Over the past few months, Q2 Stadium has been more popular than a Buc-ee’s on parents’ weekend. The Austin soccer ground played host to the USA vs. Saudi Arabia Gold Cup clash in June, the MLS All-Star Game in July, and is gearing up to once again host the U.S. Men’s National Team in a vital friendly on Oct. 10. But for those who frequent the Verde stands most, Wednesday, Oct. 1, is the most important date of all.
On that night, the U.S. Open Cup final kicks off at Q2 as Austin FC hopes to win the first major trophy in club history.
For those unfamiliar with the nation’s oldest ongoing soccer competition, the Open Cup, established in 1914, is a pure knockout-style tournament separate from Major League Soccer. It includes nearly 100 clubs from up and down the American soccer pyramid, from semi-pro to MLS (the league these days enters about half its teams in the Open Cup, and the other half in Leagues Cup … but then some compete in both because, well, the thing is … actually, never mind).
What needs no clarification is how Austin FC feels about the opportunity ahead.
“The Open Cup has the history, and when you have that trophy in your club, it means you are an important club in the history of the country,” head coach Nico Estévez said.
Winning the Open Cup also comes with the prize of a guaranteed place in next season’s CONCACAF Champions Cup, the most prestigious club competition in North America.
Star striker Myrto Uzuni, meanwhile, revealed that he did not feature in two important World Cup qualifying matches for Albania earlier this month in part to be at his best for the Open Cup with Austin.
El Tree’s road to the final has been borderline miraculous. It began in May when ATX scored three goals between the 73rd and 80th minutes just to escape a 0-2 hole and get past El Paso Locomotive of the second-division USL Championship.
A 3-1 win against the Houston Dynamo in the Round of 16 was the lone straightforward victory, but that was followed by a ridiculously dramatic quarterfinal clash against the San Jose Earthquakes – also known as “The Brad Stuver Game” – in which the Austin goalkeeper saved nine shots and two penalty kicks as ATX advanced in a shootout.
Finally, it took CJ Fodrey’s electric 120th-minute winner to send Austin past Minnesota United in a hyper-tense Sept. 17 semifinal and through to the club’s first final. Wrap it all together, and we’re talking “team of destiny” stuff.
Standing in the way of that destiny is a formidable rival from another musically inclined town, Nashville SC. The “Boys in Gold” have top-end talent that Austin can’t match, namely former MLS MVP Hany Mukhtar (he beat out ATXFC’s Sebastián Driussi in 2022) in midfield and Golden Boot candidate Sam Surridge at striker. But Austin FC – thanks to a random draw earlier in the summer that awarded hosting rights for the final to the winner of the west bracket – will have the advantage of 20,000 rabid supporters willing them on.
It’s slightly awkward timing for a final considering it comes smack in between two important late-season MLS matches as Austin FC continues its fight for playoff positioning, aided by a massive win against the Seattle Sounders over the weekend. Estévez wasn’t willing to say definitively whether he plans to rest important players on Saturday against Real Salt Lake to save their legs for Wednesday night, but he’d be crazy not to.
Guiding the club to its first playoff berth in three years is important, yes, but raising the club’s first trophy – in your home stadium, no less – now that’s how you become, as McConaughey would say, part of the legend.
This article appears in September 26 • 2025.
