Sporting Kansas City will host FC Dallas in the Round of 32 of the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup as Sporting sets out in search of the club’s fifth Open Cup title. Sporting’s four Open Cup trophies are tied for the most in MLS and the third-most all-time in the tournament’s 107-year history.
Kickoff for the Open Cup clash is set for 7:30 p.m. CT with the match available to stream via an ESPN+ subscription. Tickets for the midweek cup match are on sale at SeatGeek.com. Sporting and Dallas most recently played to a 2-2 draw on April 30 and will meet in the MLS regular season one more time on Decision Day, Oct. 9 in Frisco, Texas.
Here are five storylines to know as Sporting Kansas City enters the Open Cup in the Round of 32 against FC Dallas. Â
Open Cup time
After a two-year hiatus, the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup is back for the 107th rendition of the tournament. Thanks to a top-four finish in the Western Conference in 2021, Sporting KC will enter the competition in the Round of 32. After being placed in the South Central Group, Sporting drew FC Dallas as their Round of 32 opponent. FC Dallas got the better of USL Championship side FC Tulsa in their Third Round Matchup, beating them 2-1 at Toyota Stadium in order to advance to the Round of 32.
Sporting and Dallas have plenty of Open Cup history between them, playing three times since 2015, and four times since 2004. Sporting is 4-0 against Dallas in the Open Cup and has gone on to win three titles (2004, 2015, 2017) after knocking Dallas out of the tournament.
Children’s Mercy Park Open Cup success
With world-class Children’s Mercy Park as the backdrop for Tuesday’s match, it is worth noting Sporting’s success at home in the Open Cup. All four of Sporting’s wins against Dallas in Open Cup play have come at home with three taking place at One Sporting Way. Two of Sporting’s Open Cup trophies have been lifted in front of the Sporting faithful, most recently the 2017 Cup title. All time, Sporting is 21-7-3 at home in the tournament and the club has not lost at home since the 2016 Round of 16. Children’s Mercy Park has not hosted an Open Cup battle since 2018 with Tuesday’s match set to be the first in almost four years.
We meet again
Just 10 days ago, Sporting and Dallas faced one another at Children’s Mercy Park in an MLS regular season showdown. Sporting KC captain Johnny Russell converted a penalty kick in the 22nd before Dallas scored two goals late in the first half. Following Brian Servania’s two yellow cards within five minutes of each other, Sporting played with a man advantage for the final 23 minutes of the match. Daniel Salloi grabbed the equalizer in the 77th and the match concluded in a 2-2 draw. As stated earlier, Sporting has also seen Dallas on four occasions in the U.S. Open Cup, defeating the Texas team on all four occasions.
No draws in this one
While Sporting and Dallas’ last meeting finished with both sides taking home a point, their next meeting will not end that way. The single-elimination format of the Open Cup means that if the score is even at the end of 90 minutes, two 15-minute extra time periods will be played. If the score is still equal kicks from the spot will decide the match.
Sporting holds a bit of an advantage when it comes to a shootout. Goalkeeper Tim Melia is a perfect 6-0 in shootouts in his professional career dating back to 2009. The backstop has two shootout victories in the Open Cup, one of which coming in the 2015 finals at the Philadelphia Union. His goals conceded percentage of 56.7 percent on penalties is the lowest clip in league history (minimum 10 penalties faced).
The stars were out at Children’s Mercy Park
In Sporting’s last match against Dallas, the stars shone the brightest. Salloi and Russell scored for Sporting while Dallas got a goal from Jesus Ferreira and an assist from Paul Arriola. Ferreira is tied for the MLS lead with seven goals this season and has added an assist. The United States Men’s National Team forward is a big reason for Dallas’ early success in the MLS regular season. Neither player appeared in FC Dallas’ 2-1 win over Tulsa in the Third Round of the Open Cup so it is unknown if Dallas’ stars are out at Children’s Mercy Park on Tuesday.
