2025 Open Cup: Who’s In & How It Works
Get the rundown on the 110th U.S. Open Cup – who’s in, how it works and when it’s happening.
Win and move on. This is the simple principle that makes the imbues the annual Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup with its magic and links every level of men’s soccer in this country, from the sunday-league part-timers to the cream of Major League Soccer’s professional crop.
The 2025 U.S. Open Cup is the 110th edition. Founded in 1914, it’s the most historic prize in U.S. soccer by far. That said, formats and fields change from year to year for our beloved single-elimination extravaganza, so let’s take a closer round-by-round look at how this year’s tournament works.
WHEN is IT?
2025 Open Cup Schedule
- First Round: March 18-20
- Second Round: April 1-2
- Third Round: April 15-16
- Round of 32: May 6-7
- Round of 16: May 20-21
- Quarterfinals: July 8-9
- Semifinal: Sept. 16-17
- Final: Oct. 1
WHO’s in IT?
2025 Open Cup Teams and Tiers:
Professional Teams
Division I
16 teams
Major League Soccer
(All 16 teams enter in the Round of 32)
Teams marked with ^ seeded as hosts in Round of 32.
- Austin FC ^
- Charlotte FC
- Chicago Fire FC ^
- D.C. United ^
- FC Dallas ^
- Houston Dynamo FC
- Minnesota United
- Nashville SC ^
- New England Revolution
- New York City FC
- New York Red Bulls
- Orlando City
- Philadelphia Union ^
- Portland Timbers
- San Jose Earthquakes ^
- St. Louis CITY SC ^
Division II
24 teams
USL Championship
(8 * teams enter in the First Round and 16 ** enter in the Third Round)
- Birmingham Legion FC*
- Charleston Battery**
- Colorado Springs Switchbacks FC (2024 USLC Champion)**
- Detroit City FC**
- El Paso Locomotive*
- FC Tulsa*
- Hartford Athletic*
- Indy Eleven**
- Las Vegas Lights FC**
- Lexington SC*
- Loudoun United FC*
- Louisville City FC**
- Miami FC*
- Monterey Bay FC*
- New Mexico United**
- North Carolina FC**
- Oakland Roots SC**
- Orange County Soccer Club**
- Phoenix Rising FC**
- Pittsburgh Riverhounds SC**
- Rhode Island FC**
- Sacramento Republic FC**
- San Antonio FC**
- Tampa Bay Rowdies**
Division III
24 teams
USL League One (14) and MLS NEXT Pro (10)
(All teams enter in the First Round)
USL League One
14 teams
(Enter in the First Round)
- AV Alta FC
- Charlotte Independence
- Chattanooga Red Wolves SC
- FC Naples
- Forward Madison FC
- Greenville Triumph SC
- One Knoxville SC
- Portland Hearts of Pine
- Richmond Kickers
- South Georgia Tormenta FC
- Spokane Velocity FC
- Texoma FC
- Union Omaha
- Westchester SC
MLS NEXT Pro
10 teams
(Enter in the First Round)
- Carolina Core FC
- Chattanooga FC
- Columbus Crew 2
- FC Cincinnati 2
- LAFC2
- Inter Miami CF II
- Real Monarchs
- Sporting KC II
- Tacoma Defiance
- Ventura County FC
Amateur Teams
(All 32 teams enter in the First Round)
- NY Pancyprian Freedoms (EPSL / 2024 USASA National Am. Cup Winner)
- Soda City FC (South Carolina / UPSL Spring Champion)
Open Division Qualifying Round Winners
14 teams – winners from the four Open Cup Qualifying Rounds / Fall 2024
- CD Faialense (Bay State Soccer League / Mass. / USASA)
- FORO SC (Texas / UPSL)
- Harbor City FC (Florida / UPSL)
- Harpos FC (Colorado Premier League / Colo / USSSA)
- International San Francisco (San Francisco Soccer Football League / Calif. / USASA)
- Laguna United FC California / UPSL)
- Miami United FC (Florida / UPSL)
- Tulsa Athletic (Oklahoma / UPSL)
- West Chester United SC | (USL of Penn. / Pa. / USASA)
- Virginia Dream (Virginia Super Soccer League / Va. / USASA)
- Southern Indiana FC (Indiana / UPSL)
- NY Renegades (New York / UPSL)
- New Jersey Alliance (New Jersey / UPSL)
- Washington Athletic Club (Seattle Recreational Adult Team Soccer / Wash. / USASA)
National Premier Soccer League (NPSL)
7 teams – based on 2024 league play
- Appalachian FC (North Carolina)
- Duluth FC (Minnesota)
- El Farolito (California)
- FC Arizona (Arizona)
- FC Motown (New Jersey)
- Naples United FC (Florida)
- New York Shockers (New York)
USL League Two
9 teams – based on 2024 league play
- Asheville City SC
- Ballard FC
- Corpus Christi FC
- Des Moines Menace
- Flatirons FC
- Little Rock Rangers
- Long Island Rough Riders
- Sarasota Paradise
- Ventura County Fusion
HOW’s it WORK?
As in every year of the Open Cup, all games are single-elimination. If a game’s tied at the end of 90 minutes, they’ll be two 15-minute periods of extra-time followed by a penalty shootout if needed.
The 2025 Open Cup First Round is a smorgasbord of potential Cinderella-making games, with the 32 amateur teams of the Open Division (2025 Qualifying Round survivors from USASA and UPSL and teams from NPSL and USL League Two) taking on pro clubs of Division II and III. The winners of the First Round will play each other in a Second Round consisting of 16 games.
The 16 Second Round winners will then be matched up against the 16 highest-ranked professional teams from the USL Championship in the Third Round. USL Championship Teams are seeded by conference, with the top eight clubs in each conference entering in the Third Round.
Third Round-winners will square off against the teams of Major League Soccer (MLS). There will be 16 MLS teams competing in the 2025 Open Cup – up from eight in 2024 – and they will all enter the competition in the Round of 32.
WHO’s the CHAMP?
Los Angeles Football Club (LAFC) of MLS is our defending U.S. Open Cup Champion.
World Cup winner Olivier Giround and the 2024 Open Cup Champions LAFC celebrate
The 109th edition of the tournament concluded on September 25, 2024 with LAFC beating four-time Champions Sporting Kansas City 3-1 at BMO Stadium in Los Angeles to become Open Cup Champions for the first time.
The official website of the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup is ussoccer.com/us-open-cup. Fans can also follow the competition on X/Twitter and Instagram @OpenCup and Facebook @OfficialOpenCup.