The U.S. Open Cup

The U.S. Open Cup is open to eligible professional and amateur clubs affiliated with the US Soccer Federation. The exact field and qualifying routes can change from year to year, but the competition brings together clubs from Major League Soccer (MLS), lower professional divisions such as the USL Championship, USL League One and MLS Next Pro, and amateur Open Division clubs. The competition uses a single-elimination knockout format throughout, with single-match ties from the first round to the final. The competition is run by the US Soccer Federation.

The competition was first held in the 1913-14 season as the National Challenge Cup, with Brooklyn Field Club winning the inaugural final 2-1 against Brooklyn Celtic at Coates Field in Pawtucket, Rhode Island. The trophy — the Dewar Challenge Trophy — was donated by Scottish whisky producer Sir Thomas Dewar in 1912 to promote soccer in America. The competition was renamed the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup in 1999, in honour of the American sports executive who was a founding owner of Major League Soccer and an instrumental figure in US soccer.

Every round of the U.S. Open Cup is a single-match knockout tie — there are no two-legged rounds or replays. Ties that are level after 90 minutes go to 30 minutes of extra time, then a penalty shoot-out if needed. Home teams are determined by the tournament's draw procedures, hosting priorities, geography, seeding rules and venue availability, depending on the round and the regulations for that year's competition.

The competition's early rounds involve Open Division amateur clubs and lower-division professional clubs. Amateur clubs can qualify through Open Division qualifying rounds or through recognised amateur competitions and league performance routes. Higher-level professional clubs enter later, with MLS clubs entering in the round of 32 in recent formats. In the 2026 tournament, the field is 80 clubs: 48 professional sides and 32 Open Division/amateur clubs, with 16 MLS clubs entering in the round of 32. The format used to feature two-legged finals between 1928 and 1968 but is now single-match throughout.

The Open Division Qualifying Rounds usually begin in the previous autumn or winter, with amateur clubs working their way through several rounds to reach the tournament proper. The tournament proper usually begins in March or April, with successive rounds across the spring and summer. In the 2026 edition, the first round is scheduled for March, MLS clubs enter in April, the semi-finals are scheduled for September, and the final is scheduled for October.

The competition runs in parallel with the MLS regular season but does not have a fixed final venue. The final venue is determined through the competition's hosting procedures rather than being a permanent neutral venue. The 2024 final was held at BMO Stadium in Los Angeles, with LAFC beating Sporting Kansas City 3-1. The 2025 final was held at Q2 Stadium in Austin, with Nashville SC beating Austin FC 2-1. The competition was suspended in 2020 and 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the only pause in its history since 1914 — including continuous operation through both World Wars and the Great Depression.

The U.S. Open Cup winner qualifies automatically for the next Concacaf Champions Cup — the top continental competition in North America, Central America, and the Caribbean. The qualification route applies regardless of the winner's league tier, meaning a lower-tier club winning the cup would earn a place against the major clubs of MLS and Liga MX in continental competition. The cup therefore provides one of the main US routes into continental football.

The competition also offers prize money. The 2025 edition featured a record total prize purse of $1 million, with $600,000 to the champion and $250,000 to the runner-up. Additional $50,000 awards went to the highest-finishing teams from Division II, Division III and the Open Division. The prize structure rewards both overall performance and the cup's open-pyramid character.

The competition was launched in 1913-14 by the United States Football Association as the National Challenge Cup, modelled on the English FA Cup. The trophy — donated by Scottish whisky executive Sir Thomas Dewar — became one of the oldest nationally contested trophies in American team sports. The original Dewar Cup was retired in 1979 due to poor condition but is now on permanent display at the National Soccer Hall of Fame in Frisco, Texas. The cup was renamed the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup in 1999.

The competition has gone through several major eras. The pre-1930s era was dominated by industrial-sponsored clubs like Bethlehem Steel, Fall River, and the steel and shipyard teams of the East Coast. The mid-20th century brought immigrant-community clubs to the forefront, with German-American, Greek-American, Ukrainian-American, and Hebrew-American clubs all winning multiple cups. The MLS era from 1996 onwards has seen MLS clubs dominate the competition, with only the Rochester Rhinos in 1999 winning the cup from outside MLS in the modern era.