CHICAGO, IL–It had been played annually since 1913, through two World Wars, a Great Depression, and influenza outbreak, and obscurity for most of its days until Major League Soccer came into being in 1996. Unfortunately, the coronavirus has officially cancelled this year’s edition.
The news was originally reported by Sports Illustrated’s Brian Straus on Aug. 14, with US Soccer confirming the news on Monday. The Open Division qualification tournament for the 2021 US Open Cup has also been cancelled.
The 107th edition of the Open Cup tournament is now scheduled to take place in March 2021, with US Soccer inviting all 38 Open Division teams that qualified for the 2020 tournament. These teams will need to maintain eligibility under current Open Cup rules (e.g. remain a member in good standing with their existing league, not switch leagues, etc.) for the invitation to be extended.
It had been the second-longest continually operation cup competitions in the world behind Northern Ireland’s Irish Cup which has ran continuously since 1889 (and wish Glentoran won three weeks ago). Now, that honor will belong to the Coupe de France which has been played annually since 1918.
The US Open Cup joins Australia’s FFA Cup, New Zealand’s Chatham Cup, and the Netherlands’ KNVB Cup as having been cancelled due to the pandemic. Mexico’s Copa MX and the Canadian Championship will go on. Though in the case of the latter, it will be a two-legged final between the best team among MLS’s Canadian sides and the winner of the Canadian Premier League which is also playing in a tournament format in Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island.
