The Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup, commonly known as the U.S. Open Cup (USOC), is a
knockout cup competition in men's
soccer
Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...
in the United States of America. It is the oldest ongoing national soccer competition in that country.
The
2023 U.S. Open Cup competition is currently underway, with the qualifying stages taking place from September 17 - December 18, 2022.
The competition was first held during the
1913–1914 season as the National Challenge Cup, with
Brooklyn Field Club winning a trophy donated by
Thomas Dewar for the promotion of American soccer. It was renamed and dedicated to
North American Soccer League (NASL) and
Major League Soccer
Major League Soccer (MLS) is a men's professional soccer league sanctioned by the United States Soccer Federation, which represents the sport's highest level in the United States. The league comprises 29 teams—26 in the U.S. and 3 in Canada ...
(MLS) executive
Lamar Hunt by the
United States Soccer Federation in
1999
File:1999 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The funeral procession of King Hussein of Jordan in Amman; the 1999 İzmit earthquake kills over 17,000 people in Turkey; the Columbine High School massacre, one of the first major school shootin ...
.
The
2022 U.S. Open Cup marked the return of the competition after the 2020 and 2021 tournaments were canceled due to the
COVID-19 pandemic, ending 106 years of consecutive play.
In its current format, the U.S Open Cup is contested by approximately 100 clubs from the
professional leagues sanctioned by the
United States Soccer Federation –
Major League Soccer
Major League Soccer (MLS) is a men's professional soccer league sanctioned by the United States Soccer Federation, which represents the sport's highest level in the United States. The league comprises 29 teams—26 in the U.S. and 3 in Canada ...
(MLS), the United Soccer League's
Championship and
League One divisions, the
National Independent Soccer Association (NISA), and
MLS Next Pro – as well as amateur clubs in the earlier rounds of the tournament that qualify through their respective leagues. The overall champion is awarded $300,000 in
prize money and a berth in the
CONCACAF Champions League
The CONCACAF Champions League, known officially as the Scotiabank CONCACAF Champions League for sponsorship reasons, is an annual continental club football competition organized by CONCACAF. The tournament is contested by clubs from North Ameri ...
, while the runner-up receives $100,000, and the furthest-advancing team from each lower-division league receives $25,000.
MLS teams have dominated the competition since the league began play in 1996. No lower division team has won the Open Cup since the
Rochester Rhinos in 1999, and the most recent lower division team to reach the final was
Sacramento Republic FC
Sacramento Republic FC is an American professional soccer team based in Sacramento, California, that plays in the Western Conference of the USL Championship, the second level in US soccer. Co-founded by Warren Smith and Joe Wagoner in 2012, the ...
in 2022. The most recent champions of the competition,
Orlando City SC
Orlando City SC is an American professional soccer club in Orlando, Florida, that competes as a member of the Eastern Conference in Major League Soccer (MLS). Orlando City SC began play in 2015 as the 21st franchise in MLS, succeeding the USL ...
, won their first title after defeating the Republic 3–0 in the
2022 final.
Format
The competition is a
single-elimination tournament that has been contested by at least 80 teams since the
2014 edition. This pool consists of the American clubs in the
professional leagues, which are
Major League Soccer
Major League Soccer (MLS) is a men's professional soccer league sanctioned by the United States Soccer Federation, which represents the sport's highest level in the United States. The league comprises 29 teams—26 in the U.S. and 3 in Canada ...
, the league now known as the
USL Championship,
USL League One and
National Independent Soccer Association as well as amateur teams from the Premier Development League (now
USL League Two),
National Premier Soccer League, the
United States Adult Soccer Association, and
US Club Soccer.
The first three rounds, consisting of amateur and lower-league teams, are played during consecutive weekdays in May with amateur teams advancing to face USL clubs in geographical pairings in the second round. The winner of each match progresses to the next round and the loser is eliminated from the tournament. MLS clubs enter play in the fourth round, matched geographically with the winners of the third round to play on a date in June that is determined by the home side specifically selected for non-interference with league games. After the fourth round, no new teams are introduced, leading to a quarterfinal round in July, a semifinal round in August, and a final match to determine the champion in September. Every match, including the final, lasts 90 minutes plus any additional
stoppage time
Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...
. If no clear winner has been determined after 90 minutes of normal time, 30 minutes of
extra time
Overtime or extra time is an additional period of play specified under the rules of a sport to bring a game to a decision and avoid declaring the match a tie or draw where the scores are the same. In some sports, this extra period is played onl ...
is played. If the score is still level after extra time then the winner is decided by a
penalty shoot-out.
Qualification
Through the 2011 edition, eight teams from each level of the
American Soccer Pyramid
The United States soccer league system is a series of professional and amateur soccer leagues based, in whole or in part, in the United States. Sometimes called the American soccer pyramid, teams and leagues are not linked by the system of prom ...
took part in the competition proper, with each league narrowing its delegation separately in the spring before the competition officially began in the summer. In some cases, additional teams played in qualifying rounds to gain entry. One example was found with MLS clubs, as only the top six from the previous regular season received automatic bids, while the bottom U.S.-based MLS teams faced each other to qualify for the remaining two MLS slots.
Beginning in 2012, the competition was expanded from its previous 40 teams to 64, with the qualifying process radically changed. The
National Premier Soccer League received six places, plus the possibility of a seventh in a playoff against a team from the amateur
US Club Soccer setup. Nine clubs from the USASA earned places, as did 16
USL Premier Development League teams. Each of these organizations has its own qualifying process to determine its entrants. These 32 teams competed in the first round of the Cup, with the winners meeting all 16 USL Pro and NASL teams in the second round. The 16 U.S.-based MLS teams entered in the third round.
In 2013 the competition was expanded to 68 teams. All U.S.-based Division I, II and III teams participated in the tournament proper: 16 from Major League Soccer, six from the North American Soccer League and 12 from USL PRO. The remaining 34 spots in the tournament field were filled by amateur teams from the Adult Council category–16 from the Premier Development League, eight from U.S. Adult Soccer Association regional qualifying, eight from the National Premier Soccer League, one from US Club Soccer and one from the
United States Specialty Sports Association.
The process for determining the site for the Open Cup tournament semifinals and final was changed in 2013. In past years, the sites for the final three matches of the tournament had been determined through a sealed-bid process, but in 2013 the hosts of those games were determined by a coin flip. Home teams throughout the entire tournament were determined by random selection.
Since 2008, the champion of the U.S. Open Cup has earned the right to play in the
CONCACAF Champions League
The CONCACAF Champions League, known officially as the Scotiabank CONCACAF Champions League for sponsorship reasons, is an annual continental club football competition organized by CONCACAF. The tournament is contested by clubs from North Ameri ...
. The first team to represent the U.S. as Open Cup champion was 2007's winner,
New England Revolution.
Starting in 2016, lower-division professional clubs owned by higher-division professional clubs are no longer eligible to participate in the U.S. Open Cup. This removed the MLS reserve clubs in USL from the 2016 competition, after issues of clubs holding back players from their USL sides in 2015 in order to keep them eligible to play for the parent MLS club. Players are
only allowed to play for one club in any US Open Cup season. Amateur clubs remain eligible to enter even if they are owned by professional clubs. Initially, "hybrid affiliate" clubs—i.e., lower-division professional clubs that are staffed but not owned by higher-division clubs—also remained eligible, but those clubs were also banned effective with the 2016 competition. This last change was proposed by the
Houston Dynamo
Houston Dynamo FC (formerly officially, but still commonly, called the Houston Dynamo) is an American professional soccer club based in Houston. The Dynamo compete in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Western Conference. Establi ...
, which were the senior club to
Rio Grande Valley FC Toros in the first such arrangement in the U.S. game; that arrangement ended after the 2021 season, and those two teams would be drawn against each other in 2022.
History
The competition dates back to 1913–1914, when it was known as the National Challenge Cup. In 1999, U.S. Soccer honored patron
Lamar Hunt by changing the official title of the tournament to the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup. The winners of the tournament were awarded the
Dewar Cup, donated by Sir
Thomas Dewar for the promotion of soccer in the United States in 1912, until it was retired due to poor condition in 1979. It was brought back into use by the
United States Adult Soccer Association in 1997, but is now back on permanent display at the
National Soccer Hall of Fame
The National Soccer Hall of Fame is a private, non-profit institution established in 1979 and currently located in Toyota Stadium in Frisco, Texas, a suburb of Dallas. The Hall of Fame honors soccer achievements in the United States. Induction ...
at
Toyota Stadium Toyota Stadium may refer to:
*Toyota Stadium (Georgetown, Kentucky), home stadium of Georgetown College, United States
*Toyota Stadium (Japan), an open-roof association football stadium in Toyota, Japan
* Toyota Stadium (South Africa), rugby stadium ...
in
Frisco, Texas, and the recent winners of the tournament have been awarded a new, different trophy. Despite this, the name of each winning club is still added to the base of the original Dewar Cup.
The National Challenge Cup was the first truly national cup competition in the United States, as previous cups had been effectively relegated to regional status by the difficulties in coordination and travel caused by the size of the United States in the early 1900s. While U.S. Soccer had initially administered the competition, in 1985 they handed over management to the USASA. In 1995, U.S. Soccer resumed its administration of the competition.
Maccabee Los Angeles of California and
Bethlehem Steel of Pennsylvania have both won the cup a record five times, while
Greek American AA
NY Greek American Atlas Astoria, commonly known as New York Greek American, is an American soccer team from New York City that currently plays in the Eastern Premier Soccer League and in the Cosmopolitan Soccer League. The club was formed in 1 ...
of New York and
Seattle Sounders FC
Seattle Sounders Football Club is an American professional men's soccer club based in Seattle. The Sounders compete as a member of the Western Conference of Major League Soccer (MLS). The club was established on November 13, 2007, and began ...
are tied for the record for most consecutive cup victories at three. The old
NASL did not participate in the Open Cup.
Since MLS' debut in 1996, MLS clubs have won the cup in all but one of those years. The
Rochester Rhinos of the 2nd division
A-League
A-League Men (known as the Isuzu UTE A-League for sponsorship reasons) is the highest-level professional men's soccer league in Australia and New Zealand. At the top of the Australian league system, it is the country's premier men's competiti ...
were surprise winners in 1999, defeating four MLS clubs, including the
Colorado Rapids 2–0 in the championship match. The first professional team to win in the modern era were the
Richmond Kickers
Richmond Kickers is an American professional soccer club based in Richmond, Virginia. The Kickers compete as a member of USL League One (USL-1). The club was established in 1993, and began play that same year as a United States Interregional S ...
of the USISL (the predecessor to the A-League, later known as the
USL First Division, USL Pro, United Soccer League, and now as the
USL Championship) in 1995, one year before the start of MLS.
D.C. United were the first MLS team to win in 1996.
The first round of the
2020 edition was suspended in March 2020 due to the
COVID-19 pandemic. The tournament was canceled entirely in August 2020, with all qualified teams automatically qualified for the
following year; however, the 2021 Open Cup was canceled as well, due to schedule congestion as an effect of the pandemic.
The tournament resumed in
2022
File:2022 collage V1.png, Clockwise, from top left: Road junction at Yamato-Saidaiji Station several hours after the assassination of Shinzo Abe; 2022 Sri Lankan protests, Anti-government protest in Sri Lanka in front of the Presidential Secretari ...
with 71 professional clubs out of a total field of 103, both modern-era records.
Hosting
Through the 2010 U.S. Open Cup,
U.S. Soccer
The United States Soccer Federation (USSF), commonly referred to as U.S. Soccer, is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization and the official governing body of the sport of soccer in the United States. Headquartered in Chicago, the federation is a ...
used sealed bids to award home matches. From 2011, U.S. Soccer uses a simple coin toss to decide which team hosts each match for most rounds. When the draw has more than two teams involved, such as the fourth round, U.S. Soccer uses a sealed envelope system. Four envelopes are opened, the first and second are home one and two followed by away one and two. This can be modified due to teams not applying to host and previous round winners not being able to be paired against each other.
Champions
Champions by number of titles
Champions by state
MLS honors
Player records
Career goals
The following is a table of the leading career goal scorers in the U.S Open Cup during the modern professional era (1995–present).
Season scoring leaders
Broadcasting
ESPN+
ESPN (originally an initialism for Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by ESPN Inc., owned jointly by The Walt Disney Company (80%) and Hearst Communications (20%). The ...
had exclusive broadcast rights for the 2019 and 2022 Open Cups. Prior to 2019, the tournament had little broadcast exposure, with the final and select matches being broadcast on ESPN networks and all other matches streamed through the USSF's
YouTube channel.
On March 1, 2022, U.S. Soccer and
Turner Sports announced an 8-year exclusive multimedia rights deal for the United States
men's and
women's
A woman is an adult female human. Prior to adulthood, a female human is referred to as a girl (a female child or adolescent). The plural ''women'' is sometimes used in certain phrases such as "women's rights" to denote female humans regardl ...
national teams. Cindy Parlow Cone, president of U.S. Soccer, confirmed in a separate interview that the new deal would include the Open Cup.
References
External links
*
TheCup.us
{{National football Cups (CONCACAF region)
United States
Soccer cup competitions in the United States
Annual sporting events in the United States
1913 establishments in the United States
Recurring sporting events established in 1913