All 27 U.S.-based MLS teams will participate in next year’s U.S. Open Cup, multiple sources tell Backheeled.
This shift marks MLS’s first full participation in the Open Cup since 2023. Notably, the Open Cup, which began in 1914 and is the nation’s longest-running soccer competition and among the oldest cup competitions globally, is run by U.S. Soccer rather than the top-flight domestic league.
Under the new format, the U.S. Open Cup final will take place in December, according to multiple sources, with MLS teams entering the tournament in July.
After the 2023 edition of the Open Cup, in which the Houston Dynamo bested an Inter Miami team that had been recently bolstered by the arrival of Lionel Messi, MLS announced that its first teams would withdraw from the 2024 U.S. Open Cup. Earlier that year, commissioner Don Garber referred to the Open Cup as “a very poor reflection on what it is that we're trying to do with soccer at the highest level”.
A public back-and-forth between MLS and U.S. Soccer ensued. In response to MLS’s withdrawal, the federation said in a statement that “the U.S. Soccer staff recommendation, which was adopted by the Pro League taskforce, is that the request be denied.” Notably, U.S. Soccer’s professional league standards then stated – and still state – that "U.S.-based teams must participate in all representative U.S. Soccer and CONCACAF competitions for which they are eligible." MLS responded, saying that it “took that step [to remove its first teams] because it believes that there are several essential goals and concerns that must be addressed in connection with the tournament.”
Eventually, the 2024 edition of the U.S. Open Cup was played with just eight MLS teams. Both last year’s and this year’s edition featured 16 MLS teams, rather than the full complement of the 27 U.S.-based clubs, with the league giving priority to Leagues Cup and Concacaf Champions Cup over the Open Cup.
