Columbus, St. Louis play for US Open Cup glory, local amateurs face next 2027 qualifying round

After months of games, including a long pause for the 2026 FIFA World Cup, the 2026 Lamar Hunt US Open Cup tournament is about to be decided.

What technically started last September with qualifying and a total of 210 teams competing is down to two. Columbus Crew hosts St. Louis City SC tonight in Columbus, Ohio, in an all-Major League Soccer final.

Elsewhere, next weekend, the story continues for next year's 2027 US Open Cup tournament. Amateur teams are set to kick off the Third Qualifying Round around the country.

Locally, this is essentially New York City metro and New Jersey semifinals, respectively. Two teams from each will advance to next month's final round of qualifying.

One story ends, another continues to take shape.

Undesirable to Undeniable

The 111th edition of the US Open Cup features a final with two teams in the middle of very different 2026 seasons. Columbus are a middling, just-figuring-it-out side staring up at the Eastern Conference playoff picture (currently). St. Louis has had a history-tying season, still not good enough to be top of the Western Conference, but dangerous enough that they are pretty on par with Nashville SC in terms of the "I don't want to play them" test.

Starting with the hosts, the Crew have turned it around somewhat. Previously, ahead of the semifinal against Orlando City, I wrote "(the team) have gone from bad pre-World Cup to worse in the late summer." Since that article published, Columbus has won five of six matches across all competitions, including a stunning win over Inter Miami CF.

Following his elevation to interim head coach, Laurent Courtois has helped guide his team to a record of 11W-2D-9L across all completions. Mid-season signings such as Brais Méndez, former New York City FC midfielder Santiago Rodríguez, Gonzalo Tapia, and Josef Martínez have all come into their own. Méndez and Martínez both scored in the semifinal win over Orlando to get the team to this match.

On the other side, first-year head coach Yoann Damet has led St. Louis to its first-ever cup final in only its fourth season of play. His team made history along the way, going on a 21-match unbeaten streak across all competitions between early May and mid-October. That run ended last weekend with a 3-2 loss to Minnesota United FC. Still, 21 games is one more game than the previous record held by the New York Red Bulls from 2016.

Despite losing major names like first-ever Designated Player João Klauss, Marcel Hartel, and Eduard Löwen, the young St. Louis side has made adjustments. First, with two new Designated Players in Carlo Holse and striker Rafael Navarro (though Navarro is still cup-tied to the Colorado Rapids and unable to play in the final). Also, the experience of players like captain Roman Bürki has worked to bring up younger stars like Simon Becher, Chris Durkin, Daniel Edelman, Tomas Totland, and United States youth national team talent Damion Downs.

Prediction: Columbus has seemingly turned around its slump, has recent wins under its belt, and seeks a second Open Cup title (2002). St. Louis has been historically hot, with one recent blemish, but look like one of the best teams in Major League Soccer. Walking away a champion as an away team is tough, but City have the juice. It's been four decades since a team from St. Louis has been crowned America's national champion (St. Louis Busch Seniors in 1988), and it'll end Wednesday when St. Louis City brings home the city's 11th Open Cup title as its seventh ever champion. St. Louis City 3-2 Columbus Crew.

Mostly big fish, but two wildcards still dream

US Open Cup Third Qualifying Round Matches
(Home team listed first)

Saturday, October 31

• Lansdowne Yonkers FC (APSL) vs. New York Greek American SC (APSL)
  7:30 p.m. ET, Tibbetts Park in Yonkers, NY
  Match Broadcast
• NY Renegades FC (UPSL) vs. NY Pancyprian Freedoms (APSL)
  7:45 p.m. ET, SUSA Orlin & Cohen Sports Complex in Central Islip, NY

Sunday, November 1

• New Jersey Alliance FC (UPSL) vs. SC Vistula Garfield (APSL)
  6:30 p.m. ET, Athenia Steel Park in Clifton, NJ
  Match Broadcast
• Bulldogs SC (UPSL) vs. FC Monmouth (TLfC)
  7:30 p.m. ET, Geick Park in Old Bridge, NJ
  Match Broadcast

Next weekend, the road to the 112th edition of the United State's national soccer championship continues. The New York City area qualifying group, what I've been calling it, is down to three teams from the American Premier Soccer League and one from the United Premier Soccer League. All four have US Open Cup history.

The two former Open Cup champions, New York Greek Americans and New York Pancyprian Freedoms, are both still alive. They might even face one another for the lone spot in the tournament, if they beat their opponents this round. Those are teams with more recent US Open Cup history, as Lansdowne Yonkers hunts for a fifth qualification and NY Renegades plays for a third straight appearance in the tournament.

Lansdowne vs Greeks in a meeting of the first and second place teams in the APSL Metropolitan Conference. Yonkers has four wins and one draw, while the Greeks have four wins, one draw, and one loss. Both teams have major blowout wins early in this season, but Lansdowne has only allowed four goals compared to 11 conceded by the Greeks.

Also worth noting that the last time the Renegades face the Pancyprians in a USOC Qualifying match, the game was abandoned after a Renegades player threatened to stab a referee.

Across the river in the New Jersey qualifying group, it's two matches between recent Open Cup competitors and teams looking for a debut. Both NJ Alliance and SC Vistula Garfield have recently played in the Open Cup and fared well against USL League One teams. In 2025, NJ Alliance took Chattanooga Red Wolves to a penalty-kick shootout. Earlier this year, Vistula Garfield held an early lead against defending USL League One champions One Knoxville SC, before ultimately losing 3-1 and bowing out of the tournament.

NJ Alliance and Vistula Garfield met previously in 2024 and 2025 qualifying, with Alliance earning 2-0 wins in both of those matches.

The other New Jersey match features two teams, Bulldogs SC and FC Monmouth, looking for their first-ever Open Cup appearance. Bulldogs out of Old Bridge, NJ, have gone from state league level to a national league in the UPSL. Meanwhile, Monmouth may already feel like it's grown enough, in both fan support and recent positive results in The League For Clubs.

Second Qualifying Round results

Earlier this month, nine matches in the Second Qualifying Round helped set up these four local matches. In those games, nine local teams saw their US Open Cup journeys end.

In New York, NY Renegades continued their push for a third straight tournament appearance by beating Osner's FC, 2-0. The four-time tournament qualifiers Lansdowne Yonkers FC beat Red Hook FC, 3-0, as the American Premier Soccer League side showed its experience.

The four-time US Open Cup champion Greek Americans beat New Amsterdam FC, 14-0, in a match where New Amsterdam FC only fielded eight players. Fellow Astoria side Pancyprian Freedoms beat NY Dash FC, 1-0, with a goal from former MLS SuperDraft pick Joe Holland.

Across the river, NJ Alliance knocked off Newark-based side Ironbound SCP, 2-1, thanks to a last minute goal from Ronald Jones. In one of the more exciting matches, covered by NYSJ's own Matthew Mangam for TheCup.us, Bulldogs SC beat Jersey Shore Boca, 7-4, including a hat-trick from current Rutgers University student Adam Zamraki. FC Monmouth inched closer to a first-ever qualification with a 3-2 win over Real Central NJ.

The best match of the round came in Garfield, NJ, where SC Vistula Garfield beat FC Motown, 5-3 in extra time, in a match that needed over 3,000 words to fully describe.

Blackouts, Concussions, Faulty Nets: SC Vistula Garfield beats FC Motown in chaotic Open Cup qualifier

This 2027 qualifier between New Jersey-based amateur teams had everything: Wobbly goalposts delaying kickoff, a mid-match blackout, rowdy fans, red cards, a goal from a 43-year-old player-coach, a nasty head-to-head collision, and so much more.

New York Soccer JournalMichael Battista

Finally, in Pennsylvania, South Jersey side Oaklyn United FC were knocked out by tournament power WC Predators, 3-0, eliminating the possibility of two New Jersey amateur teams qualifying for the tournament.