The 2012 Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup will be the 99th edition of the USSF's annual national soccer championship, running from May through early August. The Seattle Sounders FC, of Major League Soccer enter the competition as the three-time defending champions, making this tournament the first domestic tournament since 1970 that a team enters the tournament as the three-time defending winners.
For the 2012 tournament, U.S. Soccer has increased the main tournament from a 40-club tournament, to a 64-club tournament. All Major League Soccer clubs based in the U.S. receive automatic berths. This makes the U.S. Open Cup very similar to other domestic knock-out competitions where all top tier clubs earn automatic berths.
† League Champions in 2011
* Stanislaus United Turlock Express defeated the Bay Area Ambassadors of the NPSL in a play-in game[1] on April 28th to qualify for the First Round.[10]
Brackets
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Fourth Round (June 5th)
Quarterfinals (June 26th)
SemiFinals (July 10th)
Finals (August 7th or 8th)
Schedule
Note: Scorelines use the standard U.S. convention of placing the home team on the right-hand side of box scores.
First Round
32 Teams from USL PDL, NPSL, and USASA begin competition.[11][12]