2020 U.S. Open Cup


The 2020 Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup is the 107th edition of the U.S. Open Cup, a knockout cup competition in American soccer. Atlanta United FC are the defending champions after defeating Minnesota United FC in the 2019 final. The competition was suspended on March 13, 2020, before the first round fixtures, because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Qualification

This edition will feature 100 teams, including 62 professional sides—both modern-era records. Entrants will include the American clubs from across the soccer leagues system, with timing determined by league division. These include the 23 American clubs from Major League Soccer and clubs from the USL Championship and USL League One that are not owned or operated by an MLS team; MLS-affiliated clubs from these two leagues are eligible. Additionally, clubs from the National Independent Soccer Association, a sanctioned Division III league, will take part. This is the first time two professional leagues from the same tier have both competed in the tournament since 2017.
USL League Two and the National Premier Soccer League will qualify teams based on previous season standings. Quantity of teams is determined by U.S. Soccer. Local qualifying is done by tournament and was held in 2019. It featured 88 mostly amateur teams representing 18 different states and the District of Columbia. 12 teams qualified out of this tournament. Finally, as with the previous year, the reigning champion of the National Amateur Cup, Newtown Pride FC, automatically qualify for the tournament proper.
The 2020 edition of the U.S. Open Cup will include a change in qualifying for professional teams. All Division II and Division III teams will enter together in the second round, while Major League Soccer teams will enter in the third and fourth rounds. The four 2020 CONCACAF Champions League qualifiers plus the four best American non-qualifiers in each 2019 MLS conference enter in the fourth round; the remaining clubs enter in the third round.
The U.S. Open Cup will also begin in March 2020, its earliest calendar date since 1995. The final is scheduled to take place in either early August or late September. The earlier start overlaps with the NCAA soccer season, causing lower-division teams to be unable to field their full lineups; Reading United AC and Flint City Bucks, both of USL League Two, along with Midland-Odessa Sockers FC of the National Premier Soccer League, announced they would not take part in the tournament due to this reason.
The 2020 Open Cup field represents a total of 36 states and the District of Columbia.
StatesNumberTeams
1California17ASC San Diego, Cal FC, California United Strikers FC, Chula Vista FC, FC Davis, FC Golden State Force, LA Galaxy, Los Angeles FC, Los Angeles Force, Oakland Roots, Olympic Club, Orange County SC, Sacramento Republic FC, San Diego Loyal SC, San Diego 1904 FC, San Jose Earthquakes, Ventura County Fusion
2Texas9Austin Bold FC, Corpus Christi FC, Denton Diablos FC, El Paso Locomotive FC, FC Dallas, Fort Worth Vaqueros FC, Houston Dynamo, NTX Rayados, San Antonio FC
3Florida7Inter Miami CF, Miami FC, Miami United FC U23, Naples United FC, Orlando City SC, Tampa Bay Rowdies, The Villages SC
4Tennessee5Chattanooga FC, Chattanooga Red Wolves SC, Memphis 901 FC, Nashville SC, Nashville United
5North Carolina4Charlotte Independence, North Carolina FC, North Carolina Fusion U23, Stumptown Athletic
5Pennsylvania4Philadelphia Union, Pittsburgh Riverhounds SC, Vereinigung Erzgebirge, West Chester United SC
7Colorado3Colorado Rapids, Colorado Springs Switchbacks FC, FC Boulder Harpos
73Atlanta United FC, South Georgia Tormenta FC, South Georgia Tormenta FC 2
7Minnesota3Med City FC, Minneapolis City SC, Minnesota United
7New Jersey3Atlantic City FC, FC Motown, New York Red Bulls
7Ohio3Cleveland SC, Columbus Crew SC, FC Cincinnati
7Oklahoma3FC Tulsa, OKC Energy FC, Tulsa Athletic
7South Carolina3Charleston Battery, Greenville Triumph SC, SC United Bantams
14Arizona2FC Arizona, Phoenix Rising FC
14Connecticut2Hartford Athletic, Newtown Pride FC
14Illinois2Chicago FC United, Chicago Fire FC
14Massachusetts2New England Revolution, Western Mass Pioneers
14Michigan2Detroit City FC, Michigan Stars FC
14Nevada2Las Vegas Lights FC, Reno 1868 FC
14New York2New York City FC, New York Pancyprian-Freedoms
14Virginia2Richmond Kickers, Virginia United
14Washington2Crossfire Redmond, Seattle Sounders FC
23Alabama1Birmingham Legion
23District of Columbia1D.C. United
23Indiana1Indy Eleven
23Iowa1Des Moines Menace
23Kansas1Sporting Kansas City
23Kentucky1Louisville City FC
23Louisiana1Louisiana Krewe FC
23Maine1GPS Portland Phoenix
23Maryland1Christos FC
23Missouri1Saint Louis FC
23Nebraska1Union Omaha
23New Mexico1New Mexico United
23Oregon1Portland Timbers
23Utah1Real Salt Lake
23Wisconsin1Forward Madison FC

States without a team in the Open Cup: Alaska, Arkansas, Delaware, Hawaii, Idaho, Mississippi, Montana, New Hampshire, North Dakota, Rhode Island, South Dakota, Vermont, West Virginia, and Wyoming.

Match details

All times local to game site.
On March 13, 2020, U.S. Soccer announced that the U.S. Open Cup would be temporarily suspended due to the global coronavirus pandemic. Several participating leagues, including MLS and USL, had already announced month-long suspensions of activities.

First Round

The First Round of the Open Cup was scheduled to take place on March 24 and 25. There will be 19 matches between 13 local qualifiers, 14 NPSL, and 11 USL2 teams. Teams are paired geographically, and pairings were announced on January 22. The fixtures were suspended on March 13 due to the coronavirus pandemic

Second Round

The Second Round was scheduled to take place on April 7–9 with 29 matches, a modern-era Open Cup record. 19 winners from the First Round will be joined by 6 teams from USL1, 8 from NISA, and 25 from USL Championship. Pairings were made geographically when possible and announced on January 29.

Third Round

The Third Round draw was to be conducted on April 10, with 20 matches planned to be played on April 21–23. 29 winners from the Second Round will be joined by the 11 lower-ranked American MLS teams in the 2019 season's final standings.

Round of 32

The Round of 32 draw was to be conducted on April 24, with 16 matches to be played on May 19–20. 20 winners from the Third Round would join the 12 higher-ranked MLS teams.

Round of 16 and beyond

The draw for the Round of 16 and quarterfinals was to be conducted on May 21. Beginning with the Round of 16, match dates would have been flexibly scheduled as follows:
All matches from the first round to the final will be streamed on ESPN+. This is the second year of a four-year agreement between U.S. Soccer and ESPN to air the tournament.