Open Cup qualifying for 2024 is underway weeks before Inter Miami and Houston play for the 2023 title

Since the introduction of Major League Soccer in 1996, the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup — America soccer’s oldest and most contested cup competition — has seemed a little less open. Only one non-MLS side has lifted the cup in the past 27 years — the Rochester Rhinos in 1999. But as recently as last year, a lower division team made it to the final. The USL’s Sacramento Republic captured the soccer nation’s imagination, but eventually fell 3-0 to Orlando City SC in the championship match.

So it is that hope springs eternal. This weekend, while Inter Miami worried how to sustain its undefeated streak and playoff hopes with so many players called up to their national teams, 42 amateur sides across the country began their own quest, for one of 11 tournament berths (of 109 total) set aside for Open Division clubs. That’s almost three weeks before Club Internacional de Futbol Miami and the Houston Dynamo meet to decide the 2023 cup Champion.

Below are results from the Open Division’s first qualifying round. Enjoy the unfamiliar names, research a few teams, some of which have been around for many decades (the first cup was played after the 1913-1914 season). Europe and South America May have better known soccer traditions, more high profile players, coaches and teams, but the soccer in the United States has its own history and heritage. The U.S. Open Cup links Miami and Messi’s MLS to the National Association Foot Ball League and Brooklyn Field Club, the first champions.

Saturday, Sept. 9

International San Francisco 1, SF Vikings 0

DCFC 1, MoCo 1776 FC 0

Aegean Hawks FC 4, VA Revolution Pro 1

Alamo City Soccer Club 4, Central Texas Lobos 0

Lansdowne Yonkers FC 3, Ole Football Club 0

O’Shea’s FC 4, Hurricane FC 2

The Olympic Club 5, Marin County Union SC 1

Valley 559 FC 2, Real San Jose 0

Capo FC 4, Laguna United FC 1

Holac FC 2 (5), Bellevue Athletic FC 2 (4)

Bay Area United FC 6, JASA RWC 2

Sunday, Sept. 10

Harpos FC 2, Colorado Rovers 1

Fc Folsom 3, BattleBorn FC 2

Azteca FC 7, Peak Eleven Football Club 0

Philadelphia Heritage SC 3 (3), Kensington Soccer Club 3 (0)

New York Pancyprian-Freedoms Freedoms 1, New York Braveheart SC 0

Miami Soccer Academy 4, Dade County FC 1

N.Y. Renegades FC 5, Manhattan Kickers FC 0

Zum Schneider FC 03 3, New York Greek American SC 1

Irvine Zeta FC 3, Irvine FC 1

U.S. Davis Club Soccer 7, Elk Grove Blues 1

The next round of fixtures will be played Sept. 30 and Oct. 1.