VANCOUVER — It’s been 16 months since Ryan Gauld was in the Vancouver Whitecaps’ starting lineup for a Major League Soccer game.

That could change when the team returns from the FIFA World Cup break.

The Scottish midfielder is expected to be available on Thursday when the ‘Caps visit the Chicago Fire.

“It’s been a long time coming,” Gauld said. “A frustrating year and a half in the past, hopefully. It’s exciting just to be back and training every day, and looking forward to games.”

Vancouver’s captain has been working his way back to health since March 3, 2025, when his left leg hyperextended in a regular-season game against CF Montréal. It took more than six months for the knee capsule sprain and bone bruise to heal.

Gauld returned to play on Oct. 1, coming off the bench and scoring as the Whitecaps beat Canadian Premier League side Vancouver FC in the Canadian Championship final.

The club managed his minutes through the rest of the season, and he finished the campaign with three goals and three assists over 15 games across all competitions as the Whitecaps earned their first spot in the MLS Cup final.

As players reported to training camps in January, the ‘Caps announced Gauld had undergone arthroscopic knee surgery in Innsbruck, Austria, and would be out for the start of the season.

After months of rehabilitation and training, he finally got back into a game last Wednesday when Vancouver downed CPL side Cavalry FC 4-1 in Canadian Championship play.

“It was good just to get back in the swing of things,” Gauld said. “Just to get that feeling of playing in meaningful games again is good … And hopefully we can just keep building on.”

The Whitecaps could get some other long-injured players back into the fold this week.

Left back Sam Adekugbe has been out since rupturing his Achilles tendon while playing for Canada in June 2025, and centre back Ranko Veselinovic has been working his way back to full health since tearing a ligament in his knee last July.

Despite the absences, the ‘Caps (10-2-2) have hovered near the top of the league standings all season and head to Chicago sitting first in the Western Conference.

The group knows there are several other teams vying for their spot, Gauld said.

“Even everyone that’s a little bit further down the table would back themselves now after the break to go on a little run and put some wins together,” he said. “So it’ll be tough competition as always. There’s never an easy game over here, every game is tough. We’ve kind of got to focus on what we’re doing and make sure we carry on what we’re doing well the last six months.”

The Whitecaps haven’t played an MLS game since May 23 when they took a 4-2 road victory over San Diego.

The team is eager to pick up where they left off, said attacking midfielder Thomas Muller.

“I think the group is ready to go and really, really excited to start the season again. Because it felt a little bit like, ‘OK, after 14 games and we’re kind of on top of the league,’ but we want to be first,” he said.

“We want to start well into the second part, kind of, our regular season. We have big goals we want to achieve, and that’s the start for it.”

The Fire (8-4-2) appear poised to offer a mighty challenge come Thursday.

Chicago added a big piece during the break, acquiring free agent Robert Lewandowski. The 37-year-old Polish striker is coming off of four seasons with FC Barcelona, and previously played for Borussia Dortmund and Bayern Munich in the German Bundesliga.

Muller knows Lewandowski well from their time together at Bayern.

“He was always competitive,” Muller said of his former teammate. “He wants to score goals. He’s always fit. He’s always physical. That’s nice to see. But, on the other side, outside of the pitch, you can have fun with him. But that was back in the days. Now we are opponents, my friend.”

Lewandowski is the latest international star to sign with an MLS club, joining Muller, Inter Miami’s Lionel Messi and Son Heung-Min of Los Angeles FC.

Asked what he told his former teammate when he heard about his move to North America, Muller remained tight lipped.

“Some secrets in this world, they have to be secrets. I keep it there,” he said with a grin.

“But I’m really looking forward to see him, to meet him again. And we had very good times together, and I’m sure he will enjoy it. I’m happy that he is not in our conference, so I wish him the best of luck. He should score goals, goals, goals. But not (on Thursday). After (Thursday).”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published July 15, 2026.