The League For Clubs

2027 US Open Cup Qualifying: Pensacola FC wins League for Clubs title, punches first ticket to USOC

July 29, 2026 by Chuck Nolan Jr.

Pensecola FC celebrates after defeating Iron Rose FC 1-0 after extra time to win the 2026 League For Clubs championship. Photo: Pensecola FC — Pensacola FC celebrates after defeating Iron Rose FC 1-0 after extra time to win the 2026 League For Clubs championship. Photo: Pensacola FC

Given new life with a forfeit win over Capital City FC in the South Region Final after a 3-1 loss originally, Pensacola FC not only claimed their first League for Clubs championship but also earned a spot in the 2027 Lamar Hunt US Open Cup. The side from Florida won the title last weekend at Norma Knobel Hunt Stadium on the campus of the University of North Texas in Denton, Texas with a 1-0 extra time win over .

US Soccer expanded their automatic berth allotment on the amateur side of the competition, including The League for Clubs champion for the first time. The League was founded in 2024 and has quickly grown to include teams from across the country.

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SEMIFINALS

Met Oval Academy (NY)
2:4
Pensacola FC (FL)
Norma Knobel Hunt Stadium – Denton, TX

South region champions Pensacola FC ensured there would be a new League for Clubs Champion after knocking off the 2025 winners Met Oval Academy, 4-2, in the opener of The League for Clubs National Semifinals.

The clubs traded goals in the opening half with Pensacola striking first in the 14th minute when Chente Molina scored from a shot outside the penalty area. Met Oval responded 25 minutes later when Balthi Saunders made good on a penalty kick.

Just four minutes into the second half Pensacola went up 2-1. A corner kick played outside the penalty area found the foot of Rafael Esteves, who blasted a shot from 25 yards out to give Pensacola the lead. It would take Met Oval just seven minutes to respond when Ensa Sanneh fed Rafael Esteves in front of the goal for an easy score.

Five minutes later the game would change for good with a pair of goals for Pensacola in the span of three minutes. First, in the 61st, Marcus Pereira and Rodrigo Bacci played give and go, with Bacci scoring from the top of the box. Two minutes later Pensacola found some breathing room when Sy Fontenot beat the goalkeeper with a long-range ground shot.

BROADCAST

Iron Rose FC (NY)
3:2
Oklahoma United FC (OK)
Norma Knobel Hunt Stadium – Denton, TX

After a quiet opening 25 minutes Iron Rose took a 1-0 lead on Moshi Wilondja’s from distance that appeared to take a deflection off another player. Belgian Harry Tremblez leveled the score for Oklahoma United after heading in a free kick.

In 53rd minute Arjan Dosanjh jumped on a rebound from a save from Oklahoma goalkeeper Alexis Bertrand, dribbling around Bertrand to score on a tight angled shot. In the 71st minute Oklahoma United shot themselves in the foot when a defender sent a back pass to Bertrand that the goalkeeper was not ready for, resulting in an own goal.

Oklahoma United found a bit of hope in the final ten minutes when they were awarded a penalty kick in the 81st minute when Nickell Alexander was brought down in the box, and Kareem Willikams stepped up and made the game 3-2. Oklahoma United pressed for the equalizer but Iron Rose was abler to withstand the pressure to book their spot in the League for Clubs Final.

BROADCAST

LEAGUE FOR CLUBS NATIONAL FINAL

Iron Rose FC (CA)
0:1
Pensacola FC (FL)
After Extra Time
Norma Knobel Hunt Stadium – Denton, TX

In a Championship matchup featuring the top two scoring teams in the 2026 season, Pensacola FC (49 goals) and Iron Rose FC (46 goals) battled in scoreless deadlock for 90 minutes in the Denton, Texas heat.

Pensacola had an excellent chance to win the game in regulation when in the 71st minute Iron Rose goalkeeper Lucas Bost fouled Rafael Esteves while diving to stop a pass. Manuel Molina took the penalty kick and struck the crossbar, leaving the game 0-0.

In the 113th minute Pensacola got its second chance from the penalty spot when Joseph Dotson was pulled down in the middle of the box. Brazilian Rafael Estevez stepped up and beat Iron Rose goalkeeper Lucas Bost to his left for the lone goal of the game.

The last team from the Florida panhandle to appear in the U.S. Open Cup were the Panama City Beach Pirates of the PDL (USL League Two) in 2014.

https://www.facebook.com/share/v/18FtQ9s1NH/ (FB link to PK video)

2027 US Open Cup Qualifying: The League For Clubs semifinalists seeking first tournament berth

July 21, 2026 by Chuck Nolan Jr.

For the first time, the champion from The League for Clubs will earn an automatic berth into Lamar Hunt US Open Cup. The winners of the four regional playoffs, Oklahoma United FC, Pensacola FC, Iron Rose FC and Metropolitan Oval Academy have advanced to the national semifinals. There they will meet at University of North Texas’ Norma Knobel Hunt Stadium in Denton, Texas on July 24 and 26 to determine a league champion. That team will then earn a spot in the 2027 US Open Cup.

Below is a recap of each of the regional finals.

July 20, 2026
EAST REGION FINAL
Metropolitan Oval Academy 5:1 Atlantic City FC
Metropolitan Oval – Queens, NY

For the second year in a row, Metropolitan Oval Academy squared off with Atlantic City FC for the East Division title. In 2025 Met Oval came out on top 1-0 on their way to winning in inaugural League for Clubs Championship. Postponed from July 18 due to heavy rainfall in the Queens, NY area, the game kicked off two days later. To get to the get to the East Final, Atlantic City knocked off First State FC 4-0 and Met Oval bested Kingston Stockade FC 2-0.

Met Oval wasted no time jumping out to a 1-0 advantage, as Carlo Brown scored off a pass from Justin Jean-Louis. Carlo Brown and Jean-Louis teamed up again in the 60th minute to extend the lead. Jean-Louis picked up a blocked shot and lobbed the ball to Brown, who saw his initial header stopped but was able to score from the rebound. The flood gates opened from there as it would quickly be 4-0 for Met Oval. In the 63rd minute Andy Kasza performed a give and go with Balthazar Saunders, resulting in a goal for the latter. Two minutes later it was Brown providing an assist to Saunders to make it 4-0.

Atlantic City picked up a consolation goal in the 82nd minute, and Saunders completed his hat-trick with a long range shot in the 85th minute to complete a commanding 5-1 win for Met Oval.

July 18, 2026
CENTRAL REGION FINAL
Oklahoma United FC 1:0 Tulsa Athletic
Chad Richardson Stadium – Edmond, OK

If Tulsa Athletic plans to make an eighth appearance in the US Open Cup, they’ll have to navigate the Open Division qualifying tournament this fall after dropping a 1-0 decision to Oklahoma United FC in the Central Conference Final at Edmond, Oklahoma. Oklahoma United came into the game with an 8-1-1 record during the regular season, while Tulsa finished 5-1-4.

Just as it looked like the teams would enter halftime scoreless, Oklahoma United scored the lone goal of the game, in the first minute stoppage time Tucker Austin sent a pass through the penalty area that managed to get past three Tulsa defenders to reach Kai Phillip who blasted a shot to the top corner of the goal.

July 18, 2026
SOUTH REGION FINAL
Pensacola FC W:L Capital City SC
Round Rock Multi-Purpose Complex – Round Rock, TX
Capital City won original match 3-1 but was disqualified for using an ineligible player

After a comeback in the final 15 minutes appeared to send Capital City SC to The League for Clubs National Finals, a few days later the dream turned into a nightmare. The Round Rock, Texas club was disqualified after it was found that they used an ineligible player.

Pensacola took a 1-0 lead in the 31st minute when Sy Fontenot flicked in a corner kick from Rafa Machado. The score stood at 1-0 until the 83rd minute when Capital City were awarded a penalty kick. Ryan Hasty, who came on as a sub five minutes earlier, stepped up and tied the game 1-1. About five minutes later a Capital City free kick dropped to the feet of Alex Loya who pounded the ball home for a 2-1 lead. Finally deep into second half stoppage time Martin Valdez put the game away to make it 3-1 Capital City.

However, On Monday evening, two days after the game, it was announced by The League for Clubs that Capital City would forfeit the match due to use of an ineligible player. As a result the 7-3-0 Pensacola FC will instead move on to the National Finals on July 24 and 26.

July 11, 2026
WEST REGION FINAL
San Ramon FC 1:6 Iron Rose FC
Tiffany Roberts Soccer Field – San Ramon, CA

Iron Rose FC of Roseville, Calif. avenged a 4-3 defeat to San Ramon back on June 6 with a dominating 6-1 win on July 11 in the West Region Final to put them in the League for Clubs National Finals in Denton, Texas. Bouncing back after missing the playoffs in 2025, the 8-1-1 Iron Rose FC rolled through the NorCal Conference playoffs, defeating the Sonoma County Sol 4-1 and eliminating Afghan Premier 5-0. On the other end of the bracket 2026 Open Cup qualifiers San Ramon FC (9-0-1), the team that handed Iron Rose their only loss of the season, defeated Albion SC Silicon Valley 4-0 and survived a 5-4 goal-fest with Fuego U-23s.

Iron Rose jumped out to a 1-0 lead five minutes before halftime when Moshi Wilondja tapped in a pass from the left side of the penalty area. Almost ten minutes into the second half Wilondja made it 2-0 by finishing a counterattack. Wilondja has previous experience in the Open Cup, scoring the lone goal for FC Folsom in their 2-1 loss to Central Valley Fuego in the First Round of the 2024 US Open Cup.

In the 59th minute Iron Rose went up 3-0 after Isaac Sandoval tucked away a penalty kick. Jonathan Montoya netted the lone score for San Ramon in the 65th minute, but by then it was too little too late as Iron Rose would follow with three more goals. Jalen Scott made it 4-1 in the 80th minute, and Arjan Dosanjh, also a member of the 2024 FC Folsom team, scored the final two in the 87th and 90th minutes.