What is the USL Cup?
Oct 17, 2025
via USL Championship
I will not hold it against anyone for being unfamiliar with the USL Cup or USL Jagermeister Cup if you are a stickler for corporate branding. After all, the tournament only just finished its second cycle - and this past iteration looked nothing like the first one. Let’s look at what it is, who is involved and what the future may look like for the tournament.
First of all, no, we are not talking about the US Open Cup. The US Open Cup is the oldest soccer tournament in America. We’re talking about one of the newest.
History
The USL Cup began in 2024 and at the time it included only teams from USL League One (USL1) of the 3rd Division. At that time, the league featured 12 clubs across the country and the USL Cup games were played throughout the normal USL1 season.
The format that year saw the league broken up into 3 groups of 4. Each team would play the other 3 teams in their group twice, home and away. The three group winners would go on to the Semifinals and would be joined by a wild card. The wild card had a long list of tiebreaker criteria but in the end, that slot was awarded to Union Omaha based on the number of goals scored during the group stage.
The semi final would be one and done matches with Northern Colorado Hailstorm FC taking on Union Omaha and Forward Madison FC taking on the Charlotte Independence. Both Hailstorm and Madison then both moved on to the Final where Norther Colorado Hailstorm FC would win in penalties becoming the first USL Cup Champions.
Hailstorm FC celebrating their 2024 USL Cup win. via Northern Colorado Hailstorm FC.
Expansion
For the 2025 iteration of the tournament, the USL League One clubs would be joined by clubs from the USL Championship (USLC) of the 2nd Division. With 14 USL1 clubs and 24 USLC clubs, the size of the competition had now more than tripled.
The clubs were divided into 6 regional groups of 6 to 7 different teams. Each team would play two opponents at home, and two on the road. 6 group winners would be joined by 2 wild cards in the newly created quarterfinals. The wild cards again had a long list of tiebreakers but this time the first benchmark was points earned.
Group stage groups. via USL Cup
Four quarterfinal matches were followed by two semifinal matches which led to Sacramento Republic hosting Hartford Athletic in front of nearly 12,000 fans at Heart Health Park in Sacramento, California on October 4th, 2025. It was a close match that saw Hartford lift their first trophy in club history after a hard fought 1-0 win.
Future
With this much change in-between year one and year two, it is hard not to speculate on what the third iteration of this tournament looks like in 2026. Could we see the inclusion of USL League Two clubs? There are so many of them! What would that even look like? A qualifying pre-tournament tournament of sorts? Anything is possible.
One thing is for sure, the USL is picking up a lot of steam. With club expansion going wild over the next couple of season, increased attendance and supporter involvement, a flurry of new stadiums or improved facilities - all of which leading up to the eventual 1st Division offering in the not so distant future.
Keep an eye on the USL at all levels and be on the look out for announcements relating to the next iteration of this tournament. Let us know in the comments, what would you like to see in the next USL Cup?