Photo Marjorie Elzey
A 2025 subject PSP has not yet discussed is the Lamar Hunt U. S. Open Cup and MLS’s – and the Philadelphia Union’s — participation in it. MLS’s participation excludes its three Canadian members, so we will discuss the 27 United States-based teams, not the three Canadian ones with their own separate national tournament leading into Concacaf.
In 2024, for the first time since MLS has existed, the US-based MLS teams were granted relief from required Open Cup participation if they participated in the 2024 Concacaf Champions League. (For 2025, it is renamed the Concacaf Champions Cup.) Also, the league’s lower-ranked teams were allowed to send their second teams in their places for the first time. For 2025, we believe Philadelphia lies in that lower-ranked group.
Teams
Last year, eight clubs were excused from all participation, and twelve more were allowed to send replacement sides. Only eight US-based MLS sides participated in the Cup themselves. Eleven second teams did. MLS NEXT Pro is Division III, and the D III side that progressed the furthest was NYC FC II, who won $25,000 in prize money.
Below, we unofficially guess what MLS’s 2025 participation might look like. Since we have no way to predict what adjustment to last year’s structure US Soccer may make, we have imitated what they did last year.
For 2025, nine US Major League Soccer clubs have qualified for the Concacaf Champions Cup. Since in 2024, the Concacaf Champions League qualifiers were exempted from the US Open Cup, we assume the same for this year.
|
Fully Exempt from USOC Participation |
Required to Participate in US Open Cup |
Permitted to Substitute an MLS NEXT Pro Side | ||
| Team | Reason why | Team | Reason why | |
| Miami | 1st, SupShld | Houston |
Nine next highest-ranked MLS teams in 2024 Supporters Shield table |
Atlanta |
| LA Galaxy | 1st, MLS Cup | Orlando | D. C. | |
| Kansas City | 1st, US OC | Minnesota | Philadelphia | |
| Columbus | 1st, Lgs Cup | Charlotte | St. Louis | |
| LA FC | 2nd, Lgs Cup | New York City | Nashville | |
| Colorado | 3rd, Lgs Cup | Portland | New England | |
| Cincinnati | 5th, SupShld | NY Red Bull | Chicago | |
| Salt Lake | 6th, SupShld | Austin | San Jose | |
| Seattle | 7th, SupShld | Dallas | ||
| San Diego* | No affiliate | |||
*We assume San Diego must participate as have all previous first year expansion sides. As far as we can discover no San Diego professional affiliate yet exists, nor have we found evidence of any older academy team that could serve as a stand-in.
If our guesswork to this point is correct, Philadelphia Union II will enter the US Open Cup, not the Philadelphia Union. We have no confirmation of that guess currently.
Schedule
The only things certain to date about the Open Cup’s 2025 schedule are that amateur side qualifying – the Open Division – is complete and that the first round of the actual tournament will begin sometime in March. The schedule offered below is pure speculation. It imitates 2024 and assumes the same number of teams and bracket structure.
Last year, the first round draw was on March 1, and Round One began play nearly three weeks later, from March 19 through March 21. The next round’s draw was always the day after the finish of play in the previous round, and the freshly determined matches were then played nearly two or three weeks later. Were those same patterns to exist this year, the following chart might – repeat might – be more or less accurate.
We do not know whether US Soccer will populate the first round with 64 teams or some other number, and we do not know where all of them will come from. As readers will note the numbers we give for Round One do not total 64.
Each of the draws for the rounds of 32 and the quarterfinals determines the next two rounds’ schedules, not just the next one.
| Round | Draw Date | Match Days Thurs to Sun | New Entrants | Bracket |
| First Round | Feb 28 | Mar 20-23 | D III Professional teams:
· NISA (9?) · USL Leag One (14?) · MLS NEXT Pro (8?) Mixed Pro-Am leagues · UPSL SprngChmp (1) · NPSL (?) Amateurs: · USL Leag Two (?) · OC Open Div (14) · Nat’l Amateur Cup (1)
|
64? teams
|
| Second Round | Mar 23 | Apr 3-5 | 32 teams | |
| Third Round | Apr 6 | Apr 24-27 | 16 lower ranked USL C teams (D II) | 32 teams |
| Round of 32 | Apr 28 | May 16-19 |
8 top USL C teams (D II); 8 MLS teams (D I) |
32 teams |
| Round of 16 | May30-Jun 2 | 16 teams | ||
| Quarterfinals | Jun 3 | ?? | 8 teams | |
| Semifinals | ?? | 4 teams | ||
| Final | higher rank | ?? | 2 teams | |
We do not attempt to guess scheduling from the Quarterfinals on as timing must adjust to the Gold Cup and Leagues Cup schedules.
Greater Philly bottom line
If all our guessing above proves correct, there would be two Philadelphia area entries.
- West Chester United Predators have qualified. (Click here; scroll down three.)
- And we think Philadelphia Union II will be entered, not the first team itself.
Comments