The format for the 2007 Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup was unveiled on Monday and a change in the structure means that only eight Major League Soccer clubs will participate in the actual tournament itself, though all 12 U.S.-based teams will have the opportunity to qualify.
The top six clubs from the 2006 season standings - D.C. United, FC Dallas, New England Revolution, Chicago Fire, Houston Dynamo and Chivas USA - will all automatically qualify for the tournament proper. The remaining MLS squads, excluding Canadian side Toronto FC, will take part in a qualifying tournament for the right to earn the final two MLS spots.
The Columbus Crew, Kansas City Wizards, Real Salt Lake and Los Angeles Galaxy will all take part in the first qualifying round, with the winners facing the New York Red Bulls and Colorado Rapids for the chance to enter the tournament.
In all, 40 teams will take part in the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup in 2007, which is the 94th consecutive year that U.S. Soccer's national championship tournament will be played. The knockout-style competition is open to all affiliated professional and amateur clubs in the U.S. Twenty-four professional clubs and 16 amateur sides will compete in 2007.
The changes in the Open Cup format this year were made to compensate for an extraordinarily busy fixture calendar this summer. In another change for 2007, Open Cup matches will primarily be scheduled for Tuesdays, as opposed to the traditional Wednesday matches from years past.
Qualifying for the first round of the tournament is to be completed by May 28 and the first-round pairings will be announced the following day. The 32 lower-division teams - which include all 10 from the United Soccer Leagues (USL) First Division, six from the USL Second Division (of nine U.S.-based teams), eight from the USL's Premier Development League (out of 60) and eight from the U.S. Adult Soccer Association - will take part in the first round.
The 16 winners from the first round will then battle in the second round. The eight winners from that pool will join the eight MLS teams in the third round, which is set for July 10. The 2007 champion will be crowned on Oct. 2.
MLS teams have won the competition every year since the league's inception in 1996, with the exception of in 1999, when the Rochester Rhinos took the title. The Chicago Fire have had more success than any other MLS team in the tournament, having taken four titles. They enter the 2007 competition as the defending champions, and they also lifted the cup in 1998, 2000 and 2003.
The Los Angeles Galaxy have twice won the competition (2001 and 2005), while D.C. United (1996), Dallas (1997), the Columbus Crew (2002) and Kansas City Wizards (2004) have each been crowned champions once.
The winner of the 2007 Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup will earn $100,000 prize, while the runner-up takes home $50,000.
Jonathan Nierman is a contributor to MLSnet.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Soccer or its clubs.
