Road to the final
The Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup is an annual men's soccer competition open to adult teams in the United States that are affiliated with the United States Soccer Federation. The 110th edition in 2025 had 96 participants, among which were professional and amateur teams. [6] Professional leagues entered in later rounds, with 16 Major League Soccer (MLS) teams beginning in the round of 32. [7] The MLS participants were determined by the 2024 regular season standings; teams that had not qualified for the 2025 CONCACAF Champions Cup or 2025 Leagues Cup were eligible. [8] The tournament was organized into geographic brackets beginning in the round of 16, with teams broadly divided into eastern and western groups in the quarterfinals draw. The winner of the western group was designated as the host for the U.S. Open Cup final. [9]
The finalists, Austin FC and Nashville SC, were both in their first U.S. Open Cup final and had yet to win a major domestic trophy. [10] The two teams previously played each other in four MLS regular season matches that finished in two wins for Nashville, one win for Austin, and one draw. The most recent match was in August 2024, a 2–0 win for Austin FC at home. [11]
Austin FC
Austin FC entered MLS as an expansion team in the 2021 season and participated in their first U.S. Open Cup the following year. [12] Their best previous performance was in the round of 16 in the 2023 edition; [11] they were represented by reserve team Austin FC II in the 2024 edition. [13] Austin FC entered the 2025 tournament in the round of 32 and hosted El Paso Locomotive FC, a second-division team from the USL Championship, and conceded two goals in the first half. Brandon Vázquez scored twice to lead the hosts to a 3–2 comeback victory and secure the team's first win in U.S. Open Cup play. [14]
The team hosted fellow Texan MLS team Houston Dynamo FC in the round of 16 and earned a 3–1 win through a goal and assist from Osman Bukari. [15] Austin FC then defeated the San Jose Earthquakes in the quarterfinals after conceding a goal in the first half. They earned a penalty kick that was converted by Vázquez in the 65th minute to tie the match through the end of regulation time. The Earthquakes then lost captain Cristian Espinoza to a knee injury after a collision with Austin defender Mikkel Desler in extra time, but retook the lead through Benji Kikanović in the 99th minute. They conceded another penalty kick to Austin that was converted by Myrto Uzuni to tie the match at 2–2 at the end of extra time. In the ensuing penalty shootout, Austin FC converted all of their kicks to win 4–2 and advance. [16]
Austin FC traveled north for their semifinal match against Minnesota United FC, who had one available striker on their roster due to injuries and tournament cap restrictions. Bukari scored on a long run at the end of the first half, but Minnesota equalized through a free kick from 25 yards (23 m) taken by Joaquín Pereyra in the 67th minute. The match remained tied through most of extra time until the final ten seconds, when CJ Fodrey scored from a rebound off a save by goalkeeper Dayne St. Clair. [17] [18]
Nashville SC
Nashville SC was originally a team in the USL Championship, the second-division league in the United States, from 2018 to 2019 and joined MLS as an expansion team in 2020. [19] The team had reached the round of 16 in the 2018 U.S. Open Cup while in the USL Championship and the quarterfinals of the 2022 edition, where they lost to Orlando City SC in a penalty shootout. [20] Their only previous experience in a tournament final was finishing as runners-up to Inter Miami CF in the 2023 Leagues Cup final, which they had hosted at Geodis Park in Nashville, Tennessee. [21] [22]
Nashville opened their 2025 campaign in the round of 32 at home against Chattanooga Red Wolves SC, a third-tier team from USL League One, and defeated them 1–0 with a goal scored by Josh Bauer in the first half. [23] The team traveled to Florida for their round of 16 match against Orlando City SC, who took the lead in the 17th minute with Marco Pašalić's strike from outside the box. Nashville took the lead before halftime through an own goal and later a low shot from Ahmed Qasem that rolled into the net. Ramiro Enrique's goal for the hosts in the 58th minute equalized the score until rookie defender Wyatt Meyer scored from 25 yards (23 m) in the 79th minute off a backheel assist from Patrick Yazbek for the 3–2 Nashville victory. [24]
The team then hosted D.C. United in the quarterfinal and conceded twice in the opening 24 minutes—from a long-distance strike by Gabriel Pirani and an own goal directed in by Jack Maher. Nashville responded a minute later with a goal after a D.C. defensive mistake and equalized through a penalty kick converted by Sam Surridge in the 53rd minute. Surridge added his second goal and was followed by a 24-yard (22 m) strike from Andy Najar and a Walker Zimmerman header to secure a 5–2 win. [25] Nashville hosted the eastern semifinal match against the Philadelphia Union and won 3–1 through Surridge's hat-trick with goals in both halves. [4]
This page is based on this
Wikipedia article Text is available under the
CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.
