
CHICAGO, Ill. – The 2025 Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup kicks off on March 18-20 with a 32-game First Round array of exclusively amateur vs. pro matchups. U.S. Soccer has finalized the format for the 96-team tournament – the 110th edition of the historic national club championship that celebrates elite amateur and pro soccer in communities across the country – through to the showpiece Final on October 1. The Open Cup is the only competition in USA-based team sports where amateurs have the chance to play professionals in direct competition.
Birmingham Legion FC will play its opening match of the cup in the First Round.
“The Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup is a crucial connection point for all levels of soccer in the United States,” said U.S. Soccer CEO JT Batson ahead of the tournament, first contested in 1913. “U.S. Soccer exists in service to soccer and this historic tournament allows us to lift up the people who are leading the charge to support soccer in their communities. We’re pleased to continue working with and collaborating with all U.S. Soccer members to maximize the tournament’s impact on the sport of soccer at all levels in this country.”
For a second year running, the 32 games of the First Round will be played exclusively between amateur teams from the Open Division and professional sides. And there’s bound to be fireworks as last year’s First Round produced no fewer than seven upsets. Returning amateur powers Miami United FC, FORO SC of Texas, El Farolito and the Des Moines Menace were all part of that group of Open Cup Dream-Chasers that bested pro teams last year — and they’ll aim to generate that same kind of magic again in the 2025 Open Cup.
The field of 64 professional clubs includes 14 from USL League One and 10 sides from MLS NEXT Pro. The tournament will include the 24 teams of the USL Championship – with last year’s league champs Colorado Springs Switchbacks FC, last year’s Open Cup Semifinalists Indy Eleven and 2022 Open Cup Runners-up Sacramento Republic — and 16 teams from Major League Soccer (MLS), including former Open Cup Champions Chicago Fire, D.C. United, FC Dallas, Houston Dynamo, New England Revolution and Orlando City.
The eight lowest seeded USLC teams enter in the First Round along with USL League One and MLS NEXT Pro sides. The 16 higher-seeded USLC clubs will enter in the Third Round, and the 16 MLS teams enter the tournament in the Round of 32.
The 32 amateur teams of the Open Division come from a wide array of leagues throughout the country. The 2024 USASA National Amateur Champions (three-time Open Cup winners NY Pancyprian Freedoms) are in the mix along with eight teams from the nationwide UPSL (including that league’s Spring Champion, Soda City FC of South Carolina) and seven more from the National Premier Soccer League (NPSL) including former Open Cup Champs and 2024 amateur sensations El Farolito of San Francisco and Tulsa Athletic, the Oklahomans who set the 2023 edition of the tournament alight with an underdog run that saw them beat crosstown pros FC Tulsa (USLC) and earn a Third Round date with Sporting Kansas City of MLS.
USL League Two will add nine teams to the 2025 Open Division roster, including Ballard FC of Seattle, who made their debut last year, long-time tournament Cinderellas the Des Moines Menace of Iowa and the Long Island Rough Riders – who reached the Quarterfinals of the 1997 edition of the Open Cup and return to the stage of those heroics for the first time since 2018.
There will be 26 teams making Open Cup debuts in 2025. AV Alta FC (California), FC Naples, (Florida) Portland Hearts of Pine (Maine), Texoma FC (Texas) and Westchester SC (New York) debut from USL League One. MLS NEXT Pro sends six new sides to the Open Cup: Columbus Crew 2, FC Cincinnati 2, LAFC 2, Inter Miami CF II, Real Monarchs and Sporting KC 2.
The Amateur/Open Division will provide 15 new faces.
From the ranks of the 14 winners of the 2025 Open Cup Qualifying Rounds come eight debutants: CD Faialense (Massachusetts), Harbour City FC (Florida), Laguna United FC (California), NJ Alliance (New Jersey), NY Renegades (New York), Southern Indiana FC (Indiana), Virginia Dream (Virginia) and Washington AC (Washington State).
UPSL Spring Champion Soda City FC (South Carolina) will take part for the first time, as will NPSL’s Naples United FC (Florida) and the NY Shockers (New York). Corpus Christi FC (Texas), Flatiron FC (Colorado), Little Rock Rangers (Arkansas) and Sarasota Paradise (Florida) comprise the first-time clubs from USL League Two.
2025 Lamar Hunt U.S. 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
Semifinals: Sept. 16-17
Final: Oct. 1
The Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup is U.S. Soccer’s Club Championship and has crowned a champion annually since 1914 (with the exception of 2020 and 2021 due to COVID-19). The historic tournament is conducted on a single-game, knockout basis and open to all professional and amateur teams affiliated with U.S. Soccer. It is the oldest ongoing national soccer competition in the United States and the world’s third-longest continuously run national cup tournament.
The First Round of the 2025 Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup will consist of 32 games with 32 amateur clubs from the Open Division going up against 32 professional teams.
The Open Division representatives include 14 Qualifying Round winners, nine USL League Two teams, seven NPSL teams, the USASA National Amateur Cup champion (NY Pancyprian Freedoms) and the UPSL Spring Champion (Soda City FC). Pro representatives entering in the First Round include 14 USL League One teams, 10 MLS NEXT Pro teams and the eight lowest-ranked sides from the USL Championship’s 2024 regular season.
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 were 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. MLS teams qualified for U.S. Open Cup based on the following criteria:
- Teams participating in Concacaf Champions Cup are excluded from the Open Cup
- Teams not participating in the 2025 Leagues Cup qualify for the Open Cup, ranked based on 2024 Supporters Shield Standings
- The next best teams in the Supporters’ Shield Standings that are not in the Concacaf Champions Cup will enter the Open Cup.
In addition to the two independent MLS NEXT Pro teams, eight teams affiliated with Major League Soccer (MLS) clubs qualified based on the 2024 MLS NEXT Pro regular season standings, with teams whose first-team affiliates qualified excluded from the competition.
New for the 2025 edition of the Open Cup, there will be eight seeded teams – divided into four teams from the East and four teams from the West – predetermined to host from the teams entering in the Third Round and Round of 32, respectively. The eight lowest-seeded teams entering in the Third Round and entering in the Round of 32 will be predetermined to be away. This change was made to add operational and financial certainty, while the opponents will still be determined by random draw.