U.S. Open Cup

Major League Soccer's (MLS) request to send their reserve teams to participate in the U.S. Open Cup, the country's oldest tournament, was denied by U.S. Soccer on Wednesday.

MLS clubs voted to send teams from MLS Next Pro, a lower division developmental league formed two years ago comprising of their reserve players, as the U.S. Open Cup was not a priority and because they wanted to reduce fixture congestion.

Major League Soccer will send teams from the MLS Next Pro development league to the 2024 U.S. Open Cup instead of the clubs' traditional first teams.

It will mark the first time in the history of MLS that its franchises do not send their top players to the annual domestic knockout tournament. The Athletic reported that the league will "reassess its first teams' involvement" after 2024 to decide whether to continue sending Next Pro teams to participate.

Griffin Dorsey and Amine Biassi scored before halftime and the Houston Dynamo won their second U.S. Open Cup with a 2-1 victory over Inter Miami on Wednesday at Fort Lauderdale, Fla.

Inter Miami played the final without injured stars Lionel Messi and Jordi Alba.

For the first time since his arrival to Miami Lionel Messi failed to score in a game when the Herons defeated FC Cincinnati 5-4 on penalties (3-3 after extra time) in the U.S. Open Cup semifinals at TQL Stadium on Wednesday.

Messi made up for it with two assists including a perfect ball to Leonardo Campana in the 97th minute to send the game to extra time.

Messi assist vs Cincinnati

LEO MESSI AND LEONARDO CAMPANA COME THROUGH AGAIN FOR INTER MIAMI.

FC Cincinnati winger Álvaro Barreal is one of the few who prefers to crush our “cupset” dreams. Fortunately for us, he lessened the blow with a goal so technically brilliant, we’re just glad we got to see it.  

We can't believe it either.

@alvarobarreal00 pic.twitter.com/2QbK58I4oY

As the tail end of the nation’s oldest and most storied soccer tournament approaches, two second-division teams continue to linger. The Pittsburgh Riverhounds and Birmingham Legion both welcomed MLS opposition into their humble abodes for the US Open Cup Round of 16 and won more than just the hearts of those watching.

Thank you, Pittsburgh

Thank you, Birmingham

All El Tráficos count the same, right? Well, maybe that wasn't the case Tuesday night with LAFC and the LA Galaxy meeting in the U.S. Open Cup at only the Round of 16 stage and with LAFC entirely focused on next week's Concacaf Champions League final against León.

This meeting was basically the El Clásico equivalent of Barcelona playing Real Madrid in a preseason friendly at Hard Rock Stadium.

But don't tell Riqui Puig that.

In a word, forgettable. Following one of the most exciting matchdays of the MLS season, the league’s first foray into midweek play definitely did not live up to the billing, but there were still a few moments that caught our attention. Despite MLS Matchday 13 being promoted as a continuation of Rivalry Week, there were few games that truly fit that description, and it showed both on the field and in the scorelines.

The culmination of this week’s midweek U.S. Open Cup matches ensured that 14 of the teams in the tournament’s Round of 16 will be from Major League Soccer, equalling a record set in 2015, 2016 and 2019 for the most MLS representatives at this stage of the competition. The two non-MLS representatives are USL Championship sides Birmingham Legion FC, who beat fellow USLC side Memphis 901 FC 3-0, and Pittsburgh Riverhounds SC, who pulled off the round’s only “cupset” as they knocked off Bruce Arena’s New England Revolution 1-0.