Sources: US Open Cup Changing Format for 2026
US Soccer limits number of clubs per professional division
USL sources have confirmed that the US Open Cup is changing its format for the 2026 edition. In the new format, not every club in MLS or USL will participate.
The Blazing Musket broke part of the news earlier that not all USL clubs would be participating. This set off a flurry of discussion on social media, with fans left to wonder if USL was opting out some of its clubs in the same manner as MLS has in the past.
However, per our source, it was US Soccer that mandated the 2026 tournament feature 16 clubs from each professional division, 48 clubs in total.
For this version of the tournament, it means 16 MLS clubs, 17 from USL Championship, 13 from USL League One and two independent MLS Next Pro clubs. The group of 48 professional clubs will be joined by 32 qualified amateur clubs, and no MLS NextPro teams with MLS affiliations participating.
USL Championship participation appears to be based on qualifying for the playoffs in 2025, while USL League One participation includes all 13 returning teams. Expansion sides are not participating.
Since there are 13 qualified USL League One clubs and only two from MLS NextPro, USL Championship received an extra spot.
More will be released by US Soccer and the respective leagues tomorrow morning regarding further details of the format and the participating teams.
Sigh. More Cup shrinkage, less prestige, less egalitarian, across-the-board participation. I assume we'll get one amateur vs amateur round to pare those teams down to 16, then a straight knockout with the remaining 64. Hopefully this is temporary, but I'm concerned.