St. Louis CITY SC won the 2026 Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup on October 21 after overcoming Columbus Crew in the final in Columbus, Ohio, United States. The score was 0-0 after 90 minutes and remained 0-0 after 120 minutes, including extra time. St. Louis then won the penalty shootout 5-3 to secure the first trophy in the club's history.
The title also earned the club a place in the 2027 Concacaf Champions Cup and US$600,000 in prize money, as confirmed by U.S. Soccer. The 5-3 figure describes the shootout alone, not the score of the match itself.
Match facts: Columbus Crew vs. St. Louis CITY
| Item | Confirmed record |
|---|---|
| Competition | 2026 Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup, men's final |
| Date and venue | October 21, 2026, ScottsMiracle-Gro Field, Columbus, Ohio, United States |
| Home and away teams | Columbus Crew vs. St. Louis CITY SC |
| After 90 minutes | Columbus Crew 0-0 St. Louis CITY SC |
| After 120 minutes | Columbus Crew 0-0 St. Louis CITY SC |
| Penalty shootout | Columbus Crew 3-5 St. Louis CITY SC |
| Winners | St. Louis CITY SC |
How did St. Louis win the shootout 5-3?
Goalkeeper Ben Lundt saved Columbus' opening penalty, taken by Santiago Rodríguez. All five St. Louis takers scored, in this order: Timo Baumgartl, Lukas MacNaughton, Chris Durkin, Damion Downs and Daniel Edelman. Edelman's kick, his team's fifth, settled the final.
Following Lundt's save, Columbus scored its next three penalties through Malte Amundsen, Gonzalo Tapia and Andrés Herrera. The home side did not take a fifth kick because it could no longer catch up after Edelman's goal. The shootout therefore ended 5-3, while the match itself remained recorded as a 0-0 draw.
Why was the goalkeeper substitution so important?
Captain Roman Bürki started in goal for St. Louis but had to leave in the 78th minute after being injured during a defensive play. Ben Lundt replaced him and remained on the field for extra time and the penalty shootout. U.S. Soccer's match report confirms the substitution in the 78th minute.
During the shootout, Lundt stopped Rodríguez's opening attempt, the only saved penalty of the series. That intervention gave St. Louis an advantage its five penalty takers maintained. The match documentation supports describing Bürki's departure and the substitute's performance, but it does not establish a medical diagnosis or a recovery timetable.
What do the 120-minute match statistics show?
The federation's report records 16 shots for Columbus and five for St. Louis. Despite the difference in total attempts, both sides finished with three shots on target. U.S. Soccer also reported an 11-1 shots advantage for the hosts in the first half.
Those figures help explain Columbus' attacking pressure, but they do not change the result. St. Louis kept the match level through regular time and extra time and converted all five shootout attempts. Accuracy from the spot should not be mistaken for control of the preceding 120 minutes.
What does the trophy mean for 2027 and how much is the prize?
U.S. Soccer confirmed two direct rewards: US$600,000 in prize money for the winners and qualification for the 2027 Concacaf Champions Cup. The continental berth comes from winning the U.S. Open Cup, not from an MLS league position. According to the federation, St. Louis will return to a competition it last played in 2024.
This is the first trophy in St. Louis CITY SC's history as a club. That is not the same as the first U.S. Open Cup title won by a team from the city: the federation counts the 2026 victory as the 11th for a St. Louis club. These are different records, one for today's club and another for the city's longer soccer history.
