For the first time since 2019, Chicago Fire FC will have a Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup match on their schedule.
Set to enter into the third round of the 2022 competition, the Fire will learn their opponent at the third round draw that will take place on Friday, April 8. The draw will stream live on YouTube and Twitter at 11 a.m. CT, with further details and coverage to come via @opencup on Twitter.
The Fire are one of 17 MLS teams entering the third round of the competition alongside 31 second round winners still to be determined. Groups for the third round draw will be pooled geographically and made up of either four or six teams depending on geographic distribution coming out of the second round matchups. Following the conclusion of Thursday's matches, the Fire have been drawn into a six-team North group that also features Forward Madison (USL League 1), Louisville City FC (USL Championship), Minnesota United (MLS), St. Louis City SC (MLS Next Pro), and Union Omaha (USL League 1).
Details regarding the date, time, and venue of the Fire's third round matchup will be released shortly following the draw. The third round match will take place within the window of April 19-21.
All the MLS sides entering the tournament on Friday will be drawn to face a second round winner, and not another MLS club. A random draw will determine the pairings within each group. Instances where a logical geographic fit doesn’t exist to determine the groups will be resolved by random selection.
Chicago Fire FC has won the U.S. Open Cup on four occasions (1998, 2000, 2003, 2006), representing the second-most titles in the tournament's history and tied for the most among all MLS clubs (Seattle Sounders, Sporting Kansas City).
For more details on the schedule and format of the 2022 edition of the tournament, visit ussoccer.com.
