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]
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.[2]
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.[2]
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.[2]
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.[2]
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
Have a minimum of 50 active U.S.-based teams in good standing,
Have a common championship each season that is only available to league teams and is compulsory,
Use a league format with a standings table as opposed to a single-elimination (knockout) format,
Have teams in at least three U.S. time zones among Eastern, Central, Mountain and Pacific, with the three time zones containing the most teams each having at least 15% of the member teams,
Have two time zones represented by at least three different U.S. states or the District of Columbia and a third time zone represented by at least two different U.S. states or the District of Columbia,
Have teams in at least 10 different U.S. states or the District of Columbia,
Timely pay the team-based Open Cup entry fee for all teams in the league.
Must have operated over the last 12-month period and over the next 12-month period in compliance with these criteria.[2]
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.[2]
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.
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.[2]
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
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
States without a team in the Open Cup Qualification: Alaska, Arkansas, Delaware, Hawaii, Idaho, Indiana, Iowa, Louisiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Maine, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, New Hampshire, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Oregon, Rhode Island, South Dakota, Vermont, West Virginia, Wisconsin and Wyoming.
Byes: Arlington SA, Athletic Katy FC, Austin Longhorns, Austin Thunder, Berber City FC, Boston Street FC, Brockton FC United, CD Faialense, CFL GOSA Spurs, Chargers Soccer Club, Chicago House AC, Chicago Strikers, Christos FC, City Soccer FC, Colonial SC, Coronado Athletic Club, Daggers CTX, Deportivo Lake Mary FC, Edgewater Castle Football Club, Escondido FC, FC Birmingham, FC Denver, FC Omens, Florida Brothers, Florida Premier FC, Foro SC, Harbor City FC, Hodler Miami FC, Houston FC, IASC Boom, Kalonji Pro-Profile, Leg-AZ World FC, Majestic Soccer Club, Miami United FC, Mint Hill FC, Murrieta Soccer Academy, New Jersey Alliance FC, North Georgia United, NoVa FC, Orlando FC Wolves, Parkland Soccer Club, Philadelphia Ukrainian Nationals, Provo Athletic Club, Real Center NJ Soccer, Rebels SC, Royal Palms Soccer Club, Sahara Gunners FC, Santa Monica Surf, SC Union Maricopa, SC Vistula Garfield, Sharktopus Football Club, Soccer Paradise FC, South Carolina United Heat, Sporting Arizona FC, Steel Pulse FC, Temecula Football Club, Tenfifteen FC, Tennessee Tempo FC, Terminus FC, Trojans FC, UDA Soccer, United German Hungarians, Valhalla FC, Vereinigung Erzgebirge, Villarreal CF Virginia, Wisloka Chicago, Yinz United
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