| Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup qualification | |
| Year: | 2024 |
| Country: | United States |
| Num Teams: | 109 |
| Continental Cup Title: | Qualified |
| Continental Cup Qualifiers: |
|
| Matches: | 98 |
| Goals: | 413 |
| Prev Season: | 2023 |
| Next Season: | 2025 |
| Updated: | 14:28, September 10, 2023 (UTC) |
The 2024 Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup will be the 109th edition of the oldest soccer tournament in the United States. The tournament proper will feature both professional and amateur teams in the United States soccer league system.
Qualification for the 2024 tournament includes local qualifying matches contested by 109 amateur teams scheduled to take place in 2023. One team also qualified by winning the 2023 National Amateur Cup and one team qualified by winning the 2023 United Premier Soccer League Spring Championships.[1] Clubs playing in fully professional leagues are required to enter the tournament.[2]
The United States Soccer Federation's Open Cup Committee manages both the tournament proper and the local qualification process.[2]
Clubs based in the United States that play in a league that is an organization member of U.S. Soccer are generally eligible to compete for the U.S. Open Cup, so long as their league includes at least four teams and has a schedule of at least 10 matches for each club.[2]
U.S.-based teams in Division I, II and III professional leagues qualify for the U.S. Open Cup automatically, provided they are eligible. To be eligible, these teams must be members in good standing of their leagues on December 31, 2022, and remain so through the 2024 final. The league must have been in operation prior to the open division entry deadline and remain in operation through the 2024 final. A new Division I, II or III professional league must have its match schedule announced to the public by January 31, 2023, and the first match must be scheduled for no later than seven days before the first scheduled round of the U.S. Open Cup tournament proper that involves the team's division. If a new club joins an existing Division I, II or III league, the league must meet the aforementioned criteria applicable to new leagues in order for the new club to be eligible for the U.S. Open Cup.
A professional team that is majority owned by a higher-level professional team or whose player roster is materially managed by a higher-level professional team is ineligible to participate in the U.S. Open Cup.
Clubs that are below Division III are Open Division teams. To be eligible for the 2024 U.S. Open Cup, an Open Division team must remain a playing member in good standing within its competition from the Open Division Entry Deadline through the 2024 final. The league must have been in operation since no later than the open Division Entry Deadline, and remain so until the 2024 final. A team that started its first season of competition in an existing league must have started its new league's schedule no later than Open Division Entry Deadline.
Starting in 2019, the winner of the previous year's National Amateur Cup automatically qualifies for the U.S. Open Cup.[3] The cup winner enters the tournament proper in the first round with the other Open Division clubs.
National leagues may elect to use the results of their previous year's seasons to determine which of their teams qualify for the U.S. Open Cup in lieu of having their teams play local qualifying matches. If a national league so elects, its teams are not eligible to participate in local qualifying. To qualify as a national league, the league must
Eligible Open Division clubs that did not win the National Amateur Cup and are not members of national leagues must have submitted an application to enter local qualifying by July 31, 2023.[2]
Once applications for local qualifying are approved, U.S. Soccer preliminary estimates of the number of Open Division teams needed in the U.S. Open Cup, based on the anticipated participation of professional teams and anticipated structure of the tournament bracket. One of these slots is allocated to the National Amateur Cup champions.[2] Starting with the 2024 U.S. Open Cup, the United Premier Soccer League spring champions will be allocated one slot.[4] The remainder are allocated among the pool of local qualification teams and the national leagues, based on the relative number of teams in each, resulting in a target number of local qualifiers. The Commissioner will establish the number of qualifying rounds needed to achieve the number of surviving local qualifying teams after the target number of First Round slots is determined. The Commissioner will attempt to minimize the number of byes in order to ensure teams that advance to the First Round have played the same number of games. Byes are distributed randomly and are meant to avoid unnecessary travel but are kept to a minimum to preserve the integrity of the qualification tournament. Once the qualification tournament format has been finalized, the number of local qualifiers becomes fixed, unless a team that qualifies later becomes ineligible. After the professional clubs entry application deadline, the final number of Open Division teams needed in the 2024 U.S. Open Cup will become known. From this number, the fixed number of local qualifiers plus one for the National Amateur Cup champion, and one for the UPSL Spring Champions are subtracted to determine the number of slots for clubs from the national leagues. These slots are allocated among the leagues based on their relative numbers of U.S. based eligible teams.
In March 2024, the top seven American-based MLS teams to not qualify for the 2024 CONCACAF Champions Cup, as well as the defending U.S. Open Cup champion, Houston Dynamo FC, qualified for the U.S. Open Cup.
The following nine clubs qualified for the 2023 U.S. Open Cup.
SC MesoAmerica defeated Newtown Pride FC 2–1, to win the 2023 National Amateur Cup and qualify for the 2024 U.S. Open Cup.[5]
AS Frenzi defeated Sporting Wichita SC 2–1, to win the 2023 UPSL Spring Championships and earning a direct qualification into the 2024 U.S. Open Cup.[6]
U.S. Soccer originally announced that 109 teams would participate in local qualifying. Four rounds of local qualifying matches will result in 11 clubs advancing to the tournament proper.[1] Local qualifying will be competed in a single-game, knockout format and match-ups will be organized geographically to minimize travel time and expenses. Random selection will be used to determine matchups when possible and coin flips will determine home teams.
| Round | Match day | New Teams | Entrants | Teams entered to date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| First Qualifying Round | September 9–10, 2023 | 42 | 42 | 42 |
| Second Qualifying Round | September 30–October 1, 2023 | 67 | 88 | 109 |
| Third Qualifying Round | October 21–22, 2023 | 0 | 44 | 109 |
| Fourth Qualifying Round | November 18–19, 2023 | 0 | 22 | 109 |
A total of 22 states and the District of Columbia are represented by clubs in the U.S. Open Cup Qualification this year.
| States | Number | League | Teams | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 11 | UPSL | Elk Grove Blues, Escondido FC, FC Folsom, Irvine FC, Irvine Zeta, Laguna United FC, Murrieta Soccer Academy, Rebels Soccer Club, Santa Monica Surf, Trojans FC, Valley 559 FC | |
| 4 | NISA Nation | Bay Area United, Capo FC, Jasa RWC, Temecula FC | ||
| 3 | San Francisco Soccer Football League | International San Francisco SC, San Francisco Vikings Soccer Club, Olympic Club | ||
| 2 | National Soccer League | Marin County Union SC, Real San Jose | ||
| 1 | West Coast Soccer Association | UC Davis Soccer Club | ||
| 2 | 9 | UPSL | FC America CFL Spurs, Chargers Soccer Club, Dade County FC, Deportivo Lake Mary FC, Florida Premier FC, Harbor City FC, Leg-AZ World FC, Parkland Soccer Club, Royal Palms Soccer Club | |
| 8 | United States Soccer League | City Soccer FC, Florida Brothers, Hodler Miami FC, Miami Soccer Academy, Miami United FC, Orlando FC Wolves, O'Shea's FC, Soccer Paradise FC | ||
| 1 | Florida Gold Coast League | Hurricane FC | ||
| 3 | 4 | Eastern Premier Soccer League | Lansdowne Yonkers, New York Greek-American, New York Pancyprian-Freedoms, Zum Schneider FC 03 | |
| 3 | UPSL | New York Braveheart SC, NY Renegades FC, Sahara Gunners FC | ||
| 1 | Cosmopolitan Soccer League | Manhattan Kickers SC | ||
| 1 | Rochester District Soccer League | IASC Boom | ||
| 3 | UPSL | Alamo City Soccer Club, Foro SC, Tenfifteen FC | ||
| 2 | Austin Men's Soccer Association | Austin Longhorns, Austin Thunder | ||
| 2 | Gulf Coast Premier League | Central Texas Lobos, Daggers CTX | ||
| 2 | United States Soccer League | Athletic Katy FC, Houston FC | ||
| 5 | 4 | United Soccer League of Pennsylvania | Colonial SC, Philadelphia Ukrainians Nationals, United German Hungarians, Vereinigung Erzgebirge | |
| 2 | UPSL | Lancaster Elite, Philadelphia Lone Star | ||
| 2 | Eastern Premier Soccer League | Kensington Soccer Club, Philadelphia Heritage SC | ||
| 6 | 4 | Colorado Premier League | Azteca FC, Colorado Rovers, FC Denver, Harpos | |
| 1 | Mountain Premier League | Peak Eleven Football Club | ||
| 7 | 3 | Midwest Premier League | Berber City FC, Chicago House AC, Edgewater Castle Football Club | |
| 2 | UPSL | Chicago Strikers, Wisloka Chicago | ||
| 8 | 2 | UPSL | Kalonji Pro-Profile, North Georgia United | |
| 2 | Atlanta District Amateur Soccer League | Majestic Soccer Club, Terminus FC | ||
| 2 | Bay State Soccer League | CD Faialense, FC Omens | ||
| 2 | UPSL | Boston Street FC, Brockton FC United | ||
| 3 | UPSL | Arlington SA, VA Revolution Pro, Villarreal CF Virginia | ||
| 1 | Eastern Premier Soccer League | NoVa FC | ||
| 11 | 2 | UPSL | Coronado Athletic Club, SC Union Maricopa | |
| 1 | Southwest Premier League | Sporting Arizona FC | ||
| 2 | American Premier League | Aegean Hawks, Yinz United | ||
| 1 | DC Premier League | DCFC | ||
| 2 | Maryland Super Soccer League | Christos, Steel Pulse | ||
| 1 | UPSL | MoCo 1776 FC | ||
| 1 | Eastern Premier Soccer League | Real Central NJ | ||
| 1 | Garden State Soccer League | SC Vistula Garfield | ||
| 1 | UPSL | New Jersey Alliance | ||
| 2 | UPSL | Bellevue Athletic FC, Holac FC | ||
| 1 | Recreational Adult Team Soccer | Sharktopus Football Club | ||
| 16 | 1 | UPSL | FC Birmingham | |
| 1 | UPSL | Ole Football Club | ||
| 1 | UPSL | UDA Soccer | ||
| 1 | NISA Nation | Battleborn FC | ||
| 1 | UPSL | Mint Hill FC | ||
| 1 | Ohio Valley Premier League | Valhalla FC | ||
| 1 | UPSL | South Carolina United Heat | ||
| 1 | UPSL | Tennessee Tempo FC | ||
| 1 | UPSL | Provo Athletic Club | ||
The first qualifying round matches were played on September 9 and 10. 67 clubs will get First qualifying Round Byes.[1]
The second qualifying round matches were played on September 30 and October 1 & 3, 2023.[1]
The third qualifying round matches were played on October 21 & 22, 2023.[1]
The fourth qualifying round matches were played on November 18 & 19, 2023.[1]