US Open Cup: Columbus Crew vs NYCFC, Colorado Rapids vs San Jose Earthquakes

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US Open Cup: Columbus Crew vs NYCFC, Colorado Rapids vs San Jose Earthquakes

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The 111th edition of the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup is in the quarterfinals. If you’re rooting for underdogs, you’re out of luck — all the remaining clubs are from Major League Soccer.

Orlando City and St. Louis City already have advanced to the semifinals of the United States’ men’s club tournament after victories over Atlanta United and the Houston Dynamo, respectively, on Tuesday, May 19. Orlando City won the 2022 edition of the U.S. Open Cup.

On Wednesday, May 20, four more squads take aim at the semis. The Columbus Crew host New York City FC at ScottsMiracle-Gro Field in Columbus, Ohio, while the Colorado Rapids host the San Jose Earthquakes at Dick’s Sporting Goods Park; Commerce City, Colorado. Of those four clubs, only the Crew (2002) have previously won the U.S. Open Cup.

After Los Angeles FC (2024) and Nashville SC (2025) won the U.S. Open Cup, the Colorado Rapids, New York City SC, San Jose Earthquakes and St. Louis City are aiming to give the tournament a third consecutive first-time winner.

Here’s how to watch Wednesday’s U.S. Open Cup quarterfinals games:

How to watch US Open Cup quarterfinal games

All games will stream on Paramount+. CBS Sports Network and CBS Sports Golazo Network to air select games.

Wednesday, May 20 games

Columbus Crew vs. New York City FC, 7:30 p.m. ET (CBS Sports Golazo Network)
Colorado Rapids vs. San Jose Earthquakes, 10 p.m. ET (CBS Sports Network)

Watch U.S. Open Cup games on Paramount+

Tuesday, May 19 results

Orlando City SC 4, Atlanta United 1
St. Louis City SC 2, Houston Dynamo 2 (St. Louis won penalty shootout, 4-2)

2026 US Open Cup schedule

First round: March 17-19
Second round: March 31-April 1
Round of 32: April 14-15
Round of 16: April 28-29
Quarterfinals: May 19-20
Semifinals: Sept. 15-16
Final: Oct. 21

What is the US Open Cup?

Pre-MLS American soccer history is a disjointed and often-confusing enterprise, barren of the convenience of the century-long continuity of leagues such as Major League Baseball or the National Football League. However, one thread that ties the game of soccer together in this country through the years has been the U.S. Open Cup (officially known as the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup). The first U.S. Open Cup (originally called the National Challenge Cup) kicked off in 1913, seven years before the formation of the NFL and 12 years after the opening season of baseball’s American League. The U.S. Open Cup — this country’s oldest annual tournament for team sports — has been played every year since 1913 with the exception of 2020-21 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The tournament was modeled after England’s FA Cup, so the single-elimination competition is open to U.S.-based amateur and professional clubs. The winner of the U.S. Open Cup — a team that technically is the national champion of American men’s club soccer — earns a spot in the Concacaf Champions Cup.

MLS has dominated the competition

Since 1996, MLS teams have won all but one U.S. Open Cup; the Rochester Rhinos beat the Colorado Rapids in the 1999 final. While MLS has competed in the U.S. Open Cup since the league’s inception, the old North American Soccer League avoided it. So, you won’t see the likes of multiple-time NASL Soccer Bowl winners such as the New York Cosmos or Chicago Sting gracing the historical records of the U.S. Open Cup.

USL sides Indy Eleven (2024 semifinalist), Sacramento Republic FC (2022 finalist) and FC Cincinnati (2017 semifinalist; FC Cincinnati began MLS play in 2019) have made deep tournament runs in recent years as lower division entries.

Who has the most US Open Cup titles?

If the National Association Football League had stood the test of time like MLB or the NFL, perhaps American sports fans would speak of Bethlehem Steel in the same reverence as the New York Yankees or Green Bay Packers. Bethlehem Steel won five U.S. Open Cups in the tournament’s first 13 years. Four years after its last U.S. Open Cup championship in 1926, Bethlehem Steel folded. Meanwhile, the National Association Football League folded in 1921 and was essentially replaced by the American Soccer League, which shut down during the Great Depression in 1933. Bethlehem Steel played in both leagues.

Even though its last title came in the 1920s, Bethlehem Steel remains tied for the most U.S. Open Cup championships (five) with Maccabi Los Angeles, a semi-pro soccer club that operated from 1971-1982. MLS teams are catching up to the early repeat champions, with the Chicago Fire, Sporting Kansas City and Seattle Sounders each with four championships.