USL Cup

About USL Cup

USL Cup History, Format, Organization, Media Coverage

The USL Cup is an annual knockout soccer competition in men's domestic American soccer. The 2024 edition features teams exclusively in USL League One; however, USL intends to expand the cup beyond just that league.

Previous to the creation of the USL Cup, USL League One had regularly played an unbalanced schedule of 28–32 games, often playing other teams in the league three times. The league integrated the USL Cup into the league season, allowing each team to play each other twice (once home, once away) to balance the league schedule, while also preserving the length of the season.

The competition splits the teams into three groups of four teams. Each team plays the other three teams in their group twice, home and away. They play an additional two games against two teams in other groups, one at home and one away. If a game is tied at the end of regulation, a penalty kick shootout will occur. A regulation win is worth three points, a shootout win worth two, and a shootout loss worth one. The top team from each group advances to a knockout round, in addition to the team who scores the most goals in the competition that does not win their group.