The US Open Cup will go back to having all 27 US-based Major League Soccer teams, including FC Dallas, beginning in 2027.
According to a report on Tuesday from Backheeled’s Joseph Lowery and Ben Wright, all 27 US-based teams will return to the US Open Cup, ending a three-year stretch in which the league only sent a smaller set of clubs into the tournament. The Athletic corroborated the reporting.
FC Dallas, a club that missed out on participating in the US Open Cup in 2026, will go back to the tournament that is named after its founder Lamar Hunt.
Let’s get into the details from the two reports.
Following the First Round, MLS clubs will enter the 2027 Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup in the Round of 64 in July, with MLS clubs receiving hosting priority for their opening match of the competition.
The U.S. Open Cup adheres to “one club, one entry,” and does not place a numerical limit on the eligible players for the competition roster. For 2027, U.S. Open Cup game day rosters are expanding from 18 to 20 players, and MLS clubs may select from any contracted first-team, MLS NEXT Pro, and academy players. This flexibility helps provide younger players with competitive minutes while allowing clubs to manage multiple competitions.
Following the Round of 64, a live draw will be held to reveal the matchups and hosting scenarios for the Round of 32 and Round of 16. The Round of 32 will be played on September 14-15. The Round of 16 dates are to be confirmed, followed by the Quarterfinals on November 23-24, Semifinals on December 1 and the Final on December 15. These dates are subject to change.
Stay on top of every FC Dallas move this season. Free subscribers get breaking news straight to their inbox — no algorithm, no noise.
What’s actually changing
The headline is full participation. Backheeled reports that all 27 US-based MLS teams will participate in the 2027 edition, the first time since the 2023 tournament. For the last few years, MLS has only sent a smaller number of teams, including just eight in 2026, as the league prioritized playing its clubs in the Leagues Cup over the country’s oldest trophy.
There’s also a new shape to the tournament. Multiple sources say MLS clubs will enter the tournament in July, which will be in between the league’s new 2027 Sprint Season and the start of the new calendar switch. The final of the tournament will be pushed to December.
The calendar switch for MLS does toss a big wrench in the annual calendar for the tournament, which typically starts in the early spring and runs through early September. The tournament could end up following a similar scheduling pattern to MLS’s new format down the road.
How we got here
If you need reminding why this is a story at all: MLS threw a bit of a hissy-fit a couple of years ago and nearly left the USOC altogether.
After the 2023 tournament, which the Houston Dynamo won over Inter Miami (yeah, that is still painful to type Houston as a winner of anything), MLS announced it would pull its first teams from the 2024 tournament. It became a federation-vs-league standoff, complete with US Soccer pointing out that its own professional league standards require US-based teams to enter every competition they’re eligible for. MLS wanted to send MLS Next Pro reserve sides instead and cited concerns about presentation and professionalism of games often staged at smaller club’s venues.
Translation: MLS didn’t love playing knockout ties in front of 5,000 people at lower-division grounds and possibly losing. Which is lame considering that is the charm of a tournament like the US Open Cup.
What it means for FC Dallas
This is good news for FC Dallas supporters, and probably a good thing for the club too since the trophy kind of has Uncle Lamar’s name on it and all.
FC Dallas has taken the USOC seriously for its entire history, winning two titles and having nine trips to the semifinals. The club was disappointed to not participate in the 2026 edition.
A full-strength US Open Cup also matters because of what’s on the other side of it: it has historically been the shortest and sometimes simplest route for a MLS team to get into the Concacaf Champions Cup. For a club like FC Dallas, a cup run is a viable trophy and a path to play continental football that doesn’t require winning a MLS Cup.
The July entry in next year’s tournament could raise some questions about squad depth and rotation, but we’ll dwell on that when things become official. Those are probably we’re willing to take on over stressing about the Leagues Cup.
The bottom line
MLS spent the last couple of years insisting the Open Cup wasn’t worth every club’s time and cared more about the Leagues Cup (which is likely to get shifted to a January timeframe in 2028 from what we’ve been told). Nothing is official from the league or US soccer, and the calendar math does need sorted out a bit for everyone involved, not just the MLS teams. But for a club with two USOC titles in its cabinet, this is a return worth celebrating.
