A field of 58 teams won out over the weekend of October 10-12 to book their places in the Third Qualifying Round of the 2026 Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup. The massive swath of games, which were played across the country from Massachusetts to SoCal, featured tense contests, massive blowouts and every other configuration imaginable as amateur teams vie to become one of the 16 Open Division clubs to reach next year’s Tournament Proper via of the annual Open Cup Qualifying Rounds.
A single, standalone game on Friday saw Open Cup regulars, the Western Mass Pioneers of USL League Two, beaten handily despite having home-field advantage at their historic Lusitano Stadium in Ludlow. The 4-1 result, sparked by goals from Egberto Da Silva and Brendan Clare, sent Atletico Boston – of Southie and the Bay State Soccer League (BSSL) – through to the Third Round and sees them just two wins away from becoming one of the 32 amateur Cinderellas in the 111th U.S. Open Cup Proper.
Atleti will be joined in the Third Qualifying Round on November 1-2 by 57 other winners from the weekend, plus the winner of a lone remaining contest on Tuesday, Oct. 14 between O'Shea's FC and FC Florida in West Palm Beach. Five teams received byes to the Third Round – Ballard FC, Brockton FC United, City Soccer FC, Laguna United FC and UDA Soccer – and they’ll join the party next month too.
Saturday’s schedule of 24 games was punctuated by an impressive number of wins by away teams. Ten sides took Ws on their travels, with the outstanding Denton Diablos impressing in a marquee road clash against Tulsa Athletic at their beloved Hicks Park, putting an end to the Oklahomans efforts to reach a fourth-straight Tournament Proper. Matt Albury scored a brace for the travelling Texans, who prevailed in extra-time (5-4) to end a tense, high-octane affair.
There were also some lopsided results, inflicted by the home team, on Saturday. CD Faialense, of Cambridge, Massachusetts, dismantled old rivals Project Football to the tune of 5-0. It was the same number of goals scored by Pennsylvania's Capital City Islanders (5-2) in their win over MoCo 1776.
Christos FC won out in a Battle of Baltimore (over Baltimore City FC)
In tighter Saturday contests, Pennsylvania powers Vereinigung Erzgebirge made a step toward a return to the Tournament Proper with a 2-1 win over Colonial SC. SC Vistula Garfield of New Jersey beat Ironbound SCP by the same score – a popular scoreline that also saw Briar United FC, Valley 559 FC and Edgewater Castle FC move through the Third Round.
Sunday’s huge menu served up 33 games, with 13 being won by the visiting team. A pair of old Colorado rivals – on a collision course to meet in the Rounds to come – both made successful trips, with Harpos FC beating Boulder United 3-0 and Azteca FC needing extra-time to see off Peak Eleven FC (2-1).
The largest margin of victory for a road team on Sunday was San Diego Internacional’s 7-0 triumph over an out-gunned FC Balboa in the Golden State. The largest margin of victory of the entire Round also came on Sunday when another SoCal side, City SC San Diego, trounced Rebels SC 9-0.
Among the list of 20 home teams who won out on Sunday were Southern Indiana FC, who beat Bootleggers AC to keep alive their dream of reaching a second – and second straight – berth in the Open Cup Proper. Old favorites Miami United FC and Chicago House AC both took steps toward trips back to the Tournament Proper with shutouts of Boca JRs Miami FC and Wisloka Chicago respectively.
San Francisco’s Olympic Club (red) were one of eight Second Round winners from California
The winning teams from the Second Round now move on to the Third Qualifying Round (November 1-2) which will consist of 32 games (again, single-elimination in format) and will determine the 32-team amateur field for the Final and Decisive Fourth Qualifying Round on November 22-23. Those 16 winners will join 16 other teams/competitions awarded a bye directly into the Tournament Proper.
Three of the bids of that latter category have already been awarded to West Chester SC (2025 USASA National Amateur Cup Champion), Tennessee Tempo FC (2025 UPSL Spring Champion) and El Farolito (2025 John Motta Trophy Winner, awarded to highest Open Division finisher from the previous year’s Open Cup).
2026 Second Qualifying Round Results:
Friday, Oct. 10
Western Mass Pioneers 1-4 Atletico Boston
Saturday, Oct. 11
Vereinigung Erzgebirge Majors 2-1 Colonial SC 1
Mint Hill FC 3-2 SCU Heat
Christos FC 4-2 Baltimore City FC
Parkland Travel Soccer Club 0-3 Florida Futbol Club
CD Faialense 5-0 Project Football
Capital City Islanders 5-2 MoCo 1776 FC
SC Vistula Garfield 2-1 Ironbound SCP
Briar United FC 2-1 Greenville United Football Club
0 Fort Myers City FC 0-1 Badgers FC (AET)
ASC New Stars 3-0 SVD Beaumont
Grove United 4-2 Alexandria Reds
Bold City SC 1-0 Stetson FA
FC Monmouth 1-3 Bulldogs SC
StrikerZ DFW Soccer Club 1-3 Dallas Atletico
Deportivo Lake Mary FC 0-1 Emerald FC Orlando
Woodland Football Club 1-3 BOHFS St. Louis
MSI Pro 1-0 Arlington SA Pro-0
FC Kanks 0-3 Harbor City FC
Tulsa Athletic 4-5 Denton Diablos
United SC 1-2 Edgewater Castle FC
Valley 559 FC 2-1 Real San Jose
Omaha Street 1-0 Iowa Demon Hawks (Forfeit)
Napa Valley 1839 FC 1-3 FC Folsom
Next Level Soccer 3-1 Olympians F
Mint Hill FC (pictured) won out in an all-Carolinas clash over SCU Heat
Sunday, Oct. 12
Steel City FC 3-2 FCY New York
Majestic SC 0-2 Atletico Buford FC
Cleveland SC 0-2 Akron City FC
Peak Eleven FC 1-2 Azteca FC (AET)
Southern Indiana FC 4-1 Bootleggers AC
Boulder United FC 0-3 Harpos FC
Croatia Cleveland 5-2 Detroit Metro FC
Miami United FC 3-0 Boca Jrs Miami FC
Oaklyn United FC 2-0 Scots-American Athletic Club
Doradus FC 1-2 Virginia Dream FC
FC Lonestar Gpse 2-1 FC Omens (AET)
Guerrilla FC (4) 1-1 (2) DMV Elite FC (AET and PKs)
Pinellas County United Pelicans SC 1-3 FC America CFL Spurs 3 (AET)
210 FC 6-2 Master Joga
Miami Soccer Academy 3-0 River Miami FC
Kalonji Pro-Profile 4-2 Limeno Ga
North Georgia United 0-2 Potros FC
FC Balboa 1-7 San Diego Internacional
Metropolitan Oval Academy 1-0 Central Park Rangers (Forfeit)
Hurricane FC 1-6 Palm Beach Flames SC
Zum Schneider FC 7-3 Osner's FC (AET)
The Olympic Club 1-0 Albion SC Silicon Valley
Chicago House AC 2-0 Wisloka Chicago-0
New York Greek American SC 2-3 NY Renegades FC
Atletico Miami Internacional FC 3-4 Red Force (AET)
DOXA SC 1-2 Lansdowne Yonkers FC
City SC San Diego 9-0 Rebels SC
Tennessee United Soccer Club 2-0 Eagles Sports Southaven FC
International San Francisco 3-2 CF San Rafael
Sharktopus Football Club 3-4 Bellevue Athletic FC (AET)
San Ramon FC 6-0 Dublin Celtic FC
Ariana FC 2-1 Bay Area United 1 (AET)
Irvine FC (4) 3 - 3 (3) Apple Valley Storm (AET and PKs)
Tuesday, Oct. 14
O'Shea's FC vs. FC Florida | West Palm Beach, FL
Angelo Maduro is a senior reporter at large for usopencup.com
