While we still wait for the fourth and final Quarterfinal match of the 2025 Lamar Hunt US Open Cup, qualifying for the 2026 edition has been ongoing in the amateur/open division. USL League Two has been a mainstay in the US Open Cup since 1995 when the Richmond Kickers represented the league then known as the USISL Premier League. Every year since, many of the best USL-2 teams take part in the US Open Cup and have pulled off 61 upsets of professional teams.
US Soccer recently announced new changes for Open Division qualifying. There is no longer a “National League Track” which required all USL League Two teams to be entered in this “track” and only be able to enter the US Open Cup through their league results from the previous season. In the past, those teams could not enter in the fall qualifying tournament because of this.
Instead, starting this year, the Open Cup committee will determine the number of direct first round proper entries for the league, and league results will determine who receive byes into the first round proper next March, similar to past years. Then, after those byes are given out, every other team in the league will be eligible to enter fall qualifying starting in Sept. 2025, if they so choose.
TheCup.us can confirm through a copy of the 2026 Open Division Qualifying handbook that the number of direct first round entries for USL League Two will be nine teams. This is the same number of teams as for the 2025 US Open Cup, which is down from past years overall. USL League Two has received as many as 21 entries in the Open Cup in 2017. However, more teams could earn their way through fall qualifying this time around.
US Soccer says that when a league receives a single direct bye into the first round proper, it must be the league champion. For leagues like USL League Two with multiple slots, it must be done using a method that has sporting merit and is approved by US Soccer, with considerations for geography so that most of the slots are not all concentrated in one area of the country.
USL League Two has had a consistent process for determining their slots in the US Open Cup, prioritizing, for the most part, regular season results, with division champions getting in first. Only the overall league champion will receive a slot in the first round before any regular season division champion. Besides that one team, USL League Two playoff results are irrelevant to the US Open Cup process. In fact, prior to 2021, it was only regular season results that counted for Open Cup purposes, and the league champion was not automatically given the first slot.
Should a team not want to participate in the US Open Cup, their spot will instead go to the next team in line in a list until all slots are accepted. In that way, it’s better to consider these nine invitations into the first round. Invitations will be given out in the following order:
- The 2025 USL League Two champion
- The regular season division champions, ordered by regular season record only, by points per match played, then wins per match played, then goal difference per match played, and then goals scored per matched played.
- All non division champions, ordered by regular season record only, by points per match played, then wins per match played, then goal difference per match played, and then goals scored per match played.
Based on past years, about 50% of the teams will accept their invitation, and 50% of them will decline them. There are 19 divisions in USL League Two for 2025. With the overall league champion making a max of 20 teams, it is highly unlikely a non division champion that does not win the league championship will be invited to the 2026 US Open Cup. Last season was the first time only regular season division champions were invited.
Here is a table listing the (to be determined) USL League Two champion and the regular season division champions in order for US Open Cup purposes. We expect all 9 teams to come from this list, but will update this list with more teams if we hear of more declined invitations than expected.
* – West Chester United cannot accept an invitation, as they are already in the Open Cup for winning the USASA Amateur Cup
| Place | Team | MP | W | L | T | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Pts/MP | W/MP | GD/MP | GF/MP |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Vermont Green FC (Champion) | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | — | – | – | – | – |
| 2 | FC Motown STA | 12 | 11 | 0 | 1 | 36 | 9 | 27 | 34 | 2.83 | 0.92 | 2.25 | 3.00 |
| 3 | Laredo Heat SC | 12 | 11 | 1 | 0 | 36 | 12 | 24 | 33 | 2.75 | 0.92 | 2.00 | 3.00 |
| 4 | Asheville City SC | 12 | 10 | 0 | 2 | 43 | 3 | 40 | 32 | 2.67 | 0.83 | 3.33 | 3.58 |
| 5 | Des Moines Menace | 12 | 10 | 1 | 1 | 43 | 15 | 28 | 31 | 2.58 | 0.83 | 2.33 | 3.58 |
| 6 | Sarasota Paradise | 12 | 9 | 1 | 2 | 37 | 8 | 29 | 29 | 2.42 | 0.75 | 2.42 | 3.08 |
| 7 | Northern Virginia FC | 14 | 10 | 1 | 3 | 39 | 18 | 21 | 33 | 2.36 | 0.71 | 1.50 | 2.79 |
| 8 | Ventura County Fusion | 12 | 9 | 2 | 1 | 33 | 11 | 22 | 28 | 2.33 | 0.75 | 1.83 | 2.75 |
| 9 | Fort Wayne FC | 12 | 9 | 2 | 1 | 24 | 8 | 16 | 28 | 2.33 | 0.75 | 1.33 | 2.00 |
| 10 | Flint City Bucks | 12 | 9 | 3 | 0 | 30 | 11 | 19 | 27 | 2.25 | 0.75 | 1.58 | 2.50 |
| 11 | Little Rock Rangers | 12 | 8 | 1 | 3 | 25 | 6 | 19 | 27 | 2.25 | 0.67 | 1.58 | 2.08 |
| 12 | Steel City FC | 12 | 8 | 1 | 3 | 26 | 12 | 14 | 27 | 2.25 | 0.67 | 1.17 | 2.17 |
| 13 | Salem City FC | 12 | 8 | 1 | 3 | 24 | 14 | 10 | 27 | 2.25 | 0.67 | 0.83 | 2.00 |
| 14 | Minneapolis City SC | 12 | 8 | 2 | 2 | 31 | 17 | 14 | 26 | 2.17 | 0.67 | 1.17 | 2.58 |
| 15 | Ballard FC | 14 | 9 | 2 | 3 | 36 | 7 | 29 | 30 | 2.14 | 0.64 | 2.07 | 2.57 |
| 16 | Utah United | 12 | 8 | 3 | 1 | 28 | 9 | 19 | 25 | 2.08 | 0.67 | 1.58 | 2.33 |
| 17 | Sporting JAX | 12 | 8 | 3 | 1 | 23 | 11 | 12 | 25 | 2.08 | 0.67 | 1.00 | 1.92 |
| 18 | West Chester United SC* | 12 | 7 | 1 | 4 | 30 | 17 | 13 | 25 | 2.08 | 0.58 | 1.08 | 2.50 |
| 19 | Almaden FC | 14 | 9 | 4 | 1 | 27 | 12 | 15 | 28 | 2.00 | 0.64 | 1.07 | 1.93 |