New York City FC Looking Forward To US Open Cup Return In 2025 | OneFootball

By James Nalton.

After missing the US Open Cup in 2024 due to Major League Soccer involuntarily pulling the majority of its teams from the tournament, New York City FC is back in for 2025.

Returning the the United States’ domestic cup competition gives New York City FC a chance to win more of the silverware they crave and the opportunity to take part in the country’s most historic and storied professional soccer tournament.

There was a positive for New York City FC from the saga surrounding the 2024 edition, in that NYCFC II, the team’s reserve/youth team which plays in MLS Next Pro, entered the competition and was one of the stories of it.

NYCFC II made eye-catching progress winning four games, including one against local rivals New York Red Bulls II, on a run that took the team to the last 16 of the tournament.

When speaking to New York City’s sporting director David Lee last week, he expressed his pride in what the second team achieved in the cup in 2024.

Though Lee was pleased to see the first team back in the tournament, and believes they should be in it, he also recognises that 2024 was a valuable experience for the younger places and wishes there was a way for both to take part somehow.

He suggested that some of those players may get a chance in the first team in the tournament this year.

“We loved the second team being part of the US Open Cup last year,” Lee said. “We didn’t love the fact that we weren’t allowed to enter our first team into the tournament as well.

“Ultimately, if it’s just our decision, which it is not, we’d have both teams in the Open Cup because I think it’s a great opportunity for the young players in the second team, and we want our first team players in it as well.

“So I think being back in that tournament—okay, our second team won’t be in it, which is a disappointment—but hopefully we might be able to give some of those players who did see time last year the opportunity to play with our first team players [this year].

“Any opportunity to win trophies is something that we’re going to take really seriously, and we want to win.

“The best feeling, the reason why we all get up in the morning to do this, is to have those moments where you get to lift trophies and celebrate trophies with your fans.

“Hopefully we see in the Open Cup and Leagues Cup that we can go and make a good run in both of those tournaments and get the opportunity to lift another trophy in 2025.”

The city of New York has a long relationship with the US Open Cup stretching back to the first-ever winner, Brooklyn Field Club, in 1914.

New York has the most US Open Cup winners of any US state, with 26 ahead of California’s 16, and past winners include historic teams such as New York Greek American (4) and New York Pancyprian-Freedoms (3).

New York City FC should always take the Open Cup seriously and the new head coach, Pascal Jansen, seems to agree.

“We need to have the roster to have a team on the pitch that can always perform to our standards in whatever competition we’re playing,” Jansen said.

“Being in several competitions is something I’m looking forward to, because back where where I come from that is also the standard. In Holland, you have the Eredivisie, but you also have the cup.”

New York City have the cup again in 2025, and as the first team return to the competition, they would do well to take inspiration from NYCFC II’s run in 2024 and might even have some help from a few of those players this time around.