How an amateur club reaches the U.S. Open Cup
Updated for the 2027 U.S. Open Cup, whose qualifying rounds are played in fall 2026.
In recent years, more than a hundred amateur clubs a year, from city-league sides to national amateur regulars, start down a road that can end in a match against a professional team. That road is qualifying for the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup, and it is more open than most fans realize.
The Open Cup has crowned U.S. Soccer's national club champion since 1914. It is a knockout tournament: lose once and you're out. U.S. Soccer calls it the only U.S. team sport competition in which amateurs have the chance to play professionals directly.
A few terms first
Open Division: U.S. Soccer's category for every Open Cup team that doesn't come from a professional league.
Tournament proper: the main tournament, starting with its First Round. This is where Open Division survivors meet professional teams, after the qualifying rounds.
Bye: advancing past a round without playing. In qualifying, byes keep the bracket even. Some Open Division clubs also get byes straight into the tournament proper (more below).
Why qualifying starts the fall before
The qualifying spots in a given year's Open Cup are decided the previous fall, months before its tournament proper begins in the spring, so one year's Cup can still be finishing while amateur clubs are already playing for the next.
Who can enter
The bar is lower than many fans assume. Under Section 202 of U.S. Soccer's Open Cup Policy, a team entering through the Open Division must meet six conditions:
It is an outdoor team based in the United States.
Its club or league is affiliated with a U.S. Soccer member organization.
Its league has at least four teams. Each team plays at least 10 league games a calendar year, not counting preseason, playoff or cup matches.
It is in good standing with its league and stays that way through the competition.
If its league is in its first season, the league must have started its schedule at least 30 days before the entry deadline.
If the team is new to an existing league, it must have started that league's schedule at least 30 days before the deadline.
Each club may enter only one team. Clubs register in the summer, pay entry and referee fees, post a refundable bond and name a home field at least 100 yards by 65. A host must provide a certified athletic trainer. According to the Open Division Handbook, every qualifying entrant "will start on equal footing," whatever its level or league.
Where the leagues sit
U.S. Soccer classifies the professional leagues in the Open Cup by division:
Division I: Major League Soccer (MLS).
Division II: the USL Championship.
Division III: USL League One and MLS Next Pro.
The United Soccer League (USL) runs the Championship and League One.
Everyone else is Open Division, including national amateur leagues: USL League Two, which the USL describes as a developmental league where top college players can compete without losing their eligibility; the National Premier Soccer League (NPSL); and the United Premier Soccer League (UPSL). It also includes multi-state leagues such as The League for Clubs (TLFC), whose champion earns a bye, and regional or local leagues such as the Midwest Premier League (MWPL).
How qualifying works
U.S. Soccer schedules up to four qualifying rounds on fall weekends. Depending on how many clubs enter, some start in the first round and the rest get byes into the second. Each round after that halves the field.
There is no seeding. The handbook says matchups are set geographically to limit travel, with random selection used where practicable for exact pairings. A random draw decides the host. Both teams can agree to move a game to the Wednesday, Thursday or Friday before the weekend, if they ask within the handbook's deadline. Tied games go to extra time and, if needed, penalties.
In qualifying, the handbook makes each visiting club responsible for its own travel costs, with one significant exception. A team traveling more than 300 miles between the two clubs' primary venues, when bus or air travel is warranted, can ask U.S. Soccer for reimbursement of round-trip airfare for up to 20 people or a round-trip coach bus. Requests must be made in advance, in writing, with a quote. Lodging, meals and local transportation stay with the team.
Qualifying is only one way in. U.S. Soccer also gives some Open Division clubs byes straight into the tournament proper, based on results in designated competitions such as national amateur cups and league championships. It reviews that allocation every year. The Des Moines Menace, for example, reached the 2026 tournament as a USL League Two qualifier without playing a fall qualifying round, then lost 3-0 to Indy Eleven in the First Round.
The tournament proper, and the gap
In recent editions, Open Division clubs have entered in the First Round against professional teams from Divisions II and III, and MLS clubs have joined in a later round. The Open Division club that advances furthest receives the John Motta Trophy, prize money and a bye into the next year's tournament proper.
The 2026 First Round showed both sides. On March 18, 2026, BOHFS St. Louis, an MWPL club that had come through qualifying, lost 8-0 at home to Union Omaha of USL League One. U.S. Soccer called it the largest margin of victory in the tournament proper since 2017. That same night, Asheville City SC of USL League Two beat Greenville Triumph SC 3-1, and Valley 559 FC of the UPSL won 1-0 at AV ALTA FC. Greenville and AV ALTA both play in USL League One. By the end of the round, seven of the 32 Open Division clubs had reached the Second Round, one of them on a forfeit. Asheville City went on to win the Motta Trophy.
What to watch in any round
When pairings come out. U.S. Soccer announces each round's matchups and schedule in a release and on its schedule page at ussoccer.com/us-open-cup.
Who hosts. The host draw is random. Look for midweek moves under the Wednesday–Friday option.
League calendars. Some amateur leagues play fall seasons, so league fixtures can land on Open Cup weekends.
The last step. Win the final qualifying round and a club is in the tournament proper.
THIS CYCLE: the 2027 U.S. Open Cup (figures as of 7:28 a.m. CT, Oct. 10, 2026)
Entry and fees: entry ran July 9–Aug. 4, 2026. Fees: $200 entry, $400 referee, and a $1,500 bond returned 60 days after elimination, minus any fines. The furthest-advancing Open Division club wins at least $50,000.
Field: a record 155 clubs entered qualifying. The UPSL sent the most, with 63. No Iowa club entered.
Qualifying windows: Sept. 12–13, Oct. 3–4, Oct. 31–Nov. 1 and Nov. 21–22, 2026.
Tournament proper: 32 Open Division clubs (16 qualifiers and 16 byes) meet 32 Division II and III pro teams in the First Round on April 13–14 and 20–21, 2027.
The Round of 64, July 8–11, adds the 27 U.S.-based MLS clubs and five seeded USL Championship teams.
The final is Dec. 15, 2027. U.S. Soccer lists these dates as subject to change.
Byes into the tournament proper:
The champions of the U.S. Adult Soccer Association (USASA) Amateur Cup, the Steinbrecher Cup, the NPSL, The League for Clubs, the UPSL spring season and USL League Two.
Motta Trophy holder Asheville City SC.
Extra slots: six for USL League Two, two for the NPSL and one for the UPSL, plus one more each for USL League Two and the NPSL, whose champions had qualified another way.
Those six titles are held by four clubs, so the 16 byes are four champions, the Motta holder and 11 league designees.
None of the 16 is from Kansas, Missouri, Iowa or Nebraska.
Our region: for current results from LLR's six-state region (Kansas, Missouri, Iowa, Nebraska, Oklahoma and Illinois), see LLR's Round 3 brief.
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