Di 111th edition of di Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup dey back in action with semifinal matches on Wednesday, Sept. 16. E don pass five months since di competition play im quarterfinal matches. Di United States men’s club tournament get two squads wey dey aim for second U.S. Open Cup trophy, and two others wey dey search for dia first. Di tournament winner earns automatic bid into di 2027 Concacaf Champions Cup. MLS get five other slots available to it: 2026 MLS Cup winner, 2026 MLS Supporters’ Shield winner, 2026 MLS regular season opposite conference winner, 2026 MLS Supporters’ Shield next best club, 2026 MLS Supporters’ Shield next best club.
Winning di U.S. Open Cup in 2022 na di path Orlando City SC take reach im first Concacaf Champions Cup appearance. Orlando semifinal opponent, Columbus Crew, win im lone U.S. Open Cup back in 2002. For di other semifinal, Colorado Rapids and St. Louis City SC hope to keep dia trophy hopes alive. Colorado lose im only other U.S. Open Cup final appearance, earning di ignominious distinction of being di only MLS team to allow lower division squad win di Open Cup. Dat one happen in 1999, when Rochester Rhinos pull off stunner and remain di lone non-MLS club to win di tournament since di league inception in 1996.
Colorado Rapids host St. Louis City SC on Wednesday night for di 2026 U.S. Open Cup semifinals, with place in di championship match on di line. Di game go take place on Wednesday, September 16, 2026, at 9:30 p.m. ET. Fans fit tune into CBS Sports Network. Location na DICK’S Sporting Goods Park. Colorado come into di home semifinal matchup following 1-0 MLS victory over CF Montréal on September 9. Rapids currently dey seventh place in Western Conference standings with 35 points and record of 11-12-2. Team don strong for home, where dem collect 27 of dia 35 points. For Open Cup, Colorado don advance past Union Omaha, Colorado Springs Switchbacks FC and San Jose Earthquakes, including 2-0 quarterfinal victory over San Jose.
St. Louis arrive in strong form. CITY SC defeat Minnesota United 4-2 on Saturday, extending dia unbeaten streak to 16 matches across all competitions. Di result leave St. Louis with 41 points from 25 MLS matches, good for fifth place in Western Conference standings. St. Louis reach semifinal by eliminating FC Tulsa, Chicago Fire FC and Houston Dynamo FC, with Houston quarterfinal decided in penalty shootout after 2-2 draw. Both teams dey present well in MLS play, Wednesday match suppose provide plenty excitement. These two teams last meet in July in closely contested match wey end 1-0 victory for St. Louis. Di winner go play either Columbus or Orlando City in di final.
For Orlando City, Antoine Griezmann fit become first player in Orlando City history to score in six consecutive matches if e notch goal against Columbus on Wednesday night. Orlando City fit reach dia third final in club MLS era with result against Columbus (2020 MLS is Back Tournament, 2022 U.S. Open Cup). Lions fit also earn dia first four-game winning streak across all competitions since August 2-16, 2025. Martín Ojeda need three goals (all competitions) to tie Facundo Torres’ Orlando City club record of 47 career tallies. Ojeda dey three assists away from Mauricio Pereyra club record, also 47. Daryl Dike next goal go be im 22nd for di club, tying former teammate Chris Mueller for ninth on Lions’ all-time scoring list. Marco Pašalić dey two goals away from 20 for di club across all competitions, three behind Dike.
Antoine Griezmann strike for di fifth straight match on Saturday, setting new Orlando City single-season record for consecutive MLS regular-season games with goal as Lions cruise to 3-0 win over Toronto FC. Griezmann don score seven times in im last five games, over which Orlando dey 4W-0L-1D. Di 2018 World Cup champion don reach 8g/3a in just 10 MLS appearances, di most productive start to Orlando City player career all-time. Homegrown attacker Justin Ellis provide assist for di fourth consecutive game, though dis one no go im usual strike partner Griezmann but to Iván Angulo, who score for di second straight game. Di 19-year-old don reach 3g/11a in 24 appearances in all competitions in 2026. Rookie attacker Harvey Sarajian get di substitute appearance of a lifetime Saturday. Entering with 10 minutes to go and score at 1-0, Sarajian score im first MLS goal after spinning through multiple lines of pressure and finishing off give-and-go with Daryl Dike. He then kickstart di play wey end in Angulo goal in stoppage time, picking up secondary assist, also im first in MLS. Since di World Cup, Orlando City dey 7W-3L-3D with +9 goal differential across all competitions and don rise from twelfth to sixth in Eastern Conference.
Orlando City turn attention back to Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup for pivotal semifinal matchup with Columbus Crew. Di run start on April 15 when Lions dispatch USL League One side Naples FC 1-0 on road thanks to Tyrese Spicer golazo. Di Round of 16 feature wild 4-3 thriller in Rhode Island against New England Revolution in which Orlando erase three separate deficits before Zakaria Taifi score di winner in second-half stoppage time. City then ease into semis with 4-1 blowout win over Atlanta United in quarterfinals. 2026 mark Orlando third U.S. Open Cup semifinals appearance in club history. Lions fall 2-0 to Atlanta in 2019, but redeem themselves with famous 5-1 stomping of Red Bull New York en route to winning it all in 2022. All-time vs. Columbus, Orlando dey 11-9-6, +1 GD (3-5-3, -2 GD away). Orlando City last tussle with Columbus on April 12, 1-1 draw on Sunday Night Soccer wey see Robin Jansson make im 2026 debut after prolonged injury absence. Lions unbeaten in three against Crew over past two seasons, including 3-1 win last year at ScottsMiracle-Gro Field last July.
Columbus don endure difficult 2026. Crew part ways with new head coach Henrik Rydström after just 16 matches in spring and never really kick on under interim boss Laurent Courtois, sitting fourth from bottom in Supporters’ Shield standings on just 23 points. Columbus don lose six of dia last seven games in MLS play. Crew did earn dia way to semifinals back in spring, though, and Open Cup represent major opportunity to lift trophy in otherwise disappointing season. Columbus face lower division sides in each of first two rounds, seeing off Richmond Kickers (3-0) and One Knoxville SC (4-1) before encountering New York City FC in quarterfinals. Crew win that game 1-0 thanks to goal from United States men’s national teamer Max Arfsten, who don since depart di club for Middlesbrough FC in English Championship. Columbus make major changes to roster in transfer window, selling Arfsten and swapping out two Designated Players. Out go Diego Rossi (Monterrey) and Dániel Gazdag (New England), and in dia place come Brais Méndez (Real Sociedad) and Santiago Rodríguez (Botafogo). Méndez don be bright spot, notching 4g/4a in all competitions since arriving, while Rodríguez score goal in each of im first two games for di club on September 5 and 9, respectively.
