2026 Lamar Hunt US Open Cup Schedule and First Round Fixtures Revealed: What It Means For RBNY and Other Local Sides

On Tuesday, Jan. 27, U.S. Soccer released the complete schedule and First Round fixtures for the 2026 Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup, the 111th edition of the historic tournament.

80 teams will participate in this year's edition of the Open Cup, a 16-team reduction from 2025. According to U.S. Soccer, this is because of the increased number of matches Major League Soccer teams play and because of the lengthy season interruption caused by the 2026 World Cup.

As a result, the professional field was shrunk from 64 to 48 teams and subsequently evened out amongst all the professional divisions in the country. This means just 16 MLS teams will feature in the 111th edition of the competition, as all teams who were eligible for the 2026 Leagues Cup or 2026 CONCACAF Champions Cup will not be participating (this excludes Philadelphia Union, FC Cincinnati, Inter Miami, 2025 Open Cup Champion Nashville SC, San Diego FC, LAFC, Seattle Sounders, FC Dallas, Portland Timbers, Real Salt Lake, LA Galaxy and, of course, the three Canadian clubs).

Only New York City FC, Orlando City, Charlotte FC, Chicago Fire, Columbus Crew and Austin FC are participating in both the Open Cup and Leagues Cup 2026. No team that finished higher than fourth in either conference will be in the 2026 Open Cup.

Additionally, there will be one fewer round than in previous editions, dropping from eight total rounds to seven.

Of the 32 slots allotted to amateur and semi-professional clubs, 16 were already determined through qualification metrics based on league play and various cup competitions. The other 16 slots were competed for through the previous year's qualification tournament, which featured a record-breaking 145 teams across 29 states and Washington, D.C.

There are three New York Metropolitan area amateur sides that qualified for the tournament, with FC Motown STA (their USL League Two club) qualifying as USL2 Metropolitan Division champions, and SC Vistula Garfield (APSL) and NY Renegades (UPSL) qualifying via the open-division qualification tournament. Vistula, founded in 1952, qualified for the first time in the tournament's modern format.

Professional sides NYCFC, Red Bull New York and Westchester SC (USL1) round out the NYC-area representation.

Elsewhere in New York state, Rochester based Flower City Union qualified to the tournament's open division through NPSL play. And, since the Union won't be participating, the lone representative from the Philadelphia-area is 2025 National Amateur Cup winners West Chester United SC (USLPA).

RBNY and the other 15 participating MLS sides will enter the tournament in the third round (Round of 32), which is set for Apr. 14-15.

Rounds One and Two will consist of the 32 amateur teams, 17 USL Championship teams (all teams that finished 9th or higher in their respective conference except for North Carolina FC who are not fielding a team in 2026), 13 USL League One teams and two MLS Next Pro teams (independent clubs Chattanooga FC and Carolina Core FC).

Round One will take place between Mar. 17-19, with the NYC-area local sides matching up on:

Mar. 18 | FC Motown vs. Hartford Athletic | 7 p.m. ET | Lubetkin Field (NJIT); Newark, N.J.

Mar. 18 | SC Vistula Garfield vs. One Knoxville SC | 7:30 p.m. ET | Garfield HS; Garfield, N.J.

Mar. 19 | Westchester SC vs. NY Renegades FC | 7:30 p.m. ET | Mount Vernon Memorial Field; Mount Vernon, N.Y.

The full 2026 Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup Schedule is as follows:

First Round: Tuesday, March 17 – Thursday, March 19

Second Round: Tuesday, March 31 – Wednesday, April 1

Round of 32: Tuesday, April 14 – Wednesday, April 15

Round of 16: Tuesday, April 28 – Wednesday, April 29

Quarterfinals: Tuesday, May 19 – Wednesday, May 20

Semifinals: Tuesday, Sept. 15 – Wednesday, Sept. 16

Final: Wednesday, October 21

Empire Soccer Report Episode 4 is live!

In the latest episode of Empire Soccer Report, James Birle is joined by Luca Richman of @rbny.xp on Instagram. With the Red Bulls preseason underway, James and Luca analyze the reported signing of Ethan Horvath, the first two matches of preseason and take a look at the latest roster moves. All this and more: