MLS Returns to U.S. Open Cup: A Significant Shift
MLS is heading back to the U.S. Open Cup – and this time, it’s all in.
After sitting out the competition in 2023 and triggering a wave of anger across the American soccer landscape, MLS clubs will re-enter the tournament in the round of 64, slated for mid-July. Every MLS side involved will host its tie, forcing lower-division and amateur teams to chase the upset on the road, under the lights of big-league stadiums.
For a fan base that spent the past year venting its fury, this is a clear course correction.
From boycott to buy-in
MLS’s decision to withdraw from the 2023 edition was framed as a matter of survival. Fixture congestion, league officials argued, had become unmanageable, especially with the expanded Leagues Cup swallowing a chunk of the summer calendar just when U.S. Open Cup ties would normally be played.
The league tried to offer a compromise: send MLS Next Pro teams – essentially reserve sides – in place of first teams. That suggestion was rejected, and the message from traditionalists was blunt: the country’s oldest knockout competition deserved better than a second-string cameo.
The backlash was immediate and loud. Supporters of several major MLS clubs accused the league of turning its back on the domestic cup. In Seattle, the reaction turned particularly sour. Seattle Sounders fans, proud of their club’s U.S. Open Cup history, voiced their anger with boycotts of some Leagues Cup matches and banners that accused MLS of chasing the richer tournament at the expense of the Open Cup’s heritage.
To them, this wasn’t just scheduling. It was a statement of values.
A lifeline for the lower tiers
MLS’s return restores a crucial pillar of the American soccer pyramid. It is also a significant boost for USL and the amateur game.
USL is already plotting a bold future: the league is set to become a Division I competition in 2028 and plans to introduce promotion and relegation at the same time – a structure MLS has consistently refused to adopt. In that context, a fully stocked, cross-division cup competition becomes an even more intriguing battleground, a place where narratives can cut across league lines.
Every year, 32 amateur teams step into the U.S. Open Cup. For them, the tournament is not just romance and nostalgia. It’s exposure, experience, and a rare shot at facing an MLS club in a venue usually seen only on television. With MLS teams guaranteed to host from the round of 64, those underdogs will now walk into some of the biggest stages in the country, trying to turn one night into a piece of club folklore.
The odds remain stacked against them. The opportunity has rarely looked bigger.
A century-old constant
For all the friction of the past few years, the competition itself has endured. The 2026 edition is rolling on with its own storyline: four semifinalists, all from MLS, are set to battle for a place in the final on September 14.
It’s a reminder of the cup’s staying power. The U.S. Open Cup has existed in one form or another since 1914, outlasting leagues, formats, and eras. It has survived boom-and-bust cycles in American soccer and still finds a way to matter each time the bracket kicks into gear.
Now, with MLS back in the fold from the round of 64 and USL preparing for a seismic shift in 2028, the tournament sits at the crossroads of where the American game has been and where it wants to go.
The next question is simple: who will seize that stage first – the league that once stepped away, or the challengers desperate to use the cup to close the gap?
