Charlotte FC vs. Birmingham Legion FC

The Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup is a knockout cup tournament open to teams across all divisions in the United States. It is the oldest ongoing national soccer competition in the country after it began in 1913-14 as the National Challenge Cup.

The winner of the U.S. Open Cup earns an automatic place in the following year’s Concacaf Champions League.

Earlier in the tournament, CLTFC took down South Georgia Tormenta FC 4-1 in the Third Round and defending champions Orlando City SC 1-0 in the Round of 32. Both matches were played at Matthews Sportsplex.

A new draw was conducted to set the bracket for the Round of 16 and on. Charlotte FC was placed in the Southeast Region with Birmingham Legion FC, Inter Miami CF, and Nashville SC. CLTFC were then drawn to play Birmingham on the road, but the bracket designates the winner of this match as the host for the quarterfinals against the winner of Miami versus Nashville.

Last year in this competition, Charlotte FC played exclusively on the road, defeating Greenville Triumph SC 2-1 in the Third Round and the Richmond Kickers 5-1 in the Round of 32 before falling in the Round of 16 to the New York Red Bulls 3-1 at MSU Soccer Park.

CLTFC are coming off a heartbreaking 2-1 loss to Nashville SC at home in which they conceded a penalty deep into stoppage time. Before Saturday’s loss, the team were on a run of great form after winning four straight matches.

Birmingham have lost their last four straight matches in the USL Championship, the second division of U.S. Soccer, last winning in the league on April 30th. However, they cruised to victory over fellow second division side Memphis 901 FC by a score of 3-0 in the Open Cup Round of 32 on May 10th to reach this stage of the competition.

Weather for the event will have mostly clear skies with temperatures in the low 70's. Winds will be out of the northeast at around 5 - 10mph