What we’ll remember from the 2024 U.S. Open Cup: LAFC’s win, burritos, un-retirements & more

The 2024 U.S. Open Cup has finally come to a close, but there was no guarantee that we’d even get this far. This year’s iteration of the tournament began under a cloud of consternation after MLS withdrew a large contingent of its clubs from the competition. Despite the concerns, the Open was full of exciting Cup-sets, memorable storylines, and the weird idiosyncrasies that make this tournament so special.

What will we remember when we look back on 2024?

LAFC’s trophy

Los Angeles FC lost three finals in 2023. Then they fell to Columbus in the Leagues Cup final a few months ago. Now, the monkey is off their back: LAFC are the 2024 U.S. Open Cup champions.

The first half of LAFC's 3-1 win over Sporting Kansas City on Wednesday leaned the host’s way in terms of possession, and they certainly strung together the more attractive passing moves. Still, SKC was bluntly effective on the counter. Daniel Salloi was a particular standout, carving out touches in the half space and hitting a centered Alan Pulido to generate chances.

Peter Vermes’ defensive 4-4-2 felt shaky nonetheless. The hosts found it easy to generate odd-man advantages in the channels, and they were very successful at skipping between the lanes, bouncing off of Timothy Tillman, and finding space from which to attack. Steps up from the back line felt risky, and it took heroic low rotations from midfielders like Jake Davis to shore up the defensive third.

Because their relatively flat midfield line naturally ceded space in behind, Sporting Kansas City encouraged their defenders to hew closely to the opposing forwards. If LAFC could get a clean touch from a forward like Mateusz Bogusz, they could draw SKC out of shape, bounce off Tillman, and hit the ground running on the business end of a give-and-go.

Still, Los Angeles lacked the final ball. Their best offensive sequences tended to drive through Lewis O’Brien drifting out of the 3-2-5’s pivot or from Ryan Hollingshead’s underlaps on the left, but things were slow. Supporting runs set up Denis Bouanga time and again, but something always stalled out near the box. Some of the credit certainly owes to Khiry Shelton, who didn’t put a foot wrong against those overloads, but the issue was mostly self-inflicted.

When Steve Cherundolo’s side finally put their foot on the gas and began to commit on the counter, the dynamic changed. LAFC heightened their back line and looked to push play back into the mixer at a tempo rather than dally and allow the guests to shape back up.

In the 53rd minute, Maxime Chanot stood up an opposing attacker near the halfway line to start a break. Sergi Palencia received in the half space with neither Sporting Kansas City center mid deigning to close him down. It was simple from there: the wing back picked his head up, threaded Bogusz in behind, and set up a cross to Olivier Giroud for a tap-in. It was a deserved goal and a credit to LAFC’s increased intensity.

That intensity devolved back into complacency almost instantly.

Sporting Kansas City scored barely five minutes later, creating a chance out of nothing to equalize. Pulido applied fearsome back pressure to a lax Tillman on the edge of the 18-yard box, getting the ball for SKC. Immediately, the Mexican forward then charged towards the net, occupying two central defenders in the act. Space opened up, Thommy advanced into it, and the match was 1-1 in a snap.

Things grew shaggier thereafter. Cherundolo eventually sacrificed a central defender and switched into a 4-3-3, while Vermes moved Thommy over to the left and encouraged him to seek out more shooting opportunities. The stretched-out midfields yielded transition move after transition move to one another, but a golden chance never arrived in regulation time.

With an added stopgap in the midfield, Tillman grew likelier to step ahead and advance. Meanwhile, the full backs – including substitute Omar Campos – didn’t hesitate to keep bombing forward in support. Throw in the fresh legs and confident dribbling of Cristian Olivera, and the ingredients were there for LAFC to make a final push over the line.

They did so in extra time. In the 102nd minute, Olivera found the ball on the left, while Tillman and a spate of teammates slid into the box and forced SKC deep. When Campos advanced in support of Olivera and received, he had space to cut inside and score the all-important winner.

This Los Angeles team entered the final in poor form. They had to overcome the mental burden of other tournaments gone awry. It may have taken 120 minutes to seal the deal, but LAFC proved their mettle in thrilling fashion, changed the narrative of their season, and gave the 2024 U.S. Open Cup a fitting conclusion.

El Farolito’s run

When the Open got going way back in March, no one expected an NPSL team based out of a public park in San Francisco to become the darling of the tournament. El Farolito SC did just that, beating two professional opponents – Portland Timbers 2 and Central Valley Fuego – and taking another – Oakland Roots – to extra time during their Cinderella run.

El Farolito lovingly garnered a bevy of burrito emojis because of their shared ownership with a Bay Area restaurant chain. The “Burrito Brava” supporters group was there for the whole run, loudly supporting their team during Cup-set after Cup-set. No amateur side advanced further.