CHICAGO (February 5, 2025) – The 2025 Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup – U.S. Soccer’s annual club championship – kicks off with a 32-game First Round between March 18 and 20 made up exclusively of Pro vs. Amateur contests.

The Amateur teams in the 2025 First Round will consist of the 14 survivors from last fall’s Open Cup Qualifying Rounds, the 2024 USASA National Amateur Champion NY Pancyprian Freedoms, the UPSL Spring Champion Soda City FC of South Carolina, seven teams from the National Premier Soccer League (NPSL) and nine more from USL League Two. Their opponents from the Professional ranks will be eight clubs from the Division II USL Championship, 14 from the Division III USL League One and 10 from MLS NEXT Pro.

This is the second year in a row that sees the Open Cup First Round comprised exclusively of Pro vs. Amateur matchups – thus creating massive potential for dramatic outcomes and underdog storylines. The 2024 Open Cup First Round produced no fewer than seven upsets, setting the table for more drama this year.

2025 Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup First Round 
Tuesday, March 18
Hartford Athletic vs. New York Shockers, 6:30 p.m. ET
Sarasota Paradise vs. FC Naples, 7 p.m. ET
Miami FC vs. Naples United FC, 7 p.m. ET
New Jersey Alliances vs. Chattanooga Red Wolves SC, 7 p.m. ET
FC Motown vs. Westchester SC, 7:30 p.m. ET
Asheville City SC vs. Greenville Triumph SC, 7:30 p.m. ET
West Chester United SC vs. Loudoun United FC, 7:30 p.m. ET
Texoma FC vs. FORO SC, 8 p.m. ET
Tulsa Athletic vs. FC Tulsa, 8:30 p.m. ET
AV ALTA FC vs. Ventura County Fusion, 10:30 p.m. ET

Wednesday, March 19
Columbus Crew 2 vs. NY Renegades, 6 p.m. ET
Chattanooga FC vs. Corpus Christi FC, 6:30 p.m. ET
Appalachian FC vs. One Knoxville SC, 7 p.m. ET
Richmond Kickers vs. Virginia Dream, 7 p.m. ET
Inter Miami CF II vs. Miami United FC, 7 p.m. ET
Sporting Kansas City II vs. Des Moines Menace, 7:30 p.m. ET
Lexington SC vs. Southern Indiana FC, 7:30 p.m. ET
Little Rock Rangers FC vs. Birmingham Legion FC, 8 p.m. ET
El Paso Locomotive FC vs. Harpos FC, 9 p.m. ET
Real Monarchs vs. El Farolito, 9:30 p.m. ET
Monterey Bay FC vs. International San Francisco, 10 p.m. ET
Ventura County FC vs. Laguna United FC, 10:30 p.m. ET
Ballard FC vs. Spokane Velocity FC, 10:30 p.m. ET
Los Angeles FC 2 vs. FC Arizona, 10:30 p.m. ET

Thursday, March 20
Portland Hearts of Pine vs. CD Faialense, 6:30 p.m. ET
Long Island Rough Riders vs. Charlotte Independence, 7 p.m. ET
Forward Madison FC vs. Duluth FC, 7 p.m. ET
South Georgia Tormenta FC vs. Harbor City FC, 7 p.m. ET
Carolina Core FC vs. Soda City FC, 7:30 p.m. ET
FC Cincinnati 2 vs. NY Pancyprian Freedoms, 7:30 p.m. ET
Flatirons FC vs. Union Omaha, 9 p.m. ET
Tacoma Defiance vs. Washington Athletic Club, 10 p.m. ET

The First Round will feature a pair of same-city matchups – with Inter Miami CF II of MLS NEXT Pro hosting famed giant-killers Miami United FC of the UPSL, playing in their third consecutive Open Cup Proper and hoping to knock off a professional team for the second year running. There’s also an Oklahoma-based clash between top amateur side Tulsa Athletic and crosstown USL Championship pros FC Tulsa in a rematch of the game that sent Athletic on their Cinderella run as the top amateur finisher of the 2023 Open Cup.    

The 2025 First Round has more than its share of proven Cinderellas. FORO SC of Texas – who knocked off MLS NEXT Pro’s Austin FC II in last year’s First Round – are back and opening with USL League One new boys Texoma FC. The Long Island Rough Riders reached the Quarterfinals of the 1997 Open Cup and return for the first time since 2018 with a First Round test against USL League One’s Charlotte Independence. The Des Moines Menace are back with an opener against Sporting KC II (MLS NEXT Pro). FC Motown of New Jersey, who finished as the top amateur side in the 2022 Open Cup, and El Farolito of San Francisco, who did the same in last year’s tournament, also return to the field of hopefuls.

For the 2025 First Round, teams were paired on a geographic basis with the restriction that each professional team was matched with a team from the Open Division. Hosts were determined by random selection when each team applied to host with a venue that met the competition standard. Random selection was also used in cases where there was no logical geographic fit or there were more than two teams from the same proximity.

The winners of the First Round will play each other in a Second Round consisting of 16 games. The 16 Second Round winners will then be matched up against the 16 highest-ranked professional teams from the USL Championship in the Third Round. USL Championship Teams were seeded by conference, with the top eight clubs in each conference entering in the Third Round. Third Round-winners will square off against the teams of Major League Soccer (MLS). There will be 16 MLS teams competing in the 2025 Open Cup – up from eight in 2024 – and they will all enter the competition in the Round of 32.
 

2025 Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup Schedule

First Round: March 18-20

Second Round: April 1-2

Third Round: April 15-16

Round of 32: May 6-7

Round of 16: May 20-21

Quarterfinals: July 8-9

Semifinal: Sept. 16-17

Final: Oct. 1
 

The Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup is U.S. Soccer's Club Championship and has crowned a champion annually since 1914 (with the exception of 2020 and 2021 due to COVID-19). The historic tournament is conducted on a single-game, knockout basis and open to all professional and amateur teams affiliated with U.S. Soccer. It is the oldest ongoing national soccer competition in the United States and the world's third-longest continuously run national cup tournament.

About the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup

Now in its 110th edition, the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup has crowned a champion since 1914 in every year except 2020 and 2021. The history-filled tournament is conducted on a single-game-knockout basis and open to all professional and amateur teams affiliated with U.S. Soccer. In 1999, the oldest ongoing national soccer competition in the U.S. was renamed to honor American soccer pioneer Lamar Hunt. The 2025 U.S. Open Cup winner will earn $300,000 in prize money, a berth in the 2026 Concacaf Champions League and have its name engraved on the Dewar Challenge Trophy – one of the oldest nationally contested trophies in American team sports – now on permanent display at the National Soccer Hall of Fame in Frisco, Texas. The runner-up will earn $100,000, while the team that advances the furthest from each lower division will take home a $25,000 cash prize. Los Angeles Football Club of MLS is the defending Champion. The 109th edition of the tournament concluded on September 25, 2024 with LAFC beating four-time Champions Sporting Kansas City 3-1 at BMO Stadium in Los Angeles to become Open Cup Champions for the first time.

The official website of the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup is ussoccer.com/us-open-cup. Fans can also follow the competition on X/Twitter and Instagram @OpenCup and Facebook @OfficialOpenCup.