SKC Begins U.S. Open Cup Play on Tuesday
Published on April 13, 2026 under Major League Soccer (MLS)
Sporting Kansas City News Release
Sporting Kansas City will begin the club's quest for a record-tying fifth U.S. Open Cup championship on Tuesday when the team travels to play the USL Championship's Colorado Springs Switchbacks FC at 7 p.m. CT at Weidner Field. Tuesday's winner will advance to meet the victor between USL League One side Union Omaha and MLS foe Colorado Rapids in the Round of 16 later this month.
Tuesday's match-up between Sporting KC and Colorado Springs will stream live on Paramount+ (Sean Saint Jacques and Eric Dobrzanski). Sports Radio 810 WHB (Blake Aerni and Jon Kempin) will also broadcast the cup clash with an audio feed available via the Sporting KC App for listeners.
Opened in 2021, the $50-million Weidner Field seats 8,000 fans around a synthetic turf pitch at 6,035 feet above sea level -- the highest elevation of any stadium used by a professional team in American soccer. The venue hosted the 2024 USL Championship Final as the Switchbacks claimed the club's first league title in their 10th season in Olympic City USA.
Led by head coach Alan McCann, the Switchbacks roster features five players with MLS experience (Adrien Perez, Levonte Johnson, Sam Williams, Yosuke Hanya and Isaiah Foster). The Colorado Springs backline also boasts Patrick Burner, who made 77 appearances in France's Ligue 1, as well as Talen Maples, who won the U.S. Open Cup with the Houston Dynamo in 2023, and a pair of Haitian internationals in Duke Lacroix and Garven Metusala who helped Haiti qualify for this summer's FIFA World Cup - the country's first World Cup berth in more than 50 years.
Colorado Springs and Sporting Kansas City will meet for the first time after the Switchbacks reached the Round of 32 with a 3-0 victory over Azteca FC (United Premier Soccer League) in the First Round before prevailing in penalties against Spokane Velocity FC (USL League One) in the Second Round.
The Switchbacks will be looking for their first win over an MLS opponent as Sporting Kansas City is one of 16 Major League Soccer teams entering the field in the Round of 32 for the 111th edition of the U.S. Open Cup. The competition will crown a champion in October after seven rounds of single-elimination play featuring a total of 80 teams. The tournament features $1 million in prize money and the winner will claim the Dewar Challenge Trophy along with a berth in the 2027 Concacaf Champions Cup.
The U.S. Open Cup, named in honor of former Kansas City Wizards owner Lamar Hunt, has crowned a champion since 1914 and Sporting KC are four-time winners (2004, 2012, 2015, 2017) of U.S. Soccer's national championship, tied for the most among MLS clubs. Sporting Kansas City most recently competed in the U.S. Open Cup in 2024, finishing runners-up to LAFC after falling 3-1 in extra time at BMO Stadium in Los Angeles.
Sporting KC head coach Raphael Wicky is set for his first fixture in the U.S. Open Cup, however the club's first-year manager is no stranger to domestic cup competitions. Wicky coached BSC Young Boys to a Swiss Cup title in 2023 and as a player Wicky appeared in five cup finals -- winning three Swiss Cup finals from 1995-1997, including a goal in the 1996 triumph, in addition to defeating Bayern Munich in the DFB-Pokal final in 1999.
Wicky's squad includes a pair of previous U.S. Open Cup champions in central defenders Ethan Bartlow (2023 U,S. Open Cup champion with Houston) and Wyatt Meyer (2025 U.S. Open Cup champion with Nashville) as well as forward Taylor Calheira, who scored a pair of goals in each of the past two U.S. Open Cup tournaments and also scored twice against Colorado Springs last year as a member of FC Tulsa.
Sporting Kansas City at Colorado Springs Switchbacks FC
2026 Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup | Round of 32
Tuesday, April 14 | 7 p.m. CT (7:05 kickoff)
Weidner Field | Colorado Springs, Colorado
Broadcast Schedule
Watch: Paramount+
Listen: 810 AM or SKC App
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