Both U.S. Open Cup finalists are relatively recent MLS additions, and both have a chance to claim their first trophy
If you'd watched 118 minutes of Austin FC's U.S. Open Cup semifinal clash with Minnesota United, you wouldn't have thought that the latter team would be playing in the final. Austin weren't battered, but they were never quite in it. The home side, despite taking the lead in the first half were pegged back, minute by minute.
Every logical indicator of the way soccer works suggested that there wouldn't be an Austin winner here. So much for that.
Sometimes this sport churns up surprises. And that's what Austin provided – in emphatic style. CJ Fodrey made it happen: a loose ball, a sliced volley, Dayne St. Clair, among the favorites for MLS goalie of the year, watching from the turf as it rolled in. It wasn't a smash and grab. But it did turn what seemed to be a penalty shootout here, not a late Austin winner.
But Fodrey scored all the same. And Austin will play for the cup at home on Wednesday at 8 p.m. in Q2 Stadium. Nashville, meanwhile, were a little more comfortable. They leaned on their main man, Sam Surridge, and defended at the right moments. Philadelphia had more of the ball in their semifinal, but Nashville always seemed set to win this thing.
And so we have a finely poised U.S. Open Cup final. And whichever club wins will claim the first title in franchise history. These are two cities that love their sports, recently added to MLS, with a chance to claim a trophy and kick off a sense of league legitimacy in full.
ImagnThe Austin FC perspective
Nico Estevez admitted it "meant a lot." He praised his team for "playing through the ups and downs."
And he is right. Austin FC are comfortable in MLS. This is Estevez's first season in the job, and he has moved the franchise from playoff outsiders into a bonafide postseason team. They're in sixth in the Western Conference despite losing Brandon Vazquez – one of the best No. 9s in MLS – to an ACL injury.
It's admittedly hard to ask more of the coach.
More broadly, this is a good year for Austin, the soccer city. Austin hosted MLS's All Star Game in wonderful fashion. This is a city that loves its University of Texas teams, but there is a burgeoning soccer culture – and the ASG helped bring it to the fore (iShowSpeed decided to show up for the skills challenge, which tells you a lot).
The Open Cup, then, would be a tidy accumulation of everything. Here is a good side who have overcome adversity in the right way, a team building towards something. A win would be the first professional sports championship in city history. There's a lot on the line here.
"It means a lot to the not only to the club, not the fan base, the players, the staff, everyone around the team, everyone in the community, everyone that follows the team," Estevez said. "And I know in this particular case, the city of Austin is behind the team. It will mean a lot. It will be something great that we can achieve and something that we are going to work really hard to give to everyone."
AdvertisementGettyThe Nashville perspective
For Nashville, the point of view is a little different. This is a side that has quality throughout, but leans on their stars. Surridge is scoring goals for fun in MLS – and would be top of the Golden Boot race if not for a certain Argentine that plays in Miami.
Here is a ruthlessly efficient No. 9 who goes about it all in a wonderfully carefree way. His stats in the semifinal win over Philadelphia sum it all up: 16 touches, four passes completed, three goals. He told GOAL in July that he had no real clue where Nashville was before he signed for the club in 2023.
He is joined by Hany Mukhtar, that rare breed of creative attacking player that thrive in MLS. Nashville's pitch to Mukhtar was simple: they were starting a franchise, and they wanted him to be their star. Mukhtar said yes. He is now comfortably one of the best talents in the league. On those two alone, you'd probably pick Nashville as favorites.
But they do lack a bit of depth, and are a little cautious in their play. The defense has been leaky of late. They will likely have to take the game to Austin – who have no problem sitting back.
"We've been preparing all season for it. We've had a lot of different situations that have occurred throughout the year, up a goal, down a goal. Being able to draw on all of those experiences will help us," Nashville coach B.J. Callaghan said
Getty Images SportA win for the USOC?
More broadly, this would seem to be a win for the Open Cup, which has been under pressure in recent years. This competition is nearly 125 years old. It remains open to amateur sides – a few of which have gone on to knock off USL clubs in recent iterations of the competition, known as "Cupsets." The club with the most titles is Bethlehem Steel F.C., which folded in 1930.
That history hasn't quite been held up of late.
MLS and U.S. soccer clashed over the involvement of teams, when America's top flight league announced that reserve teams could be sent to the competition. A number of MLS Next Pro clubs joined. LAFC, which won the competition in 2024, didn't elect to defend their crown after qualifying for the CONCACAF Champions Cup. Fans, especially of long-time MLS clubs and USL sides, have urged their senior sides to continue to participate.
It seems something of a win, then, that both of these clubs are playing in the final. Austin FC played their inaugural season in 2021. Nashville stepped on the field for the first time in 2020. Both have MLS Next Pro teams.
It would be easy, in abstract, for both to send their reserves. Instead, here are their senior sides, playing for a trophy for the first time. There's a certain romanticism to that.
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Getty Images SportThe staying power
And perhaps that's the point. If you subscribe to the notion that soccer is, in many ways, about the people who pay to watch it – and those who take it in from home – then this is a real win. Expansion franchises are expensive and don't always have instant authenticity.
But all clubs have to start from somewhere. History cannot be built on good vibes, big signings, and chipper news conferences alone.
Indeed, pedigree is what matters. And what better way to fully legitimize a side that has never won anything than by bringing in a trophy with tangible value? This competition has been slashed, changed and manipulated. MLS has scheduled the Campeones Cup – a clash between the winners of Liga MX and MLS – on the same night. The Open Cup has retained authenticity, with plenty of history to back it up.
Whichever team wins can point to that fact.
"From the beginning, we said we're gonna take the Open Cup seriously," Callaghan said. "It's something that we believe in here at the club. It's the oldest trophy that you can compete for in the United States. It's a great trophy, meaning that anybody can put together a team and enter this tournament. It's a true national tournament that's open for everybody, and to win it and to be that representative for a year, I think we take tremendous pride in that."