On Thursday, United States Soccer Federation (USSF) announced that the Philadelphia Union will take on D.C. United in the Round of 16 in the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup. The fixture will take place at home for the Union at PPL Park on June 30th at 7:00PM EST. 

This year’s Open Cup was formatted different than usual. This year the USSF will use a fixed bracket, which is broken into regions: East, South, Central, and West. The East side of the bracket, where the Union resides, consists of D.C. United, New York Red Bulls as well as NASL side New York Cosmos.  If the Union manages to dispose of D.C United, they will travel to the winner of the Red Bull/Cosmos for a Quarterfinal matchup.  In the Round of 4, the East winner will play the South winner which is made up of Chicago Fire, Charlotte Independence, Orlando City and Columbus Crew.

D.C United is an opponent the Union knows very well. This year alone D.C and Philadelphia have already played twice with each side gaining a one goal win on their home pitch. In Open Cup history these two teams faced off against each other in 2012 and 2013. In 2012 and the Union’s first Open Cup qualification in their existence, the Union beat D.C in extra time 2-1 thanks to a 92nd minute Antoine Hoppenot goal to break a 1-1 tie. In 2013, D.C got revenge as they beat the Union 3-1 in route to winning the Open Cup. Overall, United has six wins, five losses and 3 draws in matchups with the Union. However, they only have 3 wins, four losses and zero draws on the road while facing Philadelphia.

The Union are no strangers to success in the Open Cup. Last year, the Philadelphia Union played Seattle Sounders at PPL Park in the finals, where the lost in extra time 3-1 despite numerous opportunities to score. In 2012, the Union also reached the Semifinals before losing to eventual champion Sporting Kansas City.  

This first half of the season has been a struggle for the Union. This team would certainly like to make a deep run in this tournament to reward the fans for their patience over the beginning of this season as well as continue to gain momentum in hopes of making the playoffs this season.