UPSL Clubs Dominate US Open Cup Qualifying
The UPSL enters the Second Qualifying Round of the 2027 Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup with more clubs than any pro-development league in America and it isn’t close.
On October 3-4, the Second Qualifying Round of the 2027 Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup gets underway across the country. The United Premier Soccer League will have 53 clubs in it, spread across 62 matches, the largest contingent of any pro-development league in the United States.
Fifty-three clubs. Southern California to South Florida. The Pacific Northwest to the Texas border. Sides run out of community fields and sides run out of proper facilities, all chasing the same prize: a place in America’s oldest and most democratic cup competition.
Qualification isn’t a marketing exercise
Let’s be honest about what that number actually means.
You don’t qualify for the Open Cup by announcing a philosophy. You qualify by fielding a real team, surviving a real season, and winning matches that count.
The “League for Clubs” is still trying to explain to American soccer what a club ought to look like. The APSL continues to introduce itself as the next great challenger to the established order, but only 16 clubs in the next round tell a poor story.
The UPSL has been doing the less glamorous version of the job. Building clubs. Playing the fixtures. Putting more teams into Open Cup qualifying than anybody else in the soccer pyramid, year after year, without needing to tell everyone how important it is.
Talking about the pathway is one thing. Being the pathway is another.
Deportivo Rose City, the 2026 UPSL Spring National Champions, and Miami United FC, the runners-up, have already secured the league’s two automatic berths in the Tournament Proper next April.
That’s the standard. That’s the target. And that’s the question hanging over every one of the 53 clubs walking out this weekend: who’s next?
“Once again the UPSL leads the way in US Open Cup qualification, proving again that it is the clear pathway to making dreams become reality in reaching the elite of American soccer,” said UPSL Executive Vice President Nick Webster.
The road from here
Winners on October 3-4 advance to the next round on October 31 and November 1, which sets the 32 clubs bound for the Final Qualifying Round. Sixteen Open Division clubs will advance and into the 2027 Tournament Proper in April, where MLS and USL Championship opposition is awaiting.
Somewhere inside our 53 UPSL clubs are sides nobody outside their own city has heard of yet rest assured they’ll be on a national broadcast in the spring, playing a professional team, with a few thousand of their own people behind them.
That’s the Open Cup. That’s why this league exists.
53 clubs. 62 matches. The pathway is open.
About the United Premier Soccer League (UPSL)
Founded in 2011, the United Premier Soccer League (UPSL) serves as the unofficial fourth tier of the U.S. Soccer pyramid. With over 900 teams competing across its Premier, Division 1, A-League, Academy, and Women’s divisions, the UPSL is the largest Semi-Pro Pro League in North America. A National Affiliate member of the U.S. Soccer Federation (USSF), the UPSL is made up of independently owned and operated clubs. Through its USSF affiliation, UPSL teams are eligible to compete in the U.S. Open Cup Qualifying Rounds.
For more information, visit www.upsl.com or follow @upslsoccer on Facebook, Instagram, and X. General Inquiries: [email protected] – Media Inquiries: [email protected]