{"id":249981,"date":"2026-04-14T23:00:16","date_gmt":"2026-04-14T23:00:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/249981\/"},"modified":"2026-04-14T23:00:16","modified_gmt":"2026-04-14T23:00:16","slug":"match-preview-houston-dynamo-fc-to-kick-off-2026-u-s-open-cup-play-hosting-el-paso-locomotive-fc-on-wednesday","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/249981\/","title":{"rendered":"MATCH PREVIEW: Houston Dynamo FC to kick off 2026 U.S. Open Cup play hosting El Paso Locomotive FC on Wednesday"},"content":{"rendered":"

HOUSTON (April\u00a014, 2026) \u2013\u00a0Houston Dynamo FC\u00a0kick off their 2026 Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup campaign on Wednesday, April 15, hosting USL Championship side\u00a0El Paso Locomotive FC in the Round of 32 at\u00a0Shell\u00a0Energy\u00a0Stadium. Kickoff for\u00a0this first-time\u00a0Texas\u00a0showdown\u00a0is\u00a0scheduled\u00a0for 7:00 p.m. CT, and fans can secure their tickets for the match\u00a0HERE<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Fans can\u00a0learn more about the Club\u2019s\u00a0Community First Ticket Offers and Value Menu<\/a>\u00a0for the 2026 season\u00a0HERE<\/a>. Additionally, fans watch the match live via\u00a0Paramount+<\/a>.<\/p>\n

If\u00a0Houston\u00a0advances\u00a0to the Round of 16, they will\u00a0host\u00a0the winner of Austin FC and Louisville City FC\u00a0on either April 28 or 29 at Shell Energy Stadium.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Notably, the champion of this 111th\u00a0U.S. Open Cup will earn a berth into the\u00a02027 Concacaf Champions Cup.<\/p>\n

The Dynamo\u00a0have\u00a0won two U.S Open Cup titles in Club history, with their most recent triumph coming in 2023, when they\u00a0defeated Inter Miami CF 2-1<\/a>\u00a0at Chase Stadium (previously DRV PNK Stadium). Houston\u2019s goal scorers that night were former Dynamo players Griffin Dorsey and Amine Bassi. Notably, the team never trailed in a match during its championship campaign.<\/p>\n

The victory secured Houston\u2019s fourth domestic title in Club history after winning back-to-back MLS Cup titles in 2006 and 2007, as well as the 2018 U.S. Open Cup, which the Dynamo earned with a\u00a03-0 victory over the Philadelphia Union<\/a>\u00a0in Houston.<\/p>\n

Notably, head coach\u00a0Ben\u00a0Olsen, who joined the Dynamo ahead of the 2023 season, became the third coach to win the U.S. Open Cup with two different teams, after also lifting the trophy as a player (2008) and head coach (2013) with D.C. United. Assistant coach\u00a0Ezra\u00a0Hendrickson, who joined Olsen\u2019s first team coaching staff in March 2026, also won a cup title as a player (2001) with LA Galaxy and four cup titles as an assistant coach (2009, 2010, 2011 and 2014) with Seattle Sounders FC.<\/p>\n

Additionally, four players (Artur,\u00a0H\u00e9ctor\u00a0Herrera,\u00a0Aliyu\u00a0Ibrahim\u00a0and\u00a0Erik\u00a0Sviatchenko) on this year\u2019s Dynamo roster were part of the squad that lifted the 2023 Open Cup trophy. Players who also won a cup title and were not part of Houston\u2019s 2023 championship team include attacker\u00a0Mateusz\u00a0Bogusz\u00a0(2024 with LAFC) and defender\u00a0Ant\u00f4nio\u00a0Carlos\u00a0(2022 with Orlando City SC).<\/p>\n

El Paso advanced to the Round of 32 following a 4-0 shutout victory on the road over fellow USL Championship side New Mexico United, earning Round of 32 action in back-to-back seasons for the first time in club history. Alvaro Quezada, Alex Mendez, Rubio\u00a0Rubin\u00a0and Eric Calvillo were the four goalscorers that night.<\/p>\n

The Locomotive\u00a0are\u00a0currently unbeaten in 2026,\u00a0sitting\u00a0second in the\u00a0USL Championship Western Conference standings with 13 points and a 4-0-1 (WLD) record. They are coming off a\u00a04-0 victory at Hartford Athletic, with\u00a0Diego Abitia, Tony Alfaro, Calvillo and Gabi Torres\u00a0each\u00a0netting a\u00a0goal each.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Notably, former Dynamo player Roberto \u201cBeto\u201d Avila currently plays for El Paso. In May 2022, the Austin, Texas native was the first player signed to the first team from\u00a0Houston\u00a0Dynamo\u00a02\u00a0since the launch of the program in December 2021. Avila was also the first player to sign an MLS contract after competing in MLS NEXT Pro.<\/p>\n

Last year, the Dynamo advanced to the Round of 16\u00a0in the U.S. Open Cup, defeating USL Championship side Phoenix Rising FC\u00a04-1 on the road<\/a>\u00a0after extra time in the Round of 32, before bowing out of the competition at Austin FC.<\/p>\n

Now in its 111th edition, the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup has crowned a champion since 1914 in every year except 2020 and 2021. The historic tournament is conducted on a single-game, knockout basis and open to all professional and amateur teams affiliated with U.S. Soccer. It is the longest running national soccer competition in the United States and the world’s third longest continuously run national cup tournament. It is the only competition in USA-based team sports where amateurs have the chance to play professionals in direct competition.<\/p>\n

Houston returns to MLS play on Saturday, April 18, traveling\u00a0east\u00a0for an inter-conference matchup versus\u00a0Orlando City SC\u00a0at\u00a0Inter&Co\u00a0Stadium. Fans can watch the match live via\u00a0Apple TV<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"HOUSTON (April\u00a014, 2026) \u2013\u00a0Houston Dynamo FC\u00a0kick off their 2026 Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup campaign on Wednesday, April…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":249982,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[12],"tags":[138,140,139,844,845],"class_list":["post-249981","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-el-paso","tag-el-paso","tag-el-paso-headlines","tag-el-paso-news","tag-houston-dynamo-fc","tag-houston-dynamo-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/249981","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=249981"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/249981\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/249982"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=249981"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=249981"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=249981"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}