New England Well Represented in 2026 U.S. Open Cup Despite Format Changes
The New England Revolution, Rhode Island FC, Hartford Athletic, Vermont Green FC, Portland Hearts of Pine and CD Faialense will rep the region.
Despite changes to the format of the tournament, New England is well represented in the 2026 U.S. Open Cup.
As first reported here at The Blazing Musket, the 2026 version of the tournament will not feature participation from all professional USL Clubs. Alex Ashton from Southeast Soccer Report added additional reporting, stating that U.S. Soccer mandated the changes.
This included that 16 MLS clubs, 17 from USL Championship, 13 from USL League One and two independent MLS Next Pro clubs would play in the tournament. Ashton also noted that the 48 professional clubs would be joined by 32 qualified amateur clubs, and no MLS NextPro teams with MLS affiliations being involved in the tournament.
U.S. Soccer has now come out with the format, schedule, and participating clubs for the tournament. The 2026 U.S. Open Cup format will feature seven rounds – one fewer than recent editions – to avoid overlap with the FIFA Men’s World Cup. That is the reasoning behind having fewer clubs in the tournament.
Additionally, U.S. Soccer updated two rules for the tournament ahead of the 2026 edition. A one-club, one-entry rule applies to all divisions. Under this rule, a professional club must enter its highest-level professional team.
Also, all numerical limits to the number of players that can be eligible for a competition roster have been removed across all divisions. All players from a club are eligible to participate, and players can be added up to one day prior to a match, subject to league and U.S. Soccer player registration regulations as well as competition eligibility rules related to cup-ties, length of loan, and disciplinary action.
The qualifying criteria for Major League Soccer clubs is as follows.
Teams participating in Concacaf Champions Cup are excluded from the Open Cup
Teams not participating in the 2026 Leagues Cup qualify for the Open Cup, ranked based on 2025 Supporters Shield Standings. The top four teams from this list from each conference will be seeded as home teams.
The next best teams in the Supporters’ Shield Standings that are not in the Concacaf Champions Cup will enter the Open Cup.
This means that Lionel Messi, Heung Min-Son, and Thomas Mueller will not be participating in the tournament but the New England Revolution will.
Dropping down to the USL Championship, the qualifying criteria is as follows:
2025 League Standings will be used to determine Open Cup qualifiers.
Positions allocated evenly between East & West Conferences based on conference standing, with total points serving as a tiebreaker in the case of an odd number of teams.
With the 2025 standings being used to determine qualification, Brooklyn FC was unable to qualify for the tournament. Additionally, the likes of the Tampa Bay Rowdies, Miami FC, Birmingham Legion, Oakland Roots, Monterey Bay, and the Las Vegas Lights will not be featured in the tournament.
But fans in New England don’t need to worry, as Hartford Athletic and Rhode Island FC will be in the tournament.
Dropping down to USL League One, because fewer than 16 teams participating in 2026 Division III leagues have results in the 2025 League Standings, all 13 returning teams otherwise eligible teams from the 2025 season will qualify. This includes Portland Hearts of Pine.
Finally, in the non-professional ranks, Vermont Green FC and CD Faialense will represent the region.