SAN JOSE, Calif. – The San Jose Earthquakes will host Oakland Roots SC in the 2024 Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup Round of 32 at PayPal Park on Tuesday, May 7 (7:00 p.m. PT).
The match will be included in the 2024 Season Ticket Holder package as Bonus Game C, as the U.S. Open Cup Superticket provides access to Earthquakes home matches in the tournament through the quarterfinals. Season Ticket Holders can call their Account Service Representatives as part of their pre-sale starting Friday, April 19, at 10 a.m. PT. Tickets go on sale to the general public on Wednesday, April 24, at 10 a.m. PT. Fans interested in suites or buying tickets in groups of 10 or more can click here.
In this year’s edition of the U.S. Open Cup, the Round of 32 and Round of 16 will take place in four-team divisional brackets based on geography. As a result of the draw for the Northern California's Lopez Division, named for Modern Era Open Cup assist leader Rodrigo Lopez, the Quakes vs. Roots winner will subsequently face either Sacramento Republic FC or Monterey Bay FC in the Round of 16.
The Round of 32 will mark the tournament entrance for San Jose and the first teams of seven other Major League Soccer clubs. The Roots currently compete in the second-division USL Championship and entered the Open Cup in the Third Round, where they edged amateur side El Farolito SC 2-1 in extra time on Tuesday.
The Quakes and Roots have met only once, a 3-2 San Jose win at PayPal Park in the 2021 preseason. Current Roots forward Johnny Rodriguez opened the scoring in the 40th minute and Yohannes Harish doubled the visitors’ advantage almost 20 minutes later, but the Black and Blue rallied for three consecutive goals in the last 15 minutes for the victory, capped by a Cade Cowell 84th-minute strike that served as the final margin.
Though San Jose has never won the Open Cup, the club came closest in 2004 and 2017, reaching the Semifinals both times. In 2004, the Quakes defeated the Portland Timbers and Minnesota Thunder of the now-defunct A-League before falling to fellow MLS side Sporting Kansas City (then known as the Kansas City Wizards), 1-0.
The 2017 version of the tournament saw San Jose beat the San Francisco Deltas, Seattle Sounders FC, and LA Galaxy in succession. Current Quakes captain Jackson Yueill, then in his first season, netted once in the Fourth Round. However, the club's magical run would end in a 5-4 penalty shootout loss, also at the hands of Sporting Kansas City, following a 1-1 draw.
The Earthquakes hold a 20-18 all-time record in U.S. Open Cup play, including a 16-4 record against non-MLS teams.
All matches in the next two rounds will continue to be streamed live on usopencup.com, uslsoccer.com, and MLSSoccer.com. Broadcast details for the Quarterfinals, Semifinals, and Final will be announced later in the tournament.
About the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup
Now in its 109th edition, the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup – U.S. Soccer's Club Championship – has crowned a champion since 1914 in every year except 2020 and 2021. The history-filled tournament is conducted on a single-game-knockout basis and open to all professional and amateur teams affiliated with U.S. Soccer. In 1999, the oldest ongoing national soccer competition in the United States was renamed to honor American soccer pioneer Lamar Hunt.
The U.S. Open Cup winner will earn $300,000 in prize money, a berth in the Concacaf Champions Cup and have its name engraved on the Dewar Challenge Trophy – one of the oldest nationally-contested trophies in American team sports – now on permanent display at the National Soccer Hall of Fame in Frisco, Texas. The runner-up will earn $100,000, while the team that advances the furthest from each lower division will take home a $25,000 cash prize.
Houston Dynamo are defending Open Cup champions, having earned the club's second tournament title thanks to a 2-1 victory against fellow MLS club Inter Miami CF on September 27, 2023 in a Final played before a capacity crowd at Miami’s Chase Stadium. For the official website of the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup, log on to usopencup.com. Fans can also follow the competition on Twitter and Instagram @OpenCup and Facebook @OfficialOpenCup.
