2026 US Open Cup Final Preview: Columbus Crew, St. Louis CITY trying to end trophy droughts

The 111th Lamar Hunt US Open Cup Final features two teams on distinctly different paths. For the Columbus Crew, it is a chance to not only win their first Open Cup championship since 2002 but also may be their only chance to win a trophy in 2026 as they have been stuck in the bottom half of the MLS Eastern Conference standings all year.

St. Louis CITY is not only aiming to win their first ever Open Cup but also to bring the trophy back to one of the cities that has historically been important to the competition. Add to the fact that St. Louis embarked on a historic 20-match unbeaten streak in MLS play that has them within reach of first place.

We will have live coverage of the 2026 US Open Cup Final on Wednesday night on social media (X and Blue Sky). The game will be broadcast live on Paramount+ and the CBS Sports Network.

Below you will find a preview of the game with a closer look at both finalists.

PREVIOUS MEETINGS

Columbus and St. Louis not only have never met in Open Cup play, but they’ve faced each other just twice all-time across all competitions. The first meeting came in St. Louis’ inaugural season in Leagues Cup group play on July 23, 2023. Thunderstorms delayed kickoff for four hours, and when play finally commenced, Columbus won 2-1. All the goals were scored by the Crew, with Lucas Zelarayán (now with Belgrano) and Cucho Hernandez (Real Betis) scoring in the 11th and 29th minutes respectively, and the Crew’s Jacen Russell-Rowe (Toulouse) accounting for an own goal.

The only other meeting came on April 12, 2025 during the MLS regular season, and Columbus once again were 2-1 winners. João Klauss put St. Louis up 1-0 in the 7th minute, but Steven Moreira leveled the score for Columbus in first half stoppage time and Diego Rossi scored the winning goal in the 55th minute.

ROAD TO THE FINAL

Columbus Crew

After a two-year absence from the Open Cup, the Crew easily defeated the Richmond Kickers of USL League One, 3-0. Hugo Picard scored the first two Crew goals in the 42nd and 63rd minutes, and Jamal Thiaré finished with a 73rd minute goal.

To get to the Quarterfinals, Columbus dispatched 2025 USL League One champions One Knoxville 4-1. Early on it seemed like Knoxville would be hard to handle as they tied the game one minute after Hugo Picard’s 10th minute goal. Picard scored again 13 minutes later to give the Crew a 2-1 halftime lead, then midway through the second half Dániel Gazdag and Chase Adams scored to put the game out of reach.

Columbus secured their spot in the Semifinals with a 1-0 home win over New York City FC. The lone goal came in the 59th minute when Nariman Akhundzada found Arfsten in space and finished past NYCFC goalkeeper Matt Freese.

The Crew returned to the Final for the first time since 2010 with a 2-1 win over Orlando City SC. Columbus took an early 1-0 lead on Josef Martinez’s 9th minute goal from short range. Orlando pulled even minutes before halftime, but in the 52nd Brias Mendez minute volleyed home a pass from Santiago Rodríguez to put the Crew up for good. Rodríguez earned TheCup.us Semifinal Player of the Round honors for assisting on both goals.

St. Louis CITY SC

St. Louis CITY had no trouble defeating the visiting FC Tulsa 4-0 in their opening game of the tournament (Third Round). Marcel Hartel (20’) and Jeong Sang-bin (36’) put St. Louis up 2-0 at the half and Mykhi Joyner (61’) and Tomás Ostrák (78’) closed out the scoring in the second half.

St. Louis gained their first ever trip to the Quarterfinals by ousting rivals Chicago Fire 2-1 in the Round of 16. After going down 1-0 in the 61st minute, Eduard Löwen assisted on Tomas Totland’s game tying goal in the 71st minute, Twelves minutes after coming on as a sub. Löwen then scored the go-ahead goal in the 78th minute. Lowen’s performance earned him a runner-up finish in the voting for TheCup.us Player of the Round.

In the Semifinals St. Louis needed penalty kicks to oust two-time Open Cup champions Houston Dynamo after a 2-2 draw. Marcel Hartel won TheCup.us Quarterfinal Player of the Round honors for his two-goal performance. Hartel opened the scoring in the 10th minute, then pulled St. Louis level at 2-2 with a 51st minute penalty kick. In the PK shootout, St. Louis converted four of their attempts while Houston had two of their kicks saved by goalkeeper Roman Burki.

To reach their first ever Open Cup Final, St. Louis turned in a commanding performance with a 3-0 win over the Colorado Rapids. Jeong Sang-bin put St. Louis up 1-0 at the half in the 32nd minute after stealing the ball from Rapids goalkeeper Adam Beaudry. Simon Becher and Alexandru Mățan added to the scoreline in the 52nd and 59th minutes.

LAST APPEARANCE IN THE FINAL

Columbus Crew 

The Crew made their last appearance in the Open Cup Final in 2010, when they lost to the Seattle Sounders 2-1. Wednesday’s Final will be the club’s third Open Cup championship game appearance for the Crew, with the previous two coming in 1998 and 2022. Kevin Burns scored his only goal as an MLS player in the 24th minute, but Seattle’s Sanna Nyassi would strike in the 38th and 66th minutes to win what would eventually be the Sounders second Open Cup Championship of three in a row, the others coming in 2009 and 2011.

St. Louis CITY SC

St. Louis CITY has never appeared in the Open Cup Final and are the first club from St. Louis to reach this point since 1988. That was also the last time a St. Louis team won an Open Cup Championship, when the Busch Seniors Soccer Club defeated San Francisco’s Greek American AC 2-1 after extra time at St. Louis Soccer Park in Fenton, Missouri..

John Hayes scored the winning goal in the 114th minute, hours after attending the wedding of his brother at noon that day. Assisting on the goal was longtime Busch teammate and four-year MISL veteran Dan Muesenfechter. Pat Olwig’s line-drive shot in the 71st minute tied the game 1-1 after Greek American AC took the lead in the 35th minute.

CURRENT FORM

Columbus Crew SC 

While Columbus has spent all season in the depths of the Eastern Conference standings, a recent surge has seen them climb back into playoff contention. After enduring a run in late July/early September that saw them lose six of seven games, the Crew won four out of their last five since the Open Cup Semifinals, including a 2-0 win over rivals FC Cincinnati on Oct. 18. The run puts the Crew within one point of the play-in game and six points of the main playoff field.

Diego Rossi leads the team with 6 goals, and Brais Mendez, Wessam Abou Ali and Taha Habourne have five each. Like St. Louis the Crews goal scoring has been spread out, with 16 different players scoring the team’s 46 goals. Mohamed Farsi leads the team with six assists, while six other players have four each.

Columbus Crew US Open Cup goalscorers

All-Time
Brian McBride – 8
Jeff Cunningham – 5
Dante Washington – 4
Edson Buddle – 4
Hugo Picard – 4
John Wilmar Perez – 4

2026
Hugo Picard** – 4
Brias Mendez – 1
Chase Adams – 1
Daniel Gazdag – 1
Jamal Thiare – 1
Josef Martinez – 1
Max Arfsten – 1

** departed to join ES Troyes AC (France) in July

St. Louis CITY FC

St. Louis fell one match short of entering the Open Cup Final with a historic unbeaten streak. A 20-game unbeaten streak, started on May 9, came to an end on Oct. 17 with a 3-2 loss to Minnesota United. The run equaled the record held by the 2016 New York Red Bulls. The streak enabled St. Louis to move from second to last in the MLS Western Conference to within four points of first place Vancouver.

Simon Becher and Rafael Navarro lead the team’s scoring attack with nine and eight goals respectively. Eighteen different players have accounted for St. Louis’ 56 goals in MLS play. Conrad Wallem and Tomas Totland lead in assists with nine and seven.

St. Louis CITY SC US Open Cup goalscorers

All-Time
Marcel Hartel – 4
Aziel Jackson – 2
Eduard Lowen – 2
Jeong Sang-bin – 2
Joao Klauss – 2

2026
Marcel Hartel – 3
Jeong Sang-bin – 2
Alexandru Matan – 1
Eduard Löwen – 1
Mykhi Joyner – 1
Simon Becher 1
Tomas Ostrak – 1
Tomas Totland – 1

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Columbus Crew SC
Major League Soccer | Columbus, OH
23rd US Open Cup appearance
How they qualified: Automatic Bid
Founded: 1996
Manager: Henrik Rydström
Overall: 29-18-3 (0-3 PK)
Home: 18-6-2 (0-2 PK)
vs. MLS: 11-12-2 (0-2 PK)
Best finish: Champions (2002)

Outside of the Crew’s three Open Cup finals appearances (1998, 2002 and 2010) and lifting the trophy in 2002, Columbus’ Open Cup history is not that impressive. They hold the third-longest streak in the Modern Era in exiting the tournament after two or fewer games (10 from 2011-2022). The Crew return to the Open Cup after a two-year absence, and their last appearance in 2023 broke that string of 10 tournaments where they exited after one or two games.

St. Louis CITY FC 
Major League Soccer | St. Louis, MO
3rd US Open Cup appearance
How they qualified: Automatic Bid
Founded: 2023
Manager: Yoann Damet
Overall: 5-2-1 (1-0 PK)
Away: 2-2-0
vs. MLS: 2-2-1 (1-0 PK)
Best finish: Fifth Round / Round of 16 (2025)

In the Modern Era, St. Louis’ Open Cup record has been a bit more modest. The St. Louis Lions of the PDL (now USL League Two) appeared in 2008 and 2009, failing to win a game. AC St. Louis was the first pro team in the Modern Era, making just one run in 2010, reaching the Third Round. The most successful club was Saint Louis FC of the USL, making five appearances from 2015-2019, making a run to the Quarterfinals in 2019, where they upset both the Chicago Fire and FC Cincinnati before losing to eventual champion Atlanta United FC 2-0.

The last St. Louis club to reach the Final was Busch SC in 1988. St. Louis was first represented in the Cup in 1920, with Ben Miller SC defeating Fore River FC 2-1 for the city’s first championship. St. Louis clubs would reach the final each year from 1920 to 1924. Stix, Baer & Fuller (aka Central Breweries and Shamrocks SC) reached the Final six straight times from 1932-1937, a feat unmatched in Open Cup history.

MORE: St. Louis’ historic US Open Cup legacy began in 1920 with Ben Miller FC