A Spirited Return to Glory for One of America’s Original Soccer Capitals
St. Louis CITY SC wrote the next chapter of St. Louis’ soccer story, winning its first trophy and bringing an 11th U.S. Open Cup title back to the city
COLUMBUS, Ohio — Over the past four decades, St. Louis, Missouri, has enjoyed its fair share of trophies. Under the shadow of the Gateway Arch, perched on the bluffs overlooking the Mississippi River, the resilient city has celebrated World Series pennants, Super Bowl triumphs and Stanley Cup glory all since the turn of the century.
Despite its status as one of America’s original soccer capitals, a major soccer trophy had eluded St. Louis for nearly half a century. That prolonged drought emphatically came to a close on a chilly autumn night in central Ohio, with thousands of St. Louisans making the 400-mile trek east to witness history.
Following a long line of soccer clubs representing the Gateway to the West, St. Louis CITY SC burst onto the scene during its record-breaking inaugural Major League Soccer (MLS) campaign in 2023. Falling agonizingly short in the 2023 MLS Cup Playoffs, CITY SC has largely been unable to recapture its magic from that special debut campaign. The nascent side finished third from bottom in the Western Conference in 2024 and 2025 and was unable to break through in any knockout competitions, finishing no better than the Round of 16 in the Open Cup (2025), Concacaf Champions Cup (2024) and Leagues Cup (2024).
Nearly four years since its first kick of a ball, CITY SC’s breakthrough has arrived. Fittingly, it comes in a tournament that has been rightfully revered in St. Louis for more than a century. On the heels of an MLS-record run of 21 consecutive unbeaten matches across all competitions, CITY SC won its first trophy in club history after navigating 120 minutes of constant pressure from the Columbus Crew, overcoming the emotional loss of their captain and leader Roman Bürki, and converting each of its five penalty kicks in the decisive shootout.
COLUMBUS, OHIO - OCTOBER 21: Conrad Wallem #6 of ST Louis City SC celebrates with the trophy after winning the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup 2026 final at ScottsMiracle-Gro Field on October 21, 2026 in Columbus, Ohio. (Photo by Andy Lyons/Getty Images)
“It’s an amazing feeling,” St. Louis head coach Yoann Damet said. “I'm very happy for the city, very happy for our club, and mostly very happy for our players. I can't tell you how ecstatic I am for those guys. Those guys are the same today as they were in January. After 10 games, everybody was looking at us, asking, ‘What's going on? What's going to happen?’ But every day, those guys put in the work. They believed in themselves. They kept working. Nobody paid attention, but they kept working.
“Today, for me, is the byproduct of the work they've done all season. It wasn't a pretty game. It was a proper cup game. We had to grind it out. [Columbus] had more opportunities than us. [Columbus] were more efficient in the final third than us. But at the same time, our mindset tonight, our effort and the work rate of the guys—that's the spirit of St. Louis and the spirit we want to have in our team. I'm very proud of the guys and very happy they get that reward.”
COLUMBUS, OHIO - OCTOBER 21: Players and match officials line up prior to the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup 2026 final at ScottsMiracle-Gro Field on October 21, 2026 in Columbus, Ohio. (Photo by Omar Vega/USSF/Getty Images)
Closing out the 111th edition of the celebrated tournament, the crowning contest of the United States’ national club championship was truly a spectacle. Starkly juxtaposing early Open Cup Finals of years past played on modest dirt pitches on factory grounds, the 2026 Final was played in one of the newer soccer-specific stadiums in the country—the angular and imposing ScottsMiracle-Gro Field in downtown Columbus—and commenced with lights, lasers and pyrotechnics.
The hosts urged their supporters to “Paint It Black” by wearing dark colors and waving black rally towels handed out to fans. Most of the sold-out crowd understood the assignment, but the impressive collection of traveling supporters painted nearly a quarter of the stadium in CITY Red. With a major trophy on the line, the match commenced with little for the St. Louis faithful to be happy about.
Seeking their fifth trophy since 2020 and their second Open Cup title, the Crew controlled much of the match and dictated its tempo. Columbus out-shot St. Louis 11-1 in the first half, as seven different Crew players managed to get a shot off. CITY SC couldn’t even muster a single shot—on target or not—until the 41st minute. Still, the defining aspect of the match was the inability of either side to capitalize on their chances. Of Columbus’ 11 first-half shots, only two forced Bürki to make a save, as the first half concluded without a goal.
“We wanted to set up a little bit more overloading [in the] wide areas,” Columbus interim head coach Laurent Courtois explained. “[But] we were a little too packed, a little bit too deep to finish the play. If I could, I would have wished for time to try to get more players to move in a little bit from wide areas before they tried to enter the box.”
COLUMBUS, OHIO - OCTOBER 21: Santiago Rodriguez #8 of Columbus Crew and Christopher Durkin #8 of ST Louis City SC argue during the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup 2026 final at ScottsMiracle-Gro Field on October 21, 2026 in Columbus, Ohio. (Photo by Omar Vega/USSF/Getty Images)
The second half started just as the first had ended, as Columbus challenged St. Louis’ backline yet failed to convert their chances into goals. The next 20 minutes progressed with little variation. In the 69th minute, though, the rhythm of the match changed entirely.
CITY SC captain Roman Bürki, making his club-leading 132nd appearance across all competitions, took an inadvertent knee to the head after sliding to deny a point-blank Anass Zaroury shot. The 35-year-old former Switzerland international remained down on the pitch for nearly 10 minutes as he received treatment from the medical team. The fan-favorite goalkeeper was stretchered off, and the silence that had fallen over the stadium gave way to a thunderous, repetitive chants of “BÜRKI.”
Enter Ben Lundt. Four years younger than Bürki but four inches taller, the towering German goalkeeper entered the match in the 78th minute. Coming into the contest, the 6-foot-6-inch shot-stopper had only played four total matches this year: two in MLS, one in the Open Cup and one MLS NEXT Pro match for the second team.
Despite his limited playing time, Lundt has always had a knack for delivering results in knockout competition. A former USL Championship Goalkeeper of the Year with Louisville City FC, Lundt joined St. Louis ahead of its inaugural season, becoming the club's second goalkeeper signing after Bürki. Lundt tended the net in CITY SC’s inaugural Open Cup match back in 2023, helping St. Louis to a 5-1 victory against the ever-dangerous Union Omaha in the Third Round.
Earlier this year, Lundt similarly sprang into action in the Open Cup Quarterfinals on the road against Houston Dynamo FC after Bürki was forced to exit in the 26th minute due to an injury. In the ensuing penalty kick shootout, Lundt made two key saves against Guilherme and Héctor Herrera to send the two-time Open Cup champions home.
In Columbus, Lundt played 42 minutes across regulation and extra time. He faced no shots and recorded just 19 touches before the match went to penalties. It was the first Open Cup Final since 1997 to remain scoreless through 120 minutes of regulation and extra time.
“I like penalties. I've always been good at them throughout my career, so I believe in what I can do,” Lundt, who entered the match with a professional shootout record of 3-1, said. “I do a lot of homework before the game even starts... I'm ready, and that's credit to the staff as well. We're looking for little changes in the run-up, the hips and this and that.”
COLUMBUS, OHIO - OCTOBER 21: Ben Lundt #39 of ST Louis City SC looks on during the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup 2026 final at ScottsMiracle-Gro Field on October 21, 2026 in Columbus, Ohio. (Photo by Omar Vega/USSF/Getty Images)
In the shootout, Lundt made one critical stop, diving quickly to his left to get a palm to Santiago Rodríguez’s opening penalty for the Crew. Though the next three Columbus players were able to convert from the spot, perfection from a quintet of CITY SC stars—Timo Baumgartl, Lukas MacNaughton, Chris Durkin, Damion Downs and Daniel Edelman—sealed the deal for St. Louis.
Beneath the Crew’s intimidating Nordecke supporters’ section, Lundt—the goalkeeper whose 10-save shutout for Louisville against Saint Louis FC in the 2020 USL Championship Playoffs spelled the end of the last professional club to call St. Louis home—stood tall in the face of emotional adversity to help the city’s newest professional soccer team win its first-ever trophy.
“It's the worst possible scenario to come into a game like this when you see your friend, the captain of our team, coming out on the stretcher. Worst possible scenario,” Lundt admitted. “I'm always staying ready and trying to contribute to the team, probably keeping it a little bit simple and easy. We all knew that, at one point in the game, the penalty shootout was our best chance, and we did it.”
Baumbartl, who donned the captain’s armband after Bürki’s exit and converted the first of St. Louis’ five successful penalties, has been a machine this season for CITY SC. He’s played every single minute across all competitions for St. Louis this season—up to 3,210 after Wednesday evening—and reflected on how his side overcame a slow first half and an emotional second half to deliver St. Louis its first Open Cup trophy since 1988.
“We just wanted to do it for Roman, that’s what we thought,” he shared. “It's always a bad feeling when the captain goes down, such a leader, but we have this tall guy coming in and stepping up and doing what he does best. We have trust in every player. Everyone who steps on the field has our trust. With that second goalkeeper, I don't have to worry about anything in my life.”
“It’s something special for every player, winning trophies and playing finals. That's what we want to do. That's what we want to do with CITY. It's the first step for us. That's what we always said. We want to play for titles. We want to achieve something big, and that's the first step, and all the guys are happy. It’s something really special, especially for the city, where the U.S. Open Cup is so important for [the city]. I mean, how many [supporters] were here today? Incredible support. So, it's just amazing for the city, for us, for the fans. When you get the first title, you make history. That's what we did.”
Given St. Louis’ rich soccer history—from the early U.S. Men’s National Teams dominated by St. Louisans to the city’s six local clubs that won 10 Open Cup titles between 1920 and 1988—CITY SC has always been tasked with upholding and extending a formidable legacy. On Wednesday evening, St. Louis CITY SC clearly and confidently added its name to that legacy as they became the 11th team from St. Louis to be crowned champions of this country.
COLUMBUS, OHIO - OCTOBER 21: Fans of ST Louis City SC celebrates after winning the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup 2026 final at ScottsMiracle-Gro Field on October 21, 2026 in Columbus, Ohio. (Photo by Andy Lyons/Getty Images)
“It's amazing. That's the uniqueness of soccer in America,” Damet said. “You've got new clubs and new expansion teams that start from a blank page, and you've got the opportunity to write their history. That was one of the things we spoke about at the start of the year. We wanted to write history for the club.
“A couple of weeks ago, we wrote history in the league with the [unbeaten] streak, and I'm super happy that these guys are going to be remembered for being the first [to win a trophy] for the club. It's amazing. I hope we'll all look back in 20 or 50 years and be really proud of what we have accomplished together.”