2026 U.S. Open Cup

The 2026 Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup is the 111th edition of the U.S. Open Cup, the knockout domestic cup competition of American soccer, organized by the United States Soccer Federation. It involved 80 teams, including 48 from all three professional tiers of the United States soccer league system, and 32 in the "Open Division". The competition begins on March 17 and culminates in the final on October 21.

Source: Wikipedia

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2026 U.S. Open Cup

The full format was announced on January 27, 2025. U.S. Soccer changed several elements of the contest, such as reducing the number of rounds by one, altering the qualifying requirements to ensure the highest-level professional team enters the tournament, as well as removing the National League qualifying track. Participation is limited to teams that played a league season in 2025.

Of the 27 American clubs in Major League Soccer, 16 will participate, with teams that did not qualify for either the 2026 CONCACAF Champions Cup or 2026 Leagues Cup. Being the only Division 1 league, all eligible MLS teams will enter in the round of 32 (third round). Depending on Supporter's Shield standings, one half of the MLS first team entrants will host their first matches, while the rest will begin with an away game. Because of the rule changes, only two MLS Next Pro teams will appear in the competition (Carolina Core FC and Chattanooga FC). The USL Championship will send 17 of its teams, which includes all teams entered in the 2025 USL Championship Playoffs plus the next team outside of playoff consideration. These teams will enter the competition in the first round. USL League One will send their 13 eligible teams. Championship, League One, and Next Pro, along with the 32 Open Division teams, will enter in the first round.

Schedule

2026 U.S. Open Cup

<table><thead><tr><th>Round</th><th>Draw date</th><th>Match day</th><th>Entrants</th><th>Teams entered to date</th></tr></thead><tbody><tr><td>First Round</td><td>January 27</td><td>March 17–19</td><td>6 local qualifiers 1 National Amateur Cup champion 1 UPSL Spring Champion 1 2025 John Motta Trophy winner 8 United Premier Soccer League teams 5 National Premier Soccer League teams 10 USL League Two teams 13 USL League One teams 2 MLS Next Pro teams 17 USL Championship teams</td><td>64 teams</td></tr><tr><td>Second Round</td><td>March 20</td><td>March 31 – April 1</td><td>32 winners from First Round</td></tr><tr><td>Round of 32</td><td>April 2</td><td>April 14–15</td><td>16 winners from Second Round 16 Major League Soccer teams</td><td>80 teams</td></tr><tr><td>Round of 16</td><td>April 28–29</td><td>16 winners from round of 32</td></tr><tr><td>Quarterfinals</td><td></td><td>May 19–20</td><td>8 winners from round of 16</td></tr><tr><td>Semifinals</td><td></td><td>September 15–16</td><td>4 winners from quarterfinals</td></tr><tr><td>Final</td><td></td><td>October 21</td><td>2 winners from semifinals</td></tr></tbody></table>

Teams

Table

<table><thead><tr><th>Enter in First Round</th><th>Enter in Round of 32</th></tr></thead><tbody><tr><td>Open Division</td><td>Division III</td><td>Division II</td><td>Division I</td></tr><tr><td>USASA/USSSA 17 teams</td><td>NPSL/USL2 15 teams</td><td>MLS Next Pro/USL1 15 teams</td><td>USL Championship 17 teams</td><td>MLS 16 teams</td></tr></tbody></table>

• Bold denotes team is still active in the tournament. • $: Winner of $50,000 bonus for advancing the furthest in the competition from their respective divisions. • $$: Winner of $250,000 for being the runner-up in the competition. • $$$: Winner of $600,000 for winning the competition.

Number of teams by state

A total of 34 states and D.C. were represented by clubs in the U.S. Open Cup this year.

Open Cup debuts

8 teams made their Open Cup debuts in the 2026 tournament.

• NPSL: Cruizers FC • UPSL: Valley 559 FC, Kalonji Pro-Profile, Badgers FC • APSL: SC Vistula Garfield • The League for Clubs: San Ramon FC • Local: BOHFS St. Louis

Early rounds

2026 U.S. Open Cup

The first round of the tournament was drawn on January 27, 2026.

On February 23, 2026, South Georgia Tormenta FC went on hiatus and withdrew from the 2026 USL League One and U.S. Open Cup.

First round

The draw for the first round, including match dates and times, was announced on January 27, 2026.

Second round

The draw for the second round, including match dates and times, was announced on March 20, 2026.

Round of 32 and 16

Teams

<table><thead><tr><th>Previous round winners</th><th>New entrants (MLS)</th></tr></thead><tbody><tr><td>Charlotte Independence (USL1) FC Naples (USL1) One Knoxville SC (USL1) Pittsburgh Riverhounds SC (USLC) Sacramento Republic FC (USLC) Union Omaha (USL1)</td><td>Atlanta United FC Austin FC Charlotte FC Chicago Fire FC Colorado Rapids Columbus Crew D.C. United Houston Dynamo FC Minnesota United FC New England Revolution New York City FC New York Red Bulls Orlando City SC San Jose Earthquakes St. Louis City SC Sporting Kansas City</td></tr></tbody></table>

Broadcasting

2026 U.S. Open Cup

As part of the second year of a two-year deal with U.S. Soccer, CBS Sports will broadcast games on Paramount+, with select games on the CBS Sports Golazo Network and CBS Sports Network. All remaining games will be broadcast on U.S. Soccer's YouTube channel.

Top goalscorers

2026 U.S. Open Cup

<table><thead><tr><th>Rank</th><th>Player</th><th>Team</th><th>Goals</th><th>By round</th></tr></thead><tbody><tr><td>1R</td><td>2R</td><td>3R</td><td>R32</td><td>R16</td><td>QF</td><td>SF</td><td>F</td></tr><tr><td>1</td><td>Samuel Owusu</td><td>Union Omaha</td><td>3</td><td>2</td><td>1</td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td></tr><tr><td>2</td><td>Forster Ajago</td><td>Sacramento Republic FC</td><td>2</td><td>2</td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td></tr><tr><td>Daniel Burko</td><td>Westchester SC</td><td>2</td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td></tr><tr><td>Kyle Edwards</td><td>Sacramento Republic FC</td><td></td><td>2</td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td></tr><tr><td>Nicolas Firmino</td><td>Lexington SC</td><td>2</td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td></tr><tr><td>Danny Griffin</td><td>Pittsburgh Riverhounds SC</td><td>1</td><td>1</td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td></tr><tr><td>Ariel Mbumba</td><td>Cruizers FC</td><td>2</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>Sergio Ors Navarro</td><td>Union Omaha</td><td>2</td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td></tr><tr><td>Tabort Etaka Preston</td><td>Detroit City FC</td><td>2</td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td></tr><tr><td>Tola Showunmi</td><td>Louisville City FC</td><td>2</td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td></tr><tr><td>Christian Sorto</td><td>San Antonio FC</td><td>2</td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td></tr><tr><td>Colton Swann</td><td>Charleston Battery</td><td>2</td><td></td><td></td></tr></tbody></table>