I had the chance to travel to Chicago to see Germany face the USMNT in the final match for both teams before next week’s World Cup matches begin. For a few days leading up to the match, there were people wearing Germany jerseys and various Bundesliga clubs. I had a few people mention my Bayern Munich jersey I wore the day before the match, including one German lady who came up to me at dinner and told me how excited she was excited to see Germany play in Chicago.

On the morning of the matchday is really when the Germany jerseys were on display. Walking through the city and heading to the stadium, it felt like there were more people repping Germany than the USA. Outside the stadium, was a large biergarten set up by the German Consulate. They had food, beer (of course), and a three-man polka band playing a mix of German and English songs.

Inside the stadium was a great atmosphere. US Soccer used this as their “send-off game” and introduced their full roster before the match. Although the Germany national anthem was just a played recording, many fans sang it proudly, enougth that you could hear the words clearly. The US national anthem was sang beautifully by a local legend, Jim Cornelison, and included fireworks and red, white, and blue smoke.

While the American Outlaws were still leading the stadium in a U-S-A Viking clap chant, Germany came straight down and won a freekick in the attacking half. Kimmich took the ensuing freekick and Havertz scored a nice header just as the rain started to pick up and really pour down. Germany’s fans really made their presence known at that moment.

It was great to see and hear fans of both countries get loud when their teams had chances. The USMNT had their loudest moment when they scored in the 37th minute. Besides the playing of the national anthem and the random calls that would not go the USMNT’s way, the goal celebrations were when you really noticed that this was a pro-US crowd. To be fair, a lot of fans rooting for Germany were probably also rooting for the USMNT to some degree.

If anyone was there, share your matchday expeirence in the comments below!

If you are looking for more Bayern Munich and German national team coverage, check out the latest episodes of Bavarian Podcast Works, which you can get on Acast, Spotify, Apple, or any leading podcast distributor…