Amateur
Six area teams to participate in U.S. Open Cup qualifying
Six teams from the region will be among the record 146 amateur teams taking part in the 2026 U.S. Open Cup open division qualifying rounds beginning next month.
West Chester United has already qualified for the 111th edition of U.S. Soccer’s Club Championship via the National Amateur Cup, which they won last month in Milwaukee. They were the first team from the Philadelphia area since Philadelphia Inter in 1974 to win the competition, which includes an automatic bid into the U.S. Open Cup.
The local entries include four-time champions Philadelphia Ukrainian Nationals, Oaklyn United and Vidas United from the APSL Delaware River Conference, UPSL team the Capital City Islanders and USLPA rivals Colonial SC and Vereinigung Erzgebirge.
VE last qualified for the tournament proper in 2023 when they hosted Charlotte Independence at Cairn University. West Chester United was the lone local team to qualify for the tournament through open qualifying and hosted Loudoun United in a first round match at YSC Sports.
The record number of qualifying round participants, which shattered last year’s previous high-water mark of 114, will fight it out in the coming months for the chance to earn 16 of the Open Division’s 32 spots in next year’s Tournament Proper. The 16 spots awarded to teams from the qualifying rounds are also the most ever available via this qualifying track, up two from last year’s 14 allocations.
The teams will be grouped into 16 regional pools from which the qualifying round draw will be conducted. The 2026 qualifying rounds will be played across the following four weekend windows from September through November:
- September 13-14, 2025
- October 11-12, 2025
- November 1-2, 2025
- November 22-23, 2025
The regional draws and schedules are expected to be announced by U.S. Soccer next week and will be posted on usopencup.com. Most teams will begin their Open Cup journey on one of the first two Qualifying Round dates depending on the number of Rounds required to reach the final field of 16 teams that will advance to the Tournament Proper for 2026.
America Premier Soccer League / USASA:
Oaklyn United FC (NJ)
Vidas United FC (PA)
National Premier Soccer League / USASA:
Philadelphia Ukrainians Nationals (PA)
United Premier Soccer League:
Capital City Islanders (PA)
United Soccer League of Pennsylvania / USASA:
Colonial SC (PA)
Vereinigung Erzgebirge Majors (PA)
