CHICAGO (July 6, 2023) - U.S. Soccer is accepting applications from teams to enter the Qualifying Rounds for the 2024 Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup, U.S. Soccer's National Championship. The entry deadline is Monday, July 31, 2023.
The historic annual tournament, preparing to kick off its 109th edition, is the only high-profile competition in American team sports that provides amateur sides the opportunity to face professionals in meaningful competition.
Any U.S. Soccer-affiliated team outside of the professional leagues (Division I - Major League Soccer, Division II - USL Championship and Division III - National Independent Soccer Association, MLS NEXT Pro and USL League One) and not a part of an amateur league that chooses the Open Division National Leagues track (which uses league results from the previous year to determine its qualifiers) may enter the U.S. Open Cup via the Qualifying Rounds.
To be eligible, a team must meet basic criteria spelled out in U.S. Soccer's Open Cup Policy, including belonging to a club or league of any Organization Member of U.S. Soccer and competing in a league with at least four teams where each plays a minimum of ten league games during the year. Teams must also have a field that is at least 65 yards wide by 100 yards long that meets other basic minimum standards available for use on one of the dates of each Qualifying Round.
Teams may enter by submitting an official application via the online portal on usopencup.com and paying the appropriate entry fees and performance bond.
Open Cup Qualifying Rounds, like the Open Cup Tournament Proper, will be conducted on a single-game, knockout basis with up to four rounds of matches in Fall 2023 scheduled for weekend dates. Matchups will be determined geographically to minimize travel time and expense. Random selection will be used when practicable to determine pairings, and home teams will be determined by coin flip.
A preliminary allocation of 2024 U.S. Open Cup First Round slots for each of the Open Division qualifying pools (i.e.: Open Division Qualifying Rounds and each National League entered) will be announced shortly after the Open Division Qualifying entry deadline. The final allocation will be determined in January 2024 after the Division I, II and III professional team counts are confirmed.
Below are the criteria for teams to participate in Open Division Qualifying Rounds for the 2024 Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup (see 2024 Open Division Handbook for complete details):
July 31- Team application and entry fee deadline for Open Division Qualifying track
Aug. 9* - Teams approved for Open Division qualifying announced
Aug. 24* - Matchups for first qualifying round announced
Sept. 9-10 - First Qualifying Round
Sept. 30-Oct. 1 - Second Qualifying Round
Oct. 21-22 - Third Qualifying Round
Nov. 18-19 - Fourth Qualifying Round
Jan. 2024 - Final allocation of First Round slots for Open Division qualifiers announced
* Estimated date for announcement.
The Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup – U.S. Soccer's National Championship – has crowned a champion annually since 1914 (with the exception of 2020 & 21 due to COVID-19). The history-filled 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.
In 1999, the competition was renamed to honor United States soccer pioneer Lamar Hunt.
The U.S. Open Cup winner earns $300,000 in prize money, a berth in the Concacaf Champions League and the club’s name engraved on the Dewar Challenge Trophy – one of the oldest nationally-contested trophies in American team sports – now on permanent display at the National Soccer Hall of Fame in Frisco, Texas. The runner-up receives $100,000, while the team that advances the farthest from each lower division takes home a $25,000 cash prize.
For complete coverage of the 2022 Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup, visit usopencup.com and follow the tournament's official social accounts on Twitter and Instagram @OpenCup and Facebook @OfficialOpenCup.