It’s all very simple, folks. We’re here, at the end of the road – the last of 64 games stretching back to the fall of 2024, when the amateur strivers first laced up for the Qualifying Rounds of this year’s Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup.
Our two Finalists, Austin FC and Nashville SC, both hail from the ranks of Division I MLS, both have first-year coaches and both only came to exist in real life inside the last five years. But when all is said and done on Wednesday, Oct. 1 at Austin’s Q2 Stadium (with the game LIVE on Paramount+ and on air at CBS Sports Network) one of these young clubs will lift the most historic prize on offer in this country’s soccer.
“It’s a special moment,” said B.J. Callaghan, the 44-year-old coach of Nashville SC, whose side head into the 110th edition of the U.S. Open Cup Final breathing a sigh of relief after sealing a place in the MLS Playoffs at the weekend. “The first one – the first title or the first trophy as a group – is something no one can ever take away from you. It means a lot.”
Nashville SC have another kind of edge over their opponents and hosts as they’ve contested a major final in the past. In 2023, the Coyotes hosted the decider of the Leagues Cup and lost out via a marathon penalty shootout (1-1 aet, 10-9 PKs) to Lionel Messi’s Inter Miami.
“We know what it’s like to host a final from a few years ago [Leagues Cup] and it can add a bit of pressure to have that expectation,” said the goal-crazy Sam Surridge, who leads 2025 Open Cup scoring with five from two games – and sits near the top of the MLS scorers’ table too (third at time of publishing with 22). “The chance to win a first trophy for the club really adds fuel to the fire.”
“People always remember the first ones to do something,” added Surridge, who, during his time in his native England, developed a huge appreciation for domestic Cup competition and reached an FA Cup Quarterfinal with then-second division Nottingham Forest and went on a Cinderella run, early in his career, with Oldham Athletic. “To think about how, 50 years from now, people will look to see the names of the guys who won that first trophy, it really means something.
“It’d be a huge moment for the club,” Surridge added. “But only if we can bring home a trophy.”
Callaghan’s Nashville squad – which he insists he always wants to “out-team all the other teams” – is a fine balance of stars and dirty-workers. And, according to the former USMNT interim coach, his squad has “ a lot of the things you need to lift a trophy.”
Hany Mukhtar – MLS league MVP from 2023 – and Surridge scored in the weekend win against Houston Dynamo. And they both represent the cream of the team. In the back, there’s Walker Zimmerman. Out wide in midfield is the sumptuous Andy Najar, Alex Muyl and Jacob Shaffelburg. Holding it all together, deep in the midfield dungeons where the battles break out, is Edvard Tagseth.
“You’re so close to the trophy that you can feel the tension and feel how anything can happen,” said the Norwegian, known around the locker room as Eddi and who needed three stitches after catching a stray elbow in an over-tough Semifinal against Philadelphia Union. “The motivation of winning a trophy is a massive thing – for me, for the club, for all of Nashville and Tennessee.
“But it’s a big job ahead and we have to get it right,” Tagseth went on. “We have a big chance to get it and we’ll give it everything we got.”
The buzz around potentially winning a first trophy is just as palpable in the Austin FC camp. Unlike their opponents, the Texans have yet to seal a place in the MLS Playoffs and come into the Final on the wrong end of a 3-1 loss away to Real Salt Lake in league play at the weekend.
But the knockout nature of Open Cup games – and the chance to lift a trophy and build off the energy of it – is very much alive in the Verdes’ camp. “Hosting this Final is a huge thing for our club,” said first-year head coach Nico Estevez. “We’re a very young club and the chance we have here is the most exciting moment in the history of Austin FC.”
The Texans’ four-game run to this historic Final had its bumps and then some. They barely avoided being Cupset by Division II El Paso Locomotive in their opener in the Round of 32 – only a pair of Brandon Vazquez goals (and one assist) in the second half saw them move on to another home win over two-time Open Cup Champs Houston Dynamo. After that, they gained momentum with Quarterfinal and Semifinal wins away against the San Jose Earthquakes and Minnesota United.
“I kind of blacked out after the ball went in,” said 21-year-old CJ Fodrey, who scored a last-gasp OT winner in the Semifinal in St. Paul and has helped the side stay on track after the loss of goal hero and All Star Vazquez. “We all know what’s on the line here – we’ve been a club for five years now and we want to win a first trophy and make that history.
“I really want to be part of the team that brings the first trophy to this club,” Fodrey added. “It’s right there in the back of my mind.”
That desire courses through the Austin players – back to front and everything in between. “We’ve shown a great mentality through this whole tournament,” said Owen Wolff, 20, whose father, USMNT star Josh, lifted the Open Cup three times in his playing days. “The fans always bring the energy here and we’ve been coming through with that Open Cup Magic. Hopefully, we can get some more and lift the trophy.”
While Wolff has Open Cup pedigree in the family, his captain, Ilie Sanchez, lifted his own Open Cups on two occasions. And he’s taking dead aim at a third after triumphs with Sporting Kansas City in 2017 and LAFC last year.
“It’s the biggest challenge of our season, but it’s also the biggest opportunity,” said Sanchez, who came up through the famed Barcelona youth academy. “If you win that trophy at home, of course, it’s fantastic. But if you don’t, it’s double the pain.”
The final word before the Final goes to Austin’s iconic goalkeeper Brad Stuver, who’s been with the club since the first season back in 2021 and recently signed a contract extension through 2027. “I’m always focused on what’s next,” said Stuver, whose performances against San Jose and Minnesota United were outstanding. “That next thing is a chance to lift a trophy for a club where I’ve experienced a lot of firsts.”
We don’t know who’ll make it – but we do know history will be made on Wednesday, Oct. 1 in Austin, Texas when the 110th U.S Open Cup Final turns from theoretical to very real. Be sure to WATCH on Paramount+ and on air at CBS Sports Network at 8 p.m. ET – with coverage beginning at 7 p.m. ET.
Fontela is editor-in-chief of usopencup.com. Follow him at @jonahfontela on X/Twitter.