The 2024 U.S. Open Cup has narrowed down to its final 16 teams, with pairings for the round of 16 becoming clear as the tournament’s fourth round played out on Wednesday night.
U.S. Soccer conducted a draw on April 18 to sort both the round of 32 and the round of 16, with the remaining teams placed into four-team pods roughly based around geography and other factors.
That effectively set up hosting scenarios for the last 16, with teams drawn into the first pairing within the pod set to host the winner of the second game. The federation will hold a draw for the quarterfinal and semifinal rounds at a later date, with the latter draw also determining hosting priority for the final for each of the final four teams.
The round of 32 included some absolutely wild results. The defending champion Houston Dynamo are already out, having held a 2-0 lead at home only to be knocked off by USL Championship side Detroit City on penalties after a 3-3 extra-time draw.
An all-USL Championship clash produced an absolute classic, with the Tampa Bay Rowdies leading 4-0 after 81 minutes, yet being pushed to extra time by Birmingham Legion. The Rowdies somehow recovered from that to claim a 6-4 win thanks in no small part to an unfathomable bicycle kick goal from Manuel Arteaga (who would also get sent off in the final seconds just for good measure).
The Open Cup is Drunk 🤪 | #USOC2024
Take a bow, Manuel Arteaga | @TampaBayRowdies pic.twitter.com/Jf1KwFhIsG
— U.S. Open Cup (@opencup) May 9, 2024
Other “cupsets” included New Mexico United seeing off Real Salt Lake 4-2, while MLS Next Pro side New York City FC II managed a 1-0 win over the Colorado Springs Switchbacks of the USL Championship.
All in all, the last 16 will see six MLS teams, nine from the USL Championship, and New York City FC II surviving as the final remaining team from any league lower than the second tier. Based on the pairings, at least two lower-level teams will go through to the quarterfinals.
Below are the round of 16 pairings resulting from April’s draw. Games are set for May 21-22, with schedule and venues for all matches still to be confirmed. Host sides are listed first in each pairing.
2024 U.S. Open Cup round of 16 draw
- Charleston Battery (USL-C) vs. Atlanta United (MLS)
- Tampa Bay Rowdies (USL-C) vs. FC Dallas (MLS)
- Sporting Kansas City (MLS) vs. FC Tulsa (USL-C)
- Seattle Sounders (MLS) vs. Phoenix Rising FC (USL-C)
- Sacramento Republic FC (USL-C) vs. San Jose Earthquakes (MLS)
- Los Angeles FC (MLS) vs. Loudoun United FC (USL-C)
- Indy Eleven (USL-C) vs. Detroit City FC (USL-C)
- New York City FC II (MLS Next Pro) vs. New Mexico United (USL-C)
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