CHICAGO (April 7, 2023) – The schedule for the Third Round of the 2023 Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup is now determined after the Official Draw was conducted on April 6. The Third Round will consist of 24 games played over April 25 and 26.
The Third Round is the entry point for 18 lower-seeded Division I (MLS) clubs to the competition. Teams in the Third Round are pooled geographically with all the MLS clubs facing a winner from the Second Round, which has completed 28 of 29 scheduled matches. Forward Madison FC (USLL1) and Chicago House AC (MWPL) will conclude the Second Round in Madison, Wis., next Tuesday, April 11, with a ticket for the final berth in the Third Round on offer.
The Third Round features numerous enticing affairs, including eight games that will be streamed LIVE on the Bleacher Report App and B/R Football’s YouTube Channel.
Detroit City FC (USL Championship) welcome 2019 Open Cup runners-up Minnesota United to Keyworth Stadium in Hamtramck, site of a famous win over the Columbus Crew in last year’s tournament (LIVE on the B/R platforms). St. Louis City SC will make its Open Cup debut as an MLS team at home against Union Omaha – the wildly impressive ULS League One (Div. III) club from Nebraska (LIVE on the B/R platforms).
The Owls of Omaha won’t be the only USL League One side to take on Major League Soccer opposition. South Georgia Tormenta travels to North Carolina to take on Charlotte FC, while the Northern Colorado Hailstorm – who knocked MLS side Real Salt Lake out of last year’s Open Cup – goes up against home-state MLS club the Colorado Rapids at Dick’s Sporting Goods Park.
The Maryland Bobcats are one of three remaining clubs from the third-tier National Independent Soccer Association (NISA). They’ll travel to Highmark Stadium to take on the Pittsburgh Riverhounds (USLC) – who received a bye through the Second Round after the dissolution of MLS Next Pro side Rochester NY FC – in another of the games that will be broadcast on the B/R platforms.
The New England Revolution, Open Cup winners in 2007, host Hartford Athletic – one of 20 USL Championship sides who muscled through from the Second Round.
Monterey Bay F.C. (USLC) will host the San Jose Earthquakes (MLS) (LIVE on the B/R platforms) in a Bay Area encounter. Also on the B/R platforms are: Now-MLS Side FC Cincinnati hosting their former USL Championship rival Louisville City (USLC) and Memphis 901 (USLC) away to 2019 Open Cup champs Atlanta United (MLS).
Nashville SC (MLS) vs. San Antonio FC (USLC) and Seattle Sounders (MLS) vs. San Diego Loyal (USL) will also be available live on the B/R App and B/R Football YouTube.
At present, there’s only one Open Division side that has qualified for the Third Round, though that could change if amateurs Chicago House AC are able to knock off Forward Madison on Tuesday, April 11. Tulsa Athletic of the National Premier Soccer League (NPSL) earned the right to play four-time champions Sporting Kansas City at Children’s Mercy Park – site of the 2017 Open Cup Final – after beating crosstown pros FC Tulsa (USLC) in the biggest Cupset of the Second Round.
Sacramento Republic FC, last year’s Open Cup runners-up, will host fellow USL Championship side Oakland Roots in one of only two all-USL Championship contests in the Third Round at Heart Health Park, where the Indomitable Club beat two MLS sides (Sporting KC and the San Jose Earthquakes) last year.
Now in its 108th edition, the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup – U.S. Soccer's National Championship – has crowned a champion since 1914 in every year except 2020 and 2021. The history-filled tournament is conducted on a single-game-knockout basis and open to all professional and amateur teams affiliated with U.S. Soccer. In 1999, the oldest ongoing national soccer competition in the United States was renamed to honor American soccer pioneer Lamar Hunt.
The 2023 U.S. Open Cup winner will earn $300,000 in prize money, a berth in the 2024 Concacaf Champions League and have its name engraved on the Dewar Challenge Trophy – one of the oldest nationally-contested trophies in American team sports – now on permanent display at the National Soccer Hall of Fame in Frisco, Texas. The runner-up will earn $100,000, while the team that advances the furthest from each lower division will take home a $25,000 cash prize.
Orlando City SC are defending Open Cup champions, having earned the club's first tournament title thanks to a 3-0 victory against second-division (USL Championship) side Sacramento Republic FC on September 7, 2022 in a Final played before a capacity crowd at Orlando’s Exploria Stadium.
usopencup.com is the official website of the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup. Fans can also follow the competition on Twitter and Instagram @OpenCup and Facebook @OfficialOpenCup.