2020 U.S. Open Cup

This edition will feature 100 teams, including 62 professional sides—both modern-era records.[1] Entrants will include the American clubs from across the soccer leagues system, with timing determined by league division. These include the 23 American clubs from Major League Soccer and clubs from the USL Championship and USL League One that are not owned or operated by an MLS team; MLS-affiliated clubs from these two leagues are eligible. Additionally, clubs from the National Independent Soccer Association (NISA), a sanctioned Division III league, will take part. This is the first time two professional leagues from the same tier have both competed in the tournament since 2017.

USL League Two and the National Premier Soccer League will qualify teams based on previous season standings. Quantity of teams is determined by U.S. Soccer. Local qualifying is done by tournament and was held in 2019. It featured 88 mostly amateur teams representing 18 different states and the District of Columbia (21 different state soccer associations).[2] 12 teams qualified out of this tournament. Finally, as with the previous year, the reigning champion of the National Amateur Cup, Newtown Pride FC, automatically qualify for the tournament proper.[3]

The 2020 edition of the U.S. Open Cup will include a change in qualifying for professional teams. All Division II and Division III teams will enter together in the second round, while Major League Soccer teams will enter in the third and fourth rounds. The four 2020 CONCACAF Champions League qualifiers plus the four best American non-qualifiers in each 2019 MLS conference enter in the fourth round; the remaining clubs enter in the third round.[4]

The U.S. Open Cup will also begin in March 2020, its earliest calendar date since 1995. The final is scheduled to take place in either early August or late September.[4] The earlier start overlaps with the NCAA soccer season, causing lower-division teams to be unable to field their full lineups; Reading United AC and Flint City Bucks, both of USL League Two, along with Midland-Odessa Sockers FC of the National Premier Soccer League, announced they would not take part in the tournament due to this reason.[5][6]

• $: Winner of $25,000 bonus for advancing the furthest in the competition from their respective divisions.
• $$: Winner of $100,000 for being the runner-up in the competition.
• $$$: Winner of $300,000 for winning the competition.

The 2020 Open Cup field represents a total of 36 states and the District of Columbia.

	States	Number	Teams
1	California	17	ASC San Diego, Cal FC, California United Strikers FC, Chula Vista FC, FC Davis, FC Golden State Force, LA Galaxy, Los Angeles FC, Los Angeles Force, Oakland Roots, Olympic Club, Orange County SC, Sacramento Republic FC, San Diego Loyal SC, San Diego 1904 FC, San Jose Earthquakes, Ventura County Fusion
2	Texas	9	Austin Bold FC, Corpus Christi FC, Denton Diablos FC, El Paso Locomotive FC, FC Dallas, Fort Worth Vaqueros FC, Houston Dynamo, NTX Rayados, San Antonio FC
3	Florida	7	Inter Miami CF, Miami FC, Miami United FC U23, Naples United FC, Orlando City SC, Tampa Bay Rowdies, The Villages SC
4	Tennessee	5	Chattanooga FC, Chattanooga Red Wolves SC, Memphis 901 FC, Nashville SC, Nashville United
5	North Carolina	4	Charlotte Independence, North Carolina FC, North Carolina Fusion U23, Stumptown Athletic
	Pennsylvania		Philadelphia Union, Pittsburgh Riverhounds SC, Vereinigung Erzgebirge, West Chester United SC
7	Colorado	3	Colorado Rapids, Colorado Springs Switchbacks FC, FC Boulder Harpos
	Georgia		Atlanta United FC, South Georgia Tormenta FC, South Georgia Tormenta FC 2
	Minnesota		Med City FC, Minneapolis City SC, Minnesota United
	New Jersey		Atlantic City FC, FC Motown, New York Red Bulls
	Ohio		Cleveland SC, Columbus Crew SC, FC Cincinnati
	Oklahoma		FC Tulsa, OKC Energy FC, Tulsa Athletic
	South Carolina		Charleston Battery, Greenville Triumph SC, SC United Bantams
14	Arizona	2	FC Arizona, Phoenix Rising FC
	Connecticut		Hartford Athletic, Newtown Pride FC
	Illinois		Chicago FC United, Chicago Fire FC
	Massachusetts		New England Revolution, Western Mass Pioneers
	Michigan		Detroit City FC, Michigan Stars FC
	Nevada		Las Vegas Lights FC, Reno 1868 FC
	New York		New York City FC, New York Pancyprian-Freedoms
	Virginia		Richmond Kickers, Virginia United
	Washington		Crossfire Redmond, Seattle Sounders FC
23	Alabama	1	Birmingham Legion
	District of Columbia		D.C. United
	Indiana		Indy Eleven
	Iowa		Des Moines Menace
	Kansas		Sporting Kansas City
	Kentucky		Louisville City FC
	Louisiana		Louisiana Krewe FC
	Maine		GPS Portland Phoenix
	Maryland		Christos FC
	Missouri		Saint Louis FC
	Nebraska		Union Omaha
	New Mexico		New Mexico United
	Oregon		Portland Timbers
	Utah		Real Salt Lake
	Wisconsin		Forward Madison FC

States without a team in the Open Cup: Alaska, Arkansas, Delaware, Hawaii, Idaho, Mississippi, Montana, New Hampshire, North Dakota, Rhode Island, South Dakota, Vermont, West Virginia, and Wyoming.

All times local to game site.

On March 13, 2020, U.S. Soccer announced that the U.S. Open Cup would be temporarily suspended due to the global coronavirus pandemic. Several participating leagues, including MLS and USL, had already announced month-long suspensions of activities.[7]

All matches from the first round to the final will be streamed on ESPN+. This is the second year of a four-year agreement between U.S. Soccer and ESPN to air the tournament.[1]

• U.S. Open Cup at U.S. Soccer
• TheCup.us, an independent news site covering the U.S. Open Cup