National Premier Soccer League (NPSL)
7 teams – based on 2024 league play
Win and move on. This is the simple principle that makes the imbues the annual Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup with its magic and links every level of men’s soccer in this country, from the sunday-league part-timers to the cream of Major League Soccer’s professional crop.
The 2025 U.S. Open Cup is the 110th edition. Founded in 1914, it’s the most historic prize in U.S. soccer by far. That said, formats and fields change from year to year for our beloved single-elimination extravaganza, so let’s take a closer round-by-round look at how this year’s tournament works.
2025 Open Cup Teams and Tiers:
Division I
16 teams
Major League Soccer
(All 16 teams enter in the Round of 32)
Teams marked with ^ seeded as hosts in Round of 32.
Division II
24 teams
USL Championship
(8 * teams enter in the First Round and 16 ** enter in the Third Round)
Division III
24 teams
USL League One (14) and MLS NEXT Pro (10)
(All teams enter in the First Round)
USL League One
14 teams
(Enter in the First Round)
MLS NEXT Pro
10 teams
(Enter in the First Round)
(All 32 teams enter in the First Round)
Open Division Qualifying Round Winners
14 teams – winners from the four Open Cup Qualifying Rounds / Fall 2024
USL League Two
9 teams – based on 2024 league play
As in every year of the Open Cup, all games are single-elimination. If a game’s tied at the end of 90 minutes, they’ll be two 15-minute periods of extra-time followed by a penalty shootout if needed.
The 2025 Open Cup First Round is a smorgasbord of potential Cinderella-making games, with the 32 amateur teams of the Open Division (2025 Qualifying Round survivors from USASA and UPSL and teams from NPSL and USL League Two) taking on pro clubs of Division II and III. 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 are 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.
Los Angeles Football Club (LAFC) of MLS is our defending U.S. Open Cup Champion.
The 109th edition of the tournament concluded on September 25, 2024 with LAFC beating four-time Champions Sporting Kansas City 3-1 at BMO Stadium in Los Angeles to become Open Cup Champions for the first time.
The official website of the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup is ussoccer.com/us-open-cup. Fans can also follow the competition on X/Twitter and Instagram @OpenCup and Facebook @OfficialOpenCup.