Larry Berg, the new commissioner of Major League Soccer, made something of a curious admission when he faced the press for the first time. Asked the question every MLS executive eventually has to field — promotion and relegation, yes or no? — Berg swatted it away, as his predecessors have done before him. But he did not dismiss the underlying idea entirely. What he wants, he said, is jeopardy. Games that actually matter. Knockout drama. The sort of thing that made the co-hosted World Cup this summer grip millions of Americans who had never previously given football a second glance.

"Millions of people across North America experienced that passion firsthand," Berg said, referencing the tournament. "They fell in love with the drama, the atmosphere, the supporter culture and the emotion that makes soccer unlike anything else."

It is an entirely fair observation. The knockout rounds of a World Cup carry a weight that a regular-season MLS Saturday simply cannot replicate. Lose and you go home. That is the oldest, most elemental tension in football, and it works every single time.

Here is the thing, though. The United States already has a competition built on exactly that principle, and it has done since 1913. The US Open Cup — America's equivalent of the FA Cup, the DFB Pokal, the Copa do Brasil — is older than the World Cup itself. It is open to amateur clubs and professional franchises alike, from lower-league outfits born out of immigrant communities to the polished stadiums of MLS. A burrito bar in San Francisco, El Farolito, has been the best-performing amateur side in two of the last three editions it has entered. Sacramento Republic, a second-tier club, made the final as recently as 2022. These are precisely the underdog stories that neutral fans reach for.

So why has the competition been slowly undermined by the very league whose clubs would benefit most from playing in it?

MLS's Complicated Relationship With Its Own Cup

The rot set in at the end of 2023. A record 71 professional teams had entered that year's edition, US Soccer had taken control of the tournament's marketing, and Lionel Messi was about to arrive in the league. The platform could hardly have been more inviting. Then MLS announced it was pulling its clubs out of the Open Cup altogether.

The backlash was fierce enough to force a partial climbdown — a handful of MLS sides were allowed back in — but the damage was done. For the 2025 edition, only 16 of MLS's 27 US-based clubs entered. The USL, for its part, sent just 17 of its 24 Championship teams in 2026, partly due to the disruption of the World Cup calendar.

The timing is frustrating because the solution feels obvious. MLS is switching to a autumn-spring season next year, which opens up the possibility of staging Open Cup matches at the start of the campaign, precisely when a regular-season result carries little weight anyway. Lose a league game in week two and it barely registers. Lose an Open Cup tie and you are out. That asymmetry is the whole point.

What the Cup Could Be

USL, meanwhile, is in the process of building a three-tier professional pyramid and has spoken of the Open Cup complementing that structure. The prospect of a fully stocked, merit-based competition — every eligible professional team entered, lower-league sides handed a genuine path to upset the established order — is not a fantasy. England manages it every season with the FA Cup, and the romance of a non-league club reaching the fourth round still stops the nation.

American football culture, as this summer demonstrated beyond any reasonable doubt, is capable of generating that same intensity. The supporter groups are there. The rivalries are real. The atmospheres, at their best, are genuinely stirring. All that is needed is a competition worthy of the moment, with every team in it and the full weight of the sport behind it.

Berg wants jeopardy. The US Open Cup has been offering it for over a century. The two things ought to be pulling in the same direction by now.

FAQs

Frequently asked

What is the US Open Cup and how does it work?
The US Open Cup is America's oldest and most prestigious football cup competition, founded in 1913. It is an open knockout tournament featuring amateur and professional clubs from across the country, similar to England's FA Cup. Teams are eliminated after a single defeat.
Why did MLS pull out of the US Open Cup?
At the end of 2023, MLS announced its clubs would no longer participate in the Open Cup, a decision that coincided with the expansion of the Leagues Cup. Following significant backlash, a compromise was reached allowing some MLS sides back in, though participation has remained well below its 2023 peak.
Will MLS teams fully return to the US Open Cup?
There is hope that full professional participation will be restored. MLS's planned move to an autumn-spring season could see Open Cup games scheduled early in the campaign, adding meaningful knockout stakes at a time when league results carry less pressure.