Houston Dynamo FC will host Louisville City FC in the Round of 16 of the 2026 Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup on Wednesday, April 29, 2026, with kickoff set for 7:00 p.m. CT at Shell Energy Stadium. Fans can watch the match live on Paramount+.
The matchup brings together a Houston side that beat El Paso Locomotive FC 4-1 in Houston earlier in April and a Louisville team that knocked off Austin FC 2-1 on the road Tuesday night. Sean Totsch put Louisville ahead in the 26th minute, and Tola Showunmi added the second in the 32nd minute for a win that marked the club’s second over an MLS opponent in U.S. Open Cup play.
For Houston, the tournament has already delivered familiar ground. The Dynamo have won two U.S. Open Cup titles, most recently in 2023, when they beat Inter Miami CF 2-1 at Chase Stadium. Their other title came in 2018, a 3-0 win over the Philadelphia Union in Houston. Four current Dynamo players were part of that 2023 championship squad, a detail that gives this run a little more weight than a standard cup tie.
The winner of the 111th U.S. Open Cup will earn a berth in the 2027 Concacaf Champions Cup, which adds a real reward to Wednesday’s winner-take-all setting. Houston coach Ben Olsen already sits in a small class, becoming the third coach to win the U.S. Open Cup with two different teams, while the trophy’s history also includes Ezra Hendrickson, who won it as a player with LA Galaxy in 2001 and later as an assistant coach four times with Seattle Sounders FC.
The tension here is simple: Houston has the pedigree, the home field and recent championship experience, while Louisville arrives after taking down an MLS opponent on the road and doing it with goals in the first half. If Houston advances, the quarterfinal opponent will be determined in a live draw on CBS Sports Golazo Network’s Morning Footy on Thursday, April 30, 2026.
