"Of course I have that fear." Robert Lewandowski, 38 years old, six Champions Leagues and Bundesliga titles deep, still can't tell you what happens when football is gone. That honesty — unguarded, unspun — is the most interesting thing he said in a wide-ranging interview this week in Chicago.
But before the existential stuff, there's a season to finish. Lewandowski has six goals and four assists in 1,058 minutes for the Chicago Fire this year. He hasn't scored in six straight league matches. Chicago have still managed to climb four spots in the Eastern Conference standings from where they finished in 2025, clinching a playoff berth for the second consecutive season last weekend. The postseason is where Lewandowski needs to deliver — and where his legacy in the Windy City will actually be written.
His Ballon d'Or take: Yamal yes, but watch Olise
On the 2026 Ballon d'Or, Lewandowski is backing his former Barcelona teammate Lamine Yamal — but his real enthusiasm is reserved for Bayern Munich's Michael Olise. "I try to find sometimes the different players and see something that not everyone sees yet," he said. "For me, if Olise scored one or two goals in the World Cup, he would be the favorite also to win the Ballon d'Or."
He was generous about Harry Kane too. Kane's 61 goals in 51 appearances for Bayern in 2025-26 edges past Lewandowski's own benchmark of 55 in 47 during his 2020-21 peak — a detail Lewandowski acknowledged without flinching. "What he's doing is amazing," he said of Kane. On the Bayern trio of Kane, Olise and Luis Díaz: "It's like a perfect match."
The one caveat he offered about Bayern: the Bundesliga itself has weakened. He noticed it in his final years there. A 6-1 win over Leipzig looks dominant on paper but doesn't tell you much about European readiness. Bayern's failure to win the Champions League last season, he implied, was the only thing stopping that squad from being spoken about the same way his 2020 treble side is.
The unglamorous reality of MLS
Lewandowski arrived in Chicago this year as the biggest name to land at the club since Xherdan Shaqiri, who underwhelmed across three seasons from 2022-24. The weight of that comparison hasn't gone unnoticed, and the adjustment has been slower than anyone probably wanted.
He spent his first weeks in a hotel. Playing on artificial turf — something he'd done maybe twice in his career before MLS — is now routine. Sharing Soldier Field with the NFL's Chicago Bears means the pitch surface carries literal American football markings and wear patterns after game days. "If you play the game one day after the NFL game, the pitch is a little bit tough," he said. A new stadium in the South Loop is coming in 2028. Until then, this is what it is.
There's also the leadership balance to navigate. Push teammates too hard and you lose the room. Say nothing and you're not the player Chicago signed. "I don't know exactly where is the line that I should step back or step up," he admitted. "I have to find this balance."
The departure of Hugo Cuypers — sold to Monterrey for $7.5 million midseason — was meant to clear the path for Lewandowski to lead the attack. The connection hasn't fully formed yet. He knows it. He also believes four weeks before the playoffs is enough time to fix it. Whether Chicago's odds reflect that confidence is another question.
What comes after
Lewandowski has been preparing for retirement for years, by his own account. Business interests, family, structure outside football. And yet: "I can't tell you, 'No, I'm not going to miss this.' I cannot tell you that because I don't know."
He thinks the next generation of elite players — the Yamals and Olises who peak earlier and higher than ever — will struggle to sustain dominance the way his generation did. Getting everything fast, he argues, blunts the hunger that keeps a player going at 38. Maybe. Or maybe the sport just keeps accelerating and the shelf life question answers itself differently for every player.
For now, Lewandowski is exploring Chicago's museums, posting videos from Lake Michigan, and figuring out playoff football in MLS. "I didn't expect Chicago was so beautiful," he said. The city has surprised him. Whether the playoffs do the same is what this season comes down to.
