CHICAGO (October 4, 2023) - The 2024 Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup Qualifying Rounds have reached their halfway mark. The 44 surviving amateur clubs – down from an original Open Division field of 109 – who won their Second Qualifying Round matches between September 30 and October 3 now move through to the 22 matches of the Third Qualifying Round, which will be contested on October 21-22.
There are 11 berths on offer to the 2024 U.S. Open Cup – the 109th edition of the historic tournament – via these Qualifying Rounds. Five clubs are aiming to reach the competition for the second consecutive year.
Those 2023 U.S. Open Cup veterans looking to return in 2024 are Chicago House AC of the Midwest Premier League, SFSFL’s International San Francisco of the Bay Area, Miami United FC (United States Soccer League), Tennessee Tempo FC (who reached the U.S. Open Cup last year under the name Beaman United) and UDA Soccer, a UPSL club side affiliated with New Mexico State University in Las Cruces.
Also in the mix are former U.S. Open Cup champions NY Pancyprian Freedoms (1980, 1982 and 1983) and four-time winners from the 1960s Philadelphia Ukrainian Nationals.
Newcomers like Sharktopus FC out of the Seattle area, Buffalo NY’s Sahara Gunners FC and California-based Irvine Zeta FC are bringing fresh energy to the 2024 Qualifying Rounds – as are some revived old favorites like Christos FC, FC Denver and Sporting Arizona FC.
Tulsa Athletic scooped the prize as the Open Division team to advance the furthest in this year’s 2023 edition, with a win over local second-division USL Championship pros FC Tulsa, sending them through to a historic Third Rounder against MLS’ Sporting Kansas City at Children’s Mercy Park. Chicago House AC, still alive and kicking in this year’s Qualifying Rounds, also earned the right to face off with an MLS side when they met crosstown side Chicago Fire in that same Third Round in Bridgeview, Illinois.
The 22 games of the 2024 Third Qualifying Round will take place on October 21-22, with a Fourth Round scheduled for November 18-19. That Final Round will send 11 teams through to the 2024 U.S. Open Cup, alongside this year’s USASA National Amateur Cup Champions SC MesoAmerica and AS Frenzi – the springtime national champions of the United Premier Soccer League (UPSL).
Sept. 9-10, 2023 – First Qualifying Round - 21 matches
Sept. 30 – Oct. 1, 2023 – Second Qualifying Round - 44 matches
Oct. 21-22, 2023 – Third Qualifying Round - 22 matches
Nov. 18-19, 2023 – Fourth Qualifying Round - 11 matches
Tuesday, March 19 - Thursday, March 21 First Round
Tuesday, April 2 - Wednesday, April 3 Second Round
Tuesday, April 16 - Wednesday, April 17 Third Round
Tuesday, May 7 - Wednesday, May 8 Round of 32
Tuesday, May 21 - Wednesday, May 22 Round of 16
Tuesday, July 9 - Wednesday, July 10 Quarterfinal
Tuesday, Aug. 27 - Wednesday, Aug. 28 Semifinal
Wednesday, Sept. 25 Final
The Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup is U.S. Soccer's National 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. In 1999, the competition was renamed to honor United States soccer pioneer Lamar Hunt. The Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup is the oldest ongoing national soccer competition in the United States and the world's third-longest continuously run national cup tournament.
Houston Dynamo of Major League Soccer (MLS) won their second U.S. Open Cup title on September 27 of this year, sealing the 108th edition of the tournament with a 2-1 win over Inter Miami at DRV PNK Stadium in Fort Lauderdale.
Each year’s winner earns $300,000 in prize money and has 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 earns $100,000, while the teams that advance farthest from each lower division (D2, D1 and the Open Division) take home a $25,000 cash prize.
For complete coverage of the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup, visit usopencup.com and follow the tournament's official social accounts on X and Instagram @OpenCup and Facebook @OfficialOpenCup.