THE 2023 OPEN CUP CONTINUES THIS WEEKEND WITH 36-GAME SECOND QUALIFYING ROUND
A packed schedule of 36 Games Sets 72 Open Division Teams in Action Across the Country on Oct. 15-16. The 37 Teams That Received Byes to the Second Round Will Make their 2023 U.S. Open Cup Debuts in Hopes of Reaching a Penultimate Third Round Scheduled for November 19-20.
CHICAGO (Oct. 13, 2022) – There will be 72 Open Division teams in action when the Second Qualifying Round for the 2023 Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup gets underway on the weekend of October 15-16. Among those, 35 clubs will make their second appearance of these Qualifying Rounds after having survived the First Round (September 17-18). A further 37 teams will be making their 2023 Open Cup Qualifying debut during the 36-game Second Round.
The historic Open Cup, the annual knockout tournament which wrapped its 107th edition on September 7 with Orlando City SC of MLS lifting the trophy, is the only high-profile event in American team sports where amateurs have the opportunity to face professionals in meaningful competition.
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New York, home state to 26 Open Cup winners – most in tournament history, hosts two games of the Second Qualifying Round. Queensboro FC II – the UPSL-based reserves of the soon-to-be USL Championship side – look to keep up the momentum after Qualifying top–scorer Jonathan (‘Jona’) Santillan’s four goals in a 5-0 rout of the Kearny Scots-Americans sealed a victorious Open Cup debut for the Queens outfit.
Four-time Open Cup champions the NY Greek Americans, who compete in the famed Cosmopolitan League and the Eastern Premier Soccer League (EPSL) meet 2017 and 2021 national amateur champions Lansdowne Yonkers FC.
Twice Open Cup runners-up the United German Hungarians vs. West Chester United is the marquee game of the two hosted in Pennsylvania. The other sees First-Round survivors Vereinigung Erzgebirge host a second straight Qualifier – this time against Lancaster Elite.
Host state of the 2022 Open Cup Final, Florida, will see 12 of its clubs take the field in the Second Round. Among those are recent Open Cup regulars Miami United FC and the impressive Club de Lyon.
Out in the West, 13 teams from California are in action, headlined by a potential thriller between Temecula FC and Orange County FC, who beat two USL Championship teams in the 2019 Open Cup proper. Farther north, Real San Jose open their 2023 Qualifying account against newly founded Inter San Francisco, who moved through to this stage thanks in part to a pair of First-Round goals from former Chivas USA and Chicago Fire striker Matt Fondy.
Texas is always a hot-spot in the American amateur scene and Dallas-based D’Feeters Kicks SC, who reached the Second Round of the 2022 Open Cup proper, travel to take on a Houston FC team that put ten goals past the Gaveston Pelicans in the First Round.
2023 Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup Qualifying Schedule
First Qualifying Round (September 17-18, 2022)
Second Qualifying Round (October 15-16, 2022)
Third Qualifying Round (November 19-20, 2022)
Fourth Qualifying Round (December 17-18, 2022)
About the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup
Entering its 108th edition, the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup – U.S. Soccer's National Championship – has crowned a champion annually since 1914 (excepting 2020 and 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic). The 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.
usopencup.com is the official website of the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup. Fans and members of the media can enjoy comprehensive video and written coverage of the tournament there. You can also follow the Open Cup on Twitter and Instagram (@OpenCup) and Facebook (@OfficialOpenCup).
The Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup is the oldest ongoing national soccer competition in the United States and the world's third-longest-running open soccer tournament.
