US Soccer announced the draw for the Round of 32 on Thursday afternoon and Memphis 901 FC now knows who their opponent will be. They will be traveling to Texas to take on FC Dallas of MLS on Tuesday, May 7 with a 7:30pm CT kickoff.
Memphis 901 FC advanced to this point of the competition by virtue of their 2-0 win against Miami United down at AutoZone Park on Wednesday night in front of a crowd of 1,425. Nighte Pickering bagged a goal in both the first half and the second half to secure the win for the Beale Street Boys.
This game against FC Dallas will be the third time in four US Open Cups that Memphis 901 FC has faced an MLS team. In their debut campaign back in 2019 they faced Orlando City in front of an over-capacity crowd of 3,088 in the stadium out at Mike Rose. It was a game in which 901 FC had their chances but came up short against a top flight team and fell 3-1. Last year, 901 FC went on the road to face Stephen Glass’ former team, Atlanta United. It was a game in which 901 FC looked dead in the water before converting a penalty in stoppage time and then hitting the winner in extra time to score one of the biggest wins in team history.
The winner of the game between Memphis 901 FC and FC Dallas will advance to the Round of 16 to face the winner of the match-up between the Tampa Bay Rowdies and the Birmingham Legion. Should 901 FC advance to the Round of 16, it would mark the deepest they have ever been in the tournament.
It is perhaps fitting that one of the only eight American MLS teams actually participating in this year’s Open Cup is FC Dallas. Major League Soccer of course, attempted to end the competition by sending their reserve teams from MLS Next Pro in place of the top flight teams. US Soccer initially rejected this but eventually allowed MLS to pull all but eight of the teams from the tournament. It’s fitting that FC Dallas is one of the remaining teams because the tournament is officially called The Lamar Hunt US Open Cup. The late Lamar Hunt was the father of current FC Dallas owner Clark Hunt.
But before 901 FC resumes Open Cup play, they jump back into USL action. Their next league game is this Saturday down at AutoZone Park against Monterey Bay, with kickoff set of 7pm. Tickets are on sale now.