing Kasey Keller, Stu Holden, Tim Weah and others involved as owners. Beyond the financial side, what attracts a pro athlete to ownership instead of coaching or being a sporting director?

There’s so much that happens off the field and away from tactics, and that’s often where clubs like Edgewater Castle FC need the most support.

Being involved as an owner also puts me in a group of investors who all bring different perspectives and professional experiences. That creates a great learning environment and a meaningful opportunity for any pro athlete to contribute.

What are the KPIs for a club like Edgewater Castle? What does success look like in five years?

As you’d expect, the usual KPIs still apply — increasing ticket sales, boosting fan engagement, and delivering excellent soccer for the community. Moving to a bigger stadium next year lets us be really ambitious about the kind of matchday experience we can offer.

In five years, we want to keep growing and establish ourselves as one of Chicago’s “big clubs.”

We do have professional ambitions — that’s no secret — but how successful we are next season will give us a clear sense of what that timeline might realistically look like.

The Season That Was in Chicago

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How would you sum up your season with the Chicago Fire — both personally and as a team? You dealt with some injuries and moved in and out of the lineup, so how do you feel things went overall for the club, and how do you feel about your own year?

I’ll start with the team. Overall, I think it was a really positive year for the club and the organization. We opened the season in a brand-new training facility, so right away you’re in this great environment with a new coaching staff, new ideas, and some key additions to the roster. You could see the style Gregg wanted being implemented on the field.

The team handled adversity well. Of course we had our ups and downs, but one of our main goals was to get back into the playoffs, and we achieved that. It was a long grind to get there, but the group did a great job executing what Gregg put in place. That made the season even more enjoyable — not just because of the football we were trying to play, but because we stuck together and enjoyed the process even when things were tough.

On a personal level, this was honestly one of the hardest years of my career. I battled a lot of obstacles — injuries, stretches of not playing, and the feeling of not contributing the way I expected to at the start of the year. That was difficult to deal with. But looking back, I learned a lot about myself. I had to fine-tune things, reevaluate, and figure out how to move forward.

So this offseason is going to be huge for me — locking in, refocusing, and making sure I’m fully ready for 2026. I’m looking forward to a little downtime now, but I’m already excited to get going again because I feel like I have a lot to prove.

You now have a long offseason ahead. Physically it gives you time to recover, but mentally you’re also thinking about getting back into the starting lineup. What do you feel it will take to earn that spot again, especially knowing Gregg so well from the national team?

In the offseason, the physical rest is obviously important, but the mental rest is just as big. Even though I didn’t get as many minutes this year, the mental side of things can still be draining. So right now it’s about resetting and fine-tuning.

For me, since I didn’t play as much, I can transition pretty quickly into working and building through the offseason. There are a lot of things I want to improve — even with everything I’ve already achieved, I don’t want to be content. That competitiveness is part of being a footballer.

So the plan is to keep growing, keep building, and really focus on the areas I want to sharpen. If I can implement those things over the next couple of months, I know I’ll come into the new year ready to go.

The Shadow of a Contract Season

You’re entering a contract year, and MLS can be tricky with how contracts, trades, and roster moves work. You’ve already experienced being traded and moving around the league. Going through a season like this, with your own goals and the uncertainty of a contract year, how do you stay mentally focused and avoid letting that uncertainty affect you? 

Yeah, the mental side of it is tough because there are so many external factors you can’t control — getting traded, being moved, all of that. It can definitely weigh on you. Over the years, though, I’ve learned to take things day by day and focus on being present.

Right now in the offseason, my mindset is simply to get better in the moment and let everything else take care of itself. During the season it’s the same approach. In a contract year anything can happen — trades, transfers, moves — but all you can really do is stay present, work hard, and put your best foot forward.

And for the Fire, finally getting back to the postseason after so many years was a big step. It was nice to be part of that.

Do you feel the team now has a solid foundation to build on, or is it still a work in progress? And after so many years of struggles, how do you make sure this season isn’t just a one-off but the start of something sustainable?

I think the first step was getting that monkey off our backs, finally getting back into the postseason after so many years. Achieving that was huge, not just for us as players but for the entire organization. It was important to get the club back in the mix again.

For a lot of guys, it was their first playoff experience, and once you get a taste of that, you want more. So our mentality now is that this is just the baseline. We’re still building, still learning, still growing, but that can’t be an excuse. Every training session and every match is about competing to win — not just showing up, but really pushing to take all three points.

That’s where our mindset is. We want to win every game — even if that’s not always possible, that’s the standard we set for ourselves.

Next year will be a bit unusual with the World Cup, but the approach doesn’t change. We’ll take it game by game and keep pushing from there.

Photo by Michael Reaves/Getty Images

Have you noticed any differences in Gregg Berhalter now compared to his time with the national team? What stood out to you as he transitioned back into club coaching? Do you feel his U.S. national team experience changed him in any way — whether it hardened him, added a chip on his shoulder, or simply gave him new perspectives? 

Yeah, I think for him it’s been a different kind of challenge. With the national team, you’re preparing for a couple of games in a short 10-day window, but at the club level you’re building and growing every single day. You can implement ideas more consistently, spend more time with the players, and shape the team in a deeper way. I’m sure that part has been a nice change for him — being able to really connect with the group and build the identity he wants.

For me, it’s been good working with him again. He’s very similar to how he was with the national team. Even though it wasn’t the best year for me personally, it was great to be under him again.

Acosta and the USMNT

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Looking back at your national team cycle in Qatar 2022 — the Gold Cups, joining in 2018, and going to the World Cup — how do you view that four-year run? Do you feel that young group punched above its weight, or are there things you wish had gone differently?

Yeah, it’s hard to sum up in a simple way. People talk about how young we were, but in reality we also had a lot of experience because so many guys were playing at high levels — in Europe, MLS, and Mexico. At the international level we were still fine-tuning things and getting used to the rhythm, and CONCACAF is its own beast. We learned that quickly through Gold Cups, Nations League, and qualifiers. Every match had its challenges, but I loved the resilience of the group. Whatever got thrown at us, we adapted, figured things out, and kept growing.

When things got tough, the group actually came closer together, which made a huge difference. Because we were so tight off the field, we were able to grind out results on it. Those four years were special — winning trophies, getting results, and going to a World Cup.

I haven’t been part of the fold for a while now, but from the outside I see a group that’s hungry and ready. There aren’t many windows left before 2026, so it’s important for everyone to keep building. And it helps that so many of the guys already have experience at a major international tournament.

During that cycle, did you ever feel the group was thrown into the challenge without the usual older pillars to lean on — that “lost generation” people talk about? Do you think things might have been less rocky if there had been a few veteran leaders in their late 20s to bridge the gap?

Yeah, it’s tough to say because it didn’t happen, so it’s all hypothetical. Having veteran leaders around might have helped — that experience and leadership can make a difference. But since we didn’t have that, it was on the guys in the group to step up and take ownership.

I got a taste of the 2018 cycle, and so did Christian (Pulisic) and a few others, so we were able to help bridge the transition into the younger group. But really, it came down to everyone bringing their own personality and qualities into the team. We didn’t have the Michael Bradleys, Jozys, or Clint Dempseys coming through as natural leaders, so the responsibility fell on us to grow into those roles ourselves.

With the national team going through ups and downs — poor tournament runs, Gregg’s dismissal, the Copa América struggles, and now another reset — how does the group handle the pressure of everything building toward the World Cup? Do you approach it as “all or nothing,” or is it more about doing your best despite the stop-and-go lead-up and all the expectations from fans and stakeholders?

Yeah, that’s a tough one because everyone has their own idea of what the “right” solution or outcome should be for this team. In football, there are always ups and downs — obstacles, setbacks, things that don’t go perfectly. That’s just the reality.

Right now, with Pochettino and the group, you can see they’re trying to build a clear style. They’re identifying a core group of players they trust, while also bringing in new faces to see who fits. They’re still fine-tuning what the team will look like.

It’s been challenging for him because some players he would normally rely on haven’t always been available, others have been out of form, and new players keep coming into the picture. There’s been a lot of turnover. But at the same time, you’ve seen moments in certain results that show progress — that the team is still growing, still developing.

Of course, having more major tournaments or qualifiers would help accelerate that process, but the reality is we don’t have those opportunities. So every game becomes important. Every window matters. Fans want to see results, and it’s about balancing that with the identity the team is trying to build — a team that wants the ball, wants to play, and has the qualities to do it. The next step is turning that into consistent winning and dominance.

Once January comes, it’s go time. I wouldn’t call it “all or nothing,” but it’s definitely real — the World Cup is close, and the group has to be ready.

How do you view the perception that MLS players are less deserving of national team call-ups compared to European-based players?

I’ve always found the whole MLS vs. Europe debate pretty funny. People say MLS isn’t a good league and compare it to Europe, but then they also want the league to grow and get better. It doesn’t make sense to tear something down and then expect it to improve. If anything, you should want to lift the league up, support the players, and be part of that growth.

From a player’s standpoint, it really comes down to the coach and the profiles he wants. The guys who’ve been called in have earned it. I don’t think it should ever be about “if you’re in Europe, you belong on the national team,” or “if you’re in MLS, you don’t.” It’s about who’s in form, who fits the group, and who can help the team.

And honestly, the criticism has always been inconsistent. A bad game is a bad game, whether you’re in Europe or MLS. Sometimes an MLS guy has an off night and people say he doesn’t belong. But if a Europe-based guy struggles, it’s just called an “off day.” It doesn’t add up. Same thing when we win — if an MLS player plays well, people say the competition wasn’t good. If a European player does the same against the same kind of opponent, suddenly it proves why he’s in Europe. The narrative shifts however people want it to.

At the end of the day, fans want the team to win. And as players, we want to make our country proud. So instead of pointing fingers about who’s not there, I think it’s important to support the guys who are there. When we feel that unity, we perform better.