2025 Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup Kicks Off With 32-Game First Round Pitting Amateurs Against Professionals
Matchups Confirmed for First Round That Will See 32 Division II and III Professional Teams Play Against 32 Amateur Clubs from Open Division; 110th Edition of Tournament Begins with 10 Games on March 18, 14 on March 19 and 8 More on March 20.
CHICAGO (February 5, 2025) – The 2025 Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup – U.S. Soccer’s annual club championship – kicks off with a 32-game First Round between March 18 and 20 made up exclusively of Pro vs. Amateur contests.
The Amateur teams in the 2025 First Round will consist of the 14 survivors from last fall’s Open Cup Qualifying Rounds, the 2024 USASA National Amateur Champion NY Pancyprian Freedoms, the UPSL Spring Champion Soda City FC of South Carolina, seven teams from the National Premier Soccer League (NPSL) and nine more from USL League Two. Their opponents from the Professional ranks will be eight clubs from the Division II USL Championship, 14 from the Division III USL League One and 10 from MLS NEXT Pro.
This is the second year in a row that sees the Open Cup First Round comprised exclusively of Pro vs. Amateur matchups – thus creating massive potential for dramatic outcomes and underdog storylines. The 2024 Open Cup First Round produced no fewer than seven upsets, setting the table for more drama this year.
The First Round will feature a pair of same-city matchups – with Inter Miami CF II of MLS NEXT Pro hosting famed giant-killers Miami United FC of the UPSL, playing in their third consecutive Open Cup Proper and hoping to knock off a professional team for the second year running. There’s also an Oklahoma-based clash between top amateur side Tulsa Athletic and crosstown USL Championship pros FC Tulsa in a rematch of the game that sent Athletic on their Cinderella run as the top amateur finisher of the 2023 Open Cup.
The 2025 First Round has more than its share of proven Cinderellas. FORO SC of Texas – who knocked off MLS NEXT Pro’s Austin FC II in last year’s First Round – are back and opening with USL League One new boys Texoma FC. The Long Island Rough Riders reached the Quarterfinals of the 1997 Open Cup and return for the first time since 2018 with a First Round test against USL League One’s Charlotte Independence. The Des Moines Menace are back with an opener against Sporting KC II (MLS NEXT Pro). FC Motown of New Jersey, who finished as the top amateur side in the 2022 Open Cup, and El Farolito of San Francisco, who did the same in last year’s tournament, also return to the field of hopefuls.
Of the 64 teams taking part in the First Round, 26 are making their debut in the U.S. Open Cup.
AV ALTA FC (California), FC Naples, (Florida) Portland Hearts of Pine (Maine), Texoma FC (Texas) and Westchester SC (New York) debut from USL League One – with all five playing their first-ever competitive game as a club in our 2025 First Round. MLS NEXT Pro sends six debutants to the 2025 Open Cup: Columbus Crew 2, FC Cincinnati 2, LAFC2, Inter Miami CF II, Real Monarchs and Sporting KC II.
The Amateur/Open Division will provide 15 new faces.
From the ranks of the 14 winners of the 2025 Open Cup Qualifying Rounds come eight first-timers: CD Faialense (Massachusetts), Harbour City FC (Florida), Laguna United FC (California), NJ Alliance (New Jersey), NY Renegades (New York), Southern Indiana FC (Indiana), Virginia Dream (Virginia) and Washington AC (Washington State).
UPSL Spring Champion Soda City FC (South Carolina) will take part for the first time, as will NPSL’s Naples United FC (Florida) and the NY Shockers (New York). Corpus Christi FC (Texas), Flatirons FC (Colorado), Little Rock Rangers (Arkansas) and Sarasota Paradise (Florida) comprise the first-time clubs from USL League Two.
For the 2025 First Round, teams were paired on a geographic basis with the restriction that each professional team was matched with a team from the Open Division. Hosts were determined by random selection when each team applied to host with a venue that met the competition standard. Random selection was also used in cases where there was no logical geographic fit or there were more than two teams from the same proximity.
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 were 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.
2025 Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup Schedule
- First Round: March 18-20
- Second Round: April 1-2
- Third Round: April 15-16
- Round of 32: May 6-7
- Round of 16: May 20-21
- Quarterfinals: July 8-9
- Semifinal: Sept. 16-17
- Final: Oct. 1
The Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup is U.S. Soccer's Club 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. It is the oldest ongoing national soccer competition in the United States and the world's third-longest continuously run national cup tournament.
About the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup
Now in its 110th edition, the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup has crowned a champion since 1914 in every year except 2020 and 2021. The history-filled 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 oldest ongoing national soccer competition in the U.S. was renamed to honor American soccer pioneer Lamar Hunt. The 2025 U.S. Open Cup winner will earn $300,000 in prize money, a berth in the 2026 Concacaf Champions League and have its 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 will earn $100,000, while the team that advances the furthest from each lower division will take home a $25,000 cash prize. Los Angeles Football Club of MLS is the defending 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.
