The 2026 Lamar Hunt US Open Cup is down to 16 teams, and three of them hail from the United Soccer Leagues. Those three teams will join the 13 remaining teams from Major League Soccer in the Round of 16, which is scheduled for the week of April 28-29.
Louisville City opened the round by ousting last year’s runner-up Austin FC, while later in the evening, the Colorado Springs Switchbacks dominated four-time champion Sporting Kansas City.
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Also on Tuesday, the Colorado Springs Switchbacks pulled off what might be the most surprising result as they cruised past the four-time US Open Cup champion Sporting Kansas City. Upsetting an MLS team for the first time wasn’t the shocking part. It was the 3-0 scoreline. The Switchbacks join an exclusive club of nine lower division teams in the Modern Era (1995-present) who have beaten an MLS team by three or more goals.
On Wednesday, the lone cupset came from the penalty spot as the defending USL League One champion One Knoxville SC eliminated three-time Open Cup champ D.C. United 6-5 in PKs after an exciting 3-3 draw. One Knox fell behind twice during regulation and extra time and came back to tie the game and ultimately advanced in a tiebreaker.
Not only did One Knox earn the club’s first upset of an MLS team, but they also won the $50,000 prize money as the Division 3 team that has lasted the longest. They joined Asheville City SC (USL-2) who won the amateur prize money after Round 2.
Out of the remaining 13 MLS teams in the Round of 16, only two of them (Chicago Fire FC, Houston Dynamo FC) have won the Open Cup multiple times. Chicago continue to seek a fifth tournament title, which would tie them for the all-time record. Houston has won it twice in 2018 and 2023.
Seven of those 13 MLS teams have never won the competition before.
Below you will find a brief recap of all 16 of the Round of 32 games with links to a full game recap (with video highlights).
TUESDAY, APRIL 14
New England Revolution (MLS)
1:1
Rhode Island FC (USL-C)
New England advances, 3-1 on PKs
Centreville Bank Stadium – Pawtucket, RI
By Michael Battista
The New England Revolution walked away as victors in the latest edition of the Route 1 Derby, knocking off local rivals Rhode Island FC 1-1 (3:1 PKs). The “home” game for the Revs, played at RIFC’s stadium due to FIFA World Cup prep at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, was slow to start. Both teams entered halftime scoreless with only two Revolution shots in the first 45 minutes.
In the 51st minute, NE’s Diego Fagúndez scored the game’s first goal. The Revs legend notched his first USOC goal for New England in nine years after leaving the team in 2020 but returning for this season. Rhode Island pushed for an equalizer and after 11 minutes of stoppage time, they got it off the head of JJ Williams to force extra time.
Two scoreless 15 minute halves forced penalty kicks. After both teams scored in Round 1, New England goalkeeper Donovan Parisian – making his debut with the first team after playing with the reserves for a season, stopped three straight penalty kick attempts. The Revs scored in Round 2 before Tanner Beason scored in Round 4 to send the Revolution into the next round.
[+] FULL MATCH REPORT (with video highlights)
Louisville City FC (USL-C)
2:1
Austin FC (MLS)
Lynn Family Stadium – Louisville, KY
By Josh Hakala
Two first half goals by Sean Totsch and Tola Showunmi were enough for Louisville CIty to hold on for a 2-1 upset of Austin FC. It was the USL Championship side’s first win over an MLS team since 2018 and snapped a six-game winless streak against teams from the top division.
Totsch opened the scoring in the 26th minute off a corner kick when he beat multiple defenders to a header in front of goal. It was his seventh career US Open Cup goal, which is the most of any Louisville City player in team history.
Showunmi’s tournament-leading fourth goal came six minutes later when he volleyed home a Manny Perez cross from the right wing.
CJ Fodrey, one of the heroes of Austin FC’s run to the Open Cup Final last year, scored a header to cut the lead in half in the 70th minute, but City was able to repell Austin for the remainder of the match.
[+] FULL MATCH REPORT (with video highlights)
Westchester SC (USL-1)
2:5
New York City FC (MLS)
Mount Vernon Memorial Field – Mount Vernon, NY
by Connor Bunnell
New York City FC entered the Open Cup fray with a dominant display Tuesday night, easily handling their USL League One hosts Westchester SC 5-2.
Two players in particular were essential to the City Boys’ dominance, and the first was quick to emerge from the shadows. In the 12th minute, young Argentinian winger Agustin Ojeda tried to distribute to Seymour Garfield-Reid in Westchester’s box, but received the ball back and scored to draw first blood. Ten minutes later, the Upstate underdogs responded by exploiting NYC’s weakness to setpieces and leveled the playing field, but that flame of hope quickly snuffed out when Westchester’s Conor McGlynn committed a handball in his own penalty box. That set the stage for the Pigeons’ other hero, Brazilian forward Talles Magno, who promptly delivered from the spot to put the visitors back in front.
Ojeda and Magno soon joined forces to help their side out the pedal to the metal, with the former assisting the latter’s second goal in the 36th, and the Argentinian followed it up by assisting a second time five minutes later, allowing Spanish midfielder Arnau Farnos to register his first ever professional goal.
With the score already 4-1 by halftime, things slowed down in the second half, but Magno wasn’t done yet. The Brazilian took a cross from Tayvon Gray and thwacked it home with a header, giving Magno a hat trick in the 70th minute. Westchester, to their credit, kept fighting, even clawing one back three minutes later courtesy of Kyle Evans, but the hole was just too deep, and New York City held the line the rest of the way to return to the Round of 16 for the first time in four years.
[+] FULL MATCH REPORT (with video highlights)
Detroit City FC (USL-C)
1:2
Chicago Fire FC (MLS)
Keyworth Stadium – Hamtramck, MI
By Tim Abbott
Jason Shokalook posted up his defender like an NBA center and hooked in the go-ahead goal in the 34th minute after an even opening half-hour. The same player then doubled the visitors’ lead with a crafty finish inside the right hand post only two minutes later.
A restless home crowd would ultimately have little to sink their teeth into as City saw a handful of good chances unfulfilled. The Fire had an astounding stat line of only two shots on target, both scored, until well past the hour mark. Darren Smith made it 2-1 from close in and almost immediately, a red card for Fire’s Puso Dithejane gave the hosts momentum but they were unable to find their way back. Connor Rutz had the best chance to tie the game with the man advantage but his curling shot went wide as Chicago added to its Modern Era record with a 48th tournament win.
[+] FULL MATCH REPORT (with video highlights)
Colorado Springs Switchbacks FC (USL-C)
3:0
Sporting Kansas City (MLS)
Weidner Field – Colorado Springs, CO
By Sam Brummitt
The Colorado Springs Switchbacks confidently put away the four-time US Open Cup champions, Sporting Kansas City with a 3-0 win in Colorado Springs, Colo. on Tuesday evening. The first half was all Colorado Springs, who played with a high tempo and aggressiveness on the ball, while Sporting KC seemed to often be half a step behind each pass and unable to progress the ball into the final third.
In the 12th minute, the Switchbacks’ Sadam Masereka moved the ball down the left wing and squared it to Juan Tejada to score. Masereka followed up on his assist with the Switchbacks’ second goal in the 31st minute. A poorly aimed backpass by Sporting KC’s Jayden Reid towards his own penalty box gave Maseraka an opportunity to intercept the pass and slot it past SKC’s goalkeeper, John Pulskamp.
After managing only one shot in the first half, Sporting KC showed more urgency and attacking prowess in the second half. However, Sporting KC’s composure began to slip as the game clock ran out. A scuffle between half a dozen players erupted in the 78th minute after a dangerous tackle by the Switchbacks’ Aidan Rocha on Sporting KC’s Magomed-Shapi Suleymanov. Amidst the scuffle, Suleymanov shoved Rocha to the ground and when the dust settled, Suleymanov was shown red and Rocha a yellow card. The Switchbacks’ Khori Bennett put the game away with a third goal in the 84th minute. With this dominant win, the Colorado Springs Switchbacks advance to the Round of 16 for the first time in the club’s history.
[+] FULL MATCH REPORT (with video highlights)
Colorado Rapids (MLS)
1:0
Union Omaha (USL-1)
DICK’s Sporting Goods Park – Commerce City, CO
By MaryBeth Zmuda
Colorado Rapids, one of 16 MLS teams to enter the round of 32 in the 2026 US Open Cup tournament, hosted USL League One’s Union Omaha at Dick’s Sporting Goods Park.
Colorado handed Omaha their exit from the tournament with a 1-0 victory.
The Rapids haven’t tasted Open Cup play since 2023 and Union was on a six-match win streak, so the odds of a cupset seemed to lean toward Omaha, but Colorado beat those odds.
Colorado opened and closed the scoring for the entire match in the 21st minute. Union’s defense made a dire mistake in the vicinity of their net. Colorado’s Dante Sealy was able to capitalize and send one into the bottom left corner giving the Rapids what would be the winning goal.
[+] FULL MATCH REPORT (with video highlights)
Sacramento Republic FC (USL-C)
0:0
Minnesota United FC (MLS)
Minnesota United FC advances, 9-8 on PKs
Heart Health Park – Sacramento, CA
By Jake Sillick
In a game that didn’t have many clear cut chances, it would be Minnesota United that would come out on top in the shootout in the end. Minnesota United did dominate possession roughly 67-33 in the game, and had the most chances, but nothing was finding the back of the net.
Sacramento did have their chances in the match, including one big one in the 115th minute that went right at goalkeeper Alec Smir and he saved it with his chest.
In the shootout’s third round, Sacramento’s Aaron Essel had a unique kick, quickly kicking it after placing it and an extremely short run up. It would be saved by Smir, keeping things at 2-2 in the shootout. We would see things go all the way to the 11th round where keepers end up having to take penalties. Smir’s penalty was hit too hight, but he would end up saving Danny Vitiello’s penalty to send it back to the start and the 12th round. Finally in that round, Dominik Wanner would miss his penalty to the right and that would end it at 9-8 in 12 rounds of PKs. It would finish as the second-longest PK shootout of the Modern Era.
[+] FULL MATCH REPORT (with video highlights)
WEDNESDAY, APRIL 15
FC Naples (USL-1)
0:1
Orlando City SC (MLS)
Paradise Coast Sports Complex – Naples, FL
By Jordan Beech
A goal inside the first half hour proved the difference as USL League One upstarts FC Naples fell, 1-0, to Orlando City SC.
Tyrese Spicer scored the match’s lone goal in the 18th minute when he fired home from long distance off Braian Ojeda’s assist. Orlando City keeper Javier Otero was tested on the night, but proved equal to the task with seven saves to secure the clean sheet.
With the win, Orlando City SC is headed back to the Round of 16 for the second straight year where they will face the New England Revolution.
[+] FULL MATCH REPORT (with video highlights)
Richmond Kickers (USL-1)
0:3
Columbus Crew SC (MLS)
City Stadium – Richmond, VA
By Xavier Thompson
The Richmond Kickers held their own early on home turf against the Columbus Crew in the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup, coming out aggressive and even creating a few real chances in the early minutes . For a stretch, it looked like one of those classic Open Cup moments where the lower division side could challenge for an upset, but they were unable to capitalize on their early momentum.
The turning point came just minutes before halftime when Columbus’ Andres Herrera broke through and found Hugo Picard on the back post, shifting the entire energy of the game. From there, the Crew settled in and began to control possession, tempo, and spacing, eventually adding two more goals in the second half. Their quality and depth showed as they dictated the match from the goal onwards and limited Richmond’s ability to respond.
Columbus will host the last remaining USL League One team, One Knoxville SC, in the Round of 16.
[+] FULL MATCH REPORT (with video highlights)
D.C. United (MLS)
3:3
One Knoxville SC (USL-1)
One Knoxville advances, 6-5 in PKs
Audi Field – Washington, D.C.
By Clement Williams
In their first ever Open Cup matchup against MLS competition, One Knoxville SC pulled off a dramatic penalty shootout upset on-the-road over D.C. United, following a wild 3–3 draw in extra time.
The first goal of the game wouldn’t come until the second half when United received an impressive long-range strike from Matti Peltola in the 61st minute.
Rather than capitulate. Knoxville showed their mettle to find their way back into the cup-tie. They seized back control of the game with a well-worked Braudílio Rodrigues shot that tied the game in the 75th minute. Then, just three minutes later, substitute and leading scorer Denis Krioutchenkov’s first touch on the field grabbed the Tennesseans an exhilarating 2–1 advantage.
Yet such joy was short-lived as their higher division foes would equalize only four minutes later to send the match into extra time via Nikola Markovic’s header.
In the 97th minute of extra time, DCU goalkeeper Alex Bono’s long ball was unfortunately misjudged by his opposite number Jonathan Burke, and Peglow restored D.C.’s lead. It seemed then that Knoxville’s cinderella story was up. But then, their goal-machine Krioutchenkov dramatically grabbed his second of the night in the 112th minute to force a penalty shootout.
Both teams held their nerve and were perfect from the spot through their first five, until Burke was able to atone for his extra time error, denying Gabriel Pirani’s attempt! Kyle Linhares was then able to convert the decisive kick and seal a famous 6–5 penalty victory: completing a memorable cupset for Knoxville and sending them into the next round to face the Columbus Crew.
[+] FULL MATCH REPORT (with video highlights)
New York Red Bulls (MLS)
3:1
Pittsburgh Riverhounds SC (USL-C)
Sports Illustrated Stadium – Harrison, NJ
By Jordan Beech
Paced by Julian Hall’s brace, the New York Red Bulls dispatched the Pittsburgh Riverhounds, 3-1, on Wednesday night in the Round of 32. The win secures Michael Bradley’s outfit passage to the Round of 16 in back-to-back years for the second time in five years.
Emil Forsberg drew first blood for NYRB in the 25th minute when he placed his free kick in the top right corner. Three minutes later, Hall found space in the middle of the box and fired home to double the advantage.
Hall and Forsberg linked up quickly in the second half, with Hall scoring the hosts’ third goal in the 47th minute. Trevor Amann managed to pull one back for the Riverhounds to provide the final score of the evening.
It will be an Empire State affair in the next round as NYRB are slated to host New York City FC in an Open Cup-edition of the Hudson River Derby.
[+] FULL MATCH REPORT (with video highlights)
Chattanooga FC (MLSNP)
1:3
Atlanta United FC (MLS)
Finley Stadium – Chattanooga, TN
By Ashle Lynn Paige
After 90 minutes the visiting side certainly was breathing a sigh of relief after coming away with a 3–1 win. After giving up an early goal, Atlanta United was forced to come back from down 1-0 and at times it looked as if Chattanooga FC would be the team advancing.
Just six minutes into the contest Yves Tcheuyap put the hosts on the board first at Finley Stadium with a beautiful finish near the edge of the penalty area. 15 minutes later Cayman Togashi hit a sliding shot to level the day after a low cross from Ajani Fortune.
Atlanta’s Fabrice Picaul scored what ended up being the match winner in the 64th on a shot that took a deflection off a player and cracked the post before finally ending up in goal. Pedro Amador put the nail in the coffin with a 76th minute, putting in a loose ball off a one touch shot inside the box.
[+] FULL MATCH REPORT (with video highlights)
Charlotte FC (MLS)
6:0
Charlotte Independence (USL-1)
Mecklenburg County Sportsplex – Matthews, NC
By Tavio Palazzolo
In a battle for the Queen City, the MLS side Charlotte FC made easy work of USL League One side Charlotte Independence, winning 6-0 at the Mecklenburg County Sportsplex. Charlotte FC advances to the Round of 16 for the fourth time in the four years they’ve competed in the US Open Cup.
An early red card to Independence goalkeeper Giorgios Tasouris for challenging Archie Goodwin just outside the box put them down to 10 and forced in their substitute goalkeeper Matthew Levy. This gave the Crown the opening they needed to start their onslaught.
Goodwin would get the opening goal just before halftime, then five more would score in the second half as Charlotte FC would have six different goalscorers. Henry Kessler, Nimfasha Berchimas, David Schnegg (who would score on a direct free kick), Kerwin Vargas, and Baye Coulibaly all found their way onto the scoresheet. Moving on to the Round of 16, Charlotte FC will host Atlanta United FC.
[+] FULL MATCH REPORT (with video highlights)
St. Louis CITY SC (MLS)
4:0
FC Tulsa (USL-C)
Energizer Park – St. Louis, MO
By Tim Abbott
It was a stroll for St Louis, with four very distinctive goals and an unarguable red card for Tulsa. Marcel Hartel in the 20th minute, floated a ball from the edge of the area into the top corner of the goal. It was 2-0 after a Roman Burki GK punt downfield bounced clear of the defense and Sang Bin Jeong applied the finishing touch.
Mykhi Joiner whipped a beautifully curled free kick from the edge of the penalty arc for the third goal and the home team went up a man after Lucas Stauffer pulled back a City attacker by his jersey when he was almost clear. Tomas Ostrak completed the rout with a low shot fired in at the near post in the 77th minute.
[+] FULL MATCH REPORT (with video highlights)
Houston Dynamo FC (MLS)
4:1
El Paso Locomotive FC (USL-C)
Shell Energy Stadium – Houston, TX
By Jake Sillick
This one got started with some major fireworks early as the Houston Dynamo would score on a bicycle kick by Ondrej Lingr less than 2 minutes into the match. Kofi Twumasi would then take down a Dynamo player just outside the box and be the last man, resulting in an automatic red card for denying an obvious goal scoring opportunity. El Paso were down to 10 men just 25 minutes into the match and it would stay that way the rest of the game.
Not to be outdone by Lingr, Mateusz Bogusz scored even quicker into the second half, scoring 30 seconds into the second half. Dynamo goals by Nick Markanich in the 58th and Ezequiel Ponce in the 80th would round out this match. A consolation goal was scored by El Paso Locomotive in the 75th minute by Roberto Avila, but Houston advances to host Louisville City FC (USL-C).
[+] FULL MATCH REPORT (with video highlights)
San Jose Earthquakes (MLS)
2:0
Phoenix Rising FC (USL-C)
PayPal Park – San Jose, CA
By Jake Sillick
San Jose got off to a quick start in the 3rd minute, scoring through Nick Fernandez off a short corner from the top of the box. They would then follow up 20 minutes later with another goal as Jack Jacinski found a plethora of space and made a nice low shot past the keeper.
Things would get interesting just before half as Jonathan Gonzalez of the Earthquakes would make a huge blunder, committing his second professional foul in the half and would be sent off for his second yellow card in the 39th minute. San Jose would be up 2 goals at half, but down a man.
The second half saw a lot of chances for Phoenix, but despite having a man advantage on the field, they couldn’t find the back of the net, and San Jose held on for the victory.