How Vermont Green FC and Hickory FC Built Soccer Communities Leading into 2026 U.S. Open Cup
After winning their respective league titles, they’ve locked in spots in next year’s Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup
The 2025 U.S. Open Cup champion is yet to be decided as the country’s oldest soccer tournament heads into the final rounds, but the 2026 field is already starting to take shape.
The USL League 2 champion Vermont Green FC and the National Premier Soccer League winner Hickory FC qualified for the 2026 tournament field by finishing on top of their respective leagues. It’ll be Vermont’s second appearance and Hickory’s first.
Burlington, Vermont and Hickory, North Carolina may not come to mind at first when thinking about soccer hubs in the United States, but these small cities have built vibrant soccer communities that rival bigger markets in passion and turnout for these amateur leagues.
“The city was craving for something, and I think we came in at the right time,” Hickory head coach Carlos Rubio said on the U.S. Soccer Podcast. “It goes without saying, winning helps. When you're winning and people get behind you, and from the get-go, they start feeling the experience of people who might not have watched a soccer game in their life and want to be part of something special.”
Hickory FC won its first NPSL title against El Farolito — U.S. Open Cup giant-killers in their own right — on the road in San Francisco in its second-ever season. When Rubio and the players returned home, they were greeted with an “incredible environment” where fans showed up in the morning with noise flares to celebrate. Neither Hickory nor Burlington has professional sports, leaving a space for soccer to fill a cultural and communal void.
Vermont Green played its inaugural season in 2022, and saw just about 1,000 fans, according to Green FC sporting director Adam Pfeifer.
“At the time, it felt like it was crazy. Honestly, it just grew and grew and grew,” Pfeifer said. “We kind of thought that it would start high and then dip down. And that's not what happened.”
Fast forward three years, and the USL2 Final match sold out in seconds. Virtue Field’s capacity of 2,500 was full, and the numbers showed it could have been more. Pfeifer said there was an appetite for almost 20,000 fans. The total population of Burlington is just over 44,000.
Like Rubio said, winning helps create local fandom. Vermont, along with a league championship, found some success in the Open Cup. In the 2024 tournament, Green FC pulled off a cupset against Lexington SC, a USL League One professional team. Vermont will get another chance in next year’s tournament as one of the few elusive squads to complete an upset.
“We're excited to do it again,” Pfiefer said. “It does mean a little bit more for the amateur teams to go against a professional team. It's not like another amateur team that we have to play to get to the professional team — we want to play against pros, that's what we want to be doing.”
Before these two teams compete in the tournament, the 2025 champion will be crowned. MLS squads Nashville SC, Minnesota United FC and Austin FC have already punched their tickets to the semifinal matches. Before the semis in September, the Philadelphia Union and NY Red Bulls will play a quarterfinal on a rescheduled match on Aug. 13. The winner will face Nashville in the next round on the march to capture the 110tth Open Cup trophy.