The 111th edition of the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup is finally back in action with its semifinal matches on Wednesday, Sept. 16.
It has been five months since the competition played its quarterfinal matches.
The United States' men's club tournament features two squads that are aiming for a second U.S. Open Cup trophy, and two others searching for their first. The tournament winner earns an automatic bid into the 2027 Concacaf Champions Cup (MLS has five other slots available to it: 2026 MLS Cup winner, 2026 MLS Supporters' Shield winner, 2026 MLS regular season opposite conference winner, 2026 MLS Supporters' Shield next best club, 2026 MLS Supporters' Shield next best club).
Winning the U.S. Open Cup in 2022 was the path Orlando City SC took to its
first Concacaf Champions Cup appearance. Orlando's semifinal opponent, the Columbus Crew, won its lone U.S. Open Cup back in 2002. In the other semifinal, the Colorado Rapids and St. Louis City SC hope to keep their trophy hopes alive. Colorado lost in its only other U.S. Open Cup final appearance, earning the ignominious distinction of being the only MLS team to allow a lower division squad to win the Open Cup. That took place in 1999, when the Rochester Rhinos pulled off a stunner and remain the lone non-MLS club to win the tournament since the league's inception in 1996.
Here's how to watch the U.S. Open Cup semifinal matches:
How to watch US Open Cup semifinal games on Sept. 16
- Columbus Crew vs. Orlando City SC, 7 p.m. ET (CBS Sports Network/Paramount+)
- Colorado Rapids vs. St. Louis City SC, 9:30 p.m. ET (CBS Sports Network/Paramount+)
Watch U.S. Open Cup games on Paramount+
2026 US Open Cup schedule
- First round: March 17-19
- Second round: March 31-April 1
- Round of 32: April 14-15
- Round of 16: April 28-29
- Quarterfinals: May 19-20
- Semifinals: Sept. 16
- Final: Oct. 21
What is the US Open Cup?
Pre-MLS American soccer history is a disjointed and often-confusing enterprise, barren of the convenience of the century-long continuity of leagues such as Major League Baseball or the National Football League. However, one thread that ties the game of soccer together in this country through the years has been the U.S. Open Cup (officially known as the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup). The first U.S. Open Cup (originally called the National Challenge Cup) kicked off in 1913, seven years before the formation of the NFL and 12 years after the opening season of baseball's American League. The U.S. Open Cup — this country’s oldest annual tournament for team sports — has been played every year since 1913 with the exception of 2020-21 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The tournament was modeled after England's FA Cup, so the single-elimination competition is open to U.S.-based amateur and professional clubs. The winner of the U.S. Open Cup — a team that technically is the national champion of American men's club soccer — earns a spot in the Concacaf Champions Cup.
MLS has dominated the competition
Since 1996, MLS teams have won all but one U.S. Open Cup; the Rochester Rhinos beat the Colorado Rapids in the 1999 final. While MLS has competed in the U.S. Open Cup since the league's inception, the old North American Soccer League avoided it. So, you won't see the likes of multiple-time NASL Soccer Bowl winners such as the New York Cosmos or Chicago Sting gracing the historical records of the U.S. Open Cup.
USL sides Indy Eleven (2024 semifinalist), Sacramento Republic FC (2022 finalist) and FC Cincinnati (2017 semifinalist; FC Cincinnati began MLS play in 2019) have made deep tournament runs in recent years as lower division entries.
Who has the most US Open Cup titles?
If the National Association Football League had stood the test of time like MLB or the NFL, perhaps American sports fans would speak of Bethlehem Steel in the same reverence as the New York Yankees or Green Bay Packers. Bethlehem Steel won five U.S. Open Cups in the tournament's first 13 years. Four years after its last U.S. Open Cup championship in 1926, Bethlehem Steel folded. Meanwhile, the National Association Football League folded in 1921 and was essentially replaced by the American Soccer League, which shut down during the Great Depression in 1933. Bethlehem Steel played in both leagues.
Even though its last title came in the 1920s, Bethlehem Steel remains tied for the most U.S. Open Cup championships (five) with Maccabi Los Angeles, a semi-pro soccer club that operated from 1971-1982. MLS teams are catching up to the early repeat champions, with the Chicago Fire, Sporting Kansas City and Seattle Sounders each with four championships.
US Open Cup winners: Tournament champions since 1996
- 2025: Nashville SC
- 2024: Los Angeles FC
- 2023: Houston Dynamo
- 2022: Orlando City SC
- 2021: No tournament (COVID-19 pandemic)
- 2020: No tournament (COVID-19 pandemic)
- 2019: Atlanta United
- 2018: Houston Dynamo
- 2017: Sporting Kansas City
- 2016: FC Dallas
- 2015: Sporting Kansas City
- 2014: Seattle Sounders FC
- 2013: D.C. United
- 2012: Sporting Kansas City
- 2011: Seattle Sounders FC
- 2010: Seattle Sounders FC
- 2009: Seattle Sounders FC
- 2008: D.C. United
- 2007: New England Revolution
- 2006: Chicago Fire
- 2005: LA Galaxy
- 2004: Kansas City Wizards
- 2003: Chicago Fire
- 2002: Columbus Crew
- 2001: LA Galaxy
- 2000: Chicago Fire
- 1999: Rochester Rhinos (A-League/USL)
- 1998: Chicago Fire
- 1997: Dallas Burn
- 1996: D.C. United
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Lamar Hunt US Open Cup: Where to watch, semifinal match schedule
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