It’s that time again, Open Cup fans.
The Round of 32 is upon us and our last 16 competitors are set to join a 2024 party in full swing. The top eight-ranked USL Championship teams from last season, including high-flying Charleston Battery and Sacramento Republic (both unbeaten in league play at the time of publishing) and last year’s Div. II champions Phoenix Rising, enter this year’s Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup at this stage.
Also poised to get in on the action are the eight competing teams from Major League Soccer (MLS), the country’s top-flight. Last year’s defending Open Cup champs Houston Dynamo, soaring Real Salt Lake and 2022 MLS Cup champions LAFC lead the way from Div. I.
Also in action from the country’s top division are Sporting Kansas City and the Seattle Sounders. And though the pair are off to slow starts in 2024 MLS league play, they’re on the cusp of making history in the Open Cup – just one title away from becoming the first side in the Modern Era (1995 to today) to win five titles. Were one of them to win this year, they’d join heroes of yesteryear Bethlehem Steel, the Fall River Marksmen (and their various other names) and Maccabi Los Angeles.
The first day of the 32-team, 16-game Round of 32 features a quartet of contests full of tension and possibilities as sides from the lower divisions go up against clubs from Major League Soccer.
First up, Atlanta United – Open Cup champions of 2019 – host the Mike Jeffries-led USL League One side Charlotte Independence, who beat second-division opposition in Rhode Island FC en route to this stage. The Independence, one of four remaining teams from the United States’ third professional tier, are flying high behind the goals of Juan Carlos Obregon Jr. – Honduran youth international and Olympian.
“Anything can happen in an Open Cup game because it’s always win or go home,” said Obregon Jr. – who’s been hot of late in all competitions, with two goals in our Third Round and three more from four games in league play. “We’re representing our league, our city and our club – and playing against a team from the top level is an exciting thing – we’ll be trying to come out with the win.”
The 2015 Open Cup champions FC Dallas and San Jose Earthquakes – both low in MLS’ western conference standings – take on USL Championship opponents in hopes of jump-starting their 2024 fortunes. FC Dallas meet a Memphis 901 side part-owned by former USMNT hero Tim Howard, inducted into the National Soccer Hall of Fame this weekend. Historic (though currently struggling) San Jose Earthquakes have a slippery local derby on the cards against Oakland Roots, who signed former Open Cup winner Dom Dwyer for a little extra attacking oomph early last week.
“This is a local rival,” said Roots captain and Trinidad and Tobago international Neveal Hackworth, who was integral in the side’s Third Round extra-time win over amateur darlings El Farolito. “It’s one of those games where you want to go out and fight and show who you are. It’s gonna be like a final – you have to win to keep going.”
Also in action on Tuesday’s seven-game slate are our reigning champions, resplendent in orange. Houston Dynamo lifted the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup trophy last year with an impressive win in the Final over MLS joy-boys Inter Miami, who were without Semifinal hero Lionel Messi due to injury. Now they host USL Championship powers Detroit City FC, led by their outstanding creator Maxi Rodriguez.
“We’re here to take the U.S. Open Cup by storm,” said Griffin Dorsey, the impressive wing-back who had a breakout season last year for Ben Olsen’s Dynamo and scored the first goal – a sensational one at that – in the 2-1 win over Inter Miami. “We don’t want to be a team that wins something one year and that’s that – we’re looking for sustained success in all the competitions we play in.”
The Pittsburgh Riverhounds host FC Tulsa at their Highmark Stadium, on the banks of the Monongahela River, in the first of three all-USL Championship affairs on Day One. The picturesque stadium was the site of last year’s biggest Open Cup upset – as the Riverhounds, under legendary coach Bob Lilley, beat eventual MLS champions Columbus Crew (their second win over MLS opposition last year after also beating the New England Revolution) to book a place in the Quarterfinals.
This year, the Riverhounds will have to make magic without 2023 league top-scorer Albert Dikwa, who left the club for new side Rhode Island FC in the off-season. And they’ll have their hands full when they welcome FC Tulsa – who edged third-tier NoCol Hailstorm in the last round.
Tuesday’s two other all-USL Championship affairs are out West as Orange Country SC open the doors of their Championship Soccer Stadium in Irvine to long-traveling Loudoun United FC, the Virginians who are playing in only their second Open Cup. Monterey Bay FC, led by veteran coach Frank Yallop and who barely lost out to MLS’ LAFC in last year ‘s Round of 32, start their sophomore Open Cup in northern California. They’ll take on Sacramento Republic FC – legends of the Open Cup who became the first second-division side since 2008’s Charleston Battery to reach an Open Cup Final when they beat three MLS teams to book a place in the 2022 decider under current coach Mark Briggs.
Of the nine games on Wednesday, May 8th, four pit lower-division underdogs against teams from the top-flight. First up, Union Omaha – third-division powers from Nebraska and USL League One – host an MLS club for the first time when four-time champs Sporting Kansas City come to town.
“I love these knockout games,” said free-scoring midfielder Pedro Dolabella, who joined up with the Omaha-based Cinderellas last season (a year after they beat two MLS teams to become surprise Quarterfinalists). “No one expects you to do anything, so we just make sure we come ready and try to survive and advance.”
Also hosting an MLS team in hopes of an upset are New Mexico United – Open Cup Quarterfinalists from 2019. The USL Championship side, currently in fourth in that league’s western conference, open Isotopes Park to a Real Salt Lake who’ve started the 2024 MLS season hot. League MVP candidate Chicho Arango and young USMNT star Diego Luna are both in blazing form and carrying on from RSL’s run to last year’s Open Cup Semifinal.
“The pressure is always on when you go against a lower-division side,” said New Mexico United head coach Eric Quill, who’ll hope to take advantage of such anxieties in this Round of 32. Midfielder Daniel Bruce – scorer of one of the best goals of the last round – is in an optimistic mood: “Playing an in-form MLS side will certainly be a test, but we welcome it and welcome being the underdog.”
Seattle Sounders – four-time Open Cup champions from MLS – are in action on Wednesday too. They’ll host one of the best teams in the USL Championship (historically and currently), Louisville City, at their early-round home of Starfire Sports Complex in Tukwila, Washington.
“The Open Cup is all about putting yourself in the limelight and to see how you stack up,” said Niall McCabe, of two-time USL Championship champions Lou City, who recently marked his 200th appearance for the club. “And you want, just like any cup competition in the world, the big draw against an MLS team and to see how far you can go. I love it. I absolutely love it.”
Rounding out the MLS-vs-lower league contests is a clash at Cashman Field in Vegas, where Las Vegas Lights (USL Championship) host 2022 MLS champions LAFC in a direct tangle of two clubs with recent links and collaborations (The Lights were LAFC’s USL affiliate in 2021 and 2022).
“The Open Cup is a fun tournament because it brings all of American soccer together,” said LAFC veteran Ryan Hollingshead, a US Open Cup Champion with FC Dallas in 2016. “It brings an excitement to the sport in the U.S. and gives a chance to lower-league teams to take on the best of the best.”
Speaking of the best, Charleston Battery are red hot. The South Carolinians, kicking since 1993 and Open Cup Runners-up in 2008, are flying high at the top of the USL Championship standings and look poised to pounce in Cup play too.
“We’re going up against a really good team from the third division in South Georgia Tormenta,” said first-year Battery goalkeeper Adam Grinwis, owner of an Open Cup Championship ring from his time in MLS with Orlando City. “But that’s the beauty of the Open Cup. We have a lot of guys with experience and we’ll need to use that to make sure we’re prepared for their best game – because that’s what we’re going to get.”
The one remaining david-vs-goliath contest sees lone surviving MLS NEXT Pro side, New York City FC II, host USL Championship favorites Colorado Springs Switchbacks at Belson Stadium in Queens.
In the first year that teams from the MLS developmental league are taking part in the Open Cup, NYCFC II have been the most impressive iteration by far. “We all are pros and we all want to keep moving forward in this tournament,” said Taylor Calheira, whose goals and attacking play have been superb. “And we just keep getting confidence as we keep moving on.”
The remaining trio of games are all-USL Championship affairs. Defending league champions Phoenix Rising are out on the road against North Carolina FC. Next up, Indy Eleven hosts San Antonio FC in Indianapolis and, finally, the Tampa Bay Rowdies open Al Lang Stadium to last year’s Quarterfinalists Birmingham Legion, led by a former Open Cup champion in coach Tom Soehn and with striker Stefano Pinho fresh off a four-goal performance in the Third Round.
So, with the promise of excitement, thrills and spills, we invite you to join us in enjoying all the action. Be sure to watch EVERY GAME of the Round of 32 LIVE on watch.usopencup.com (US Soccer), MLSSoccer.com/usopencup-live-streams/ (MLS) or USLsoccer.com/watch (USL).
Fontela is editor-in-chief of usopencup.com. Follow him at @jonahfontela on X/Twitter.