Columbus Crew and St. Louis City Meet in the Open Cup Final

In the U.S. Open Cup final, Columbus Crew host St. Louis City SC at home. The match will be played on Wednesday, 21 October, at 8:00 p.m. Eastern Time at ScottsMiracle Gro Field. The game can be watched on Paramount+ and CBS Sports Network.

The winning team will earn a place in the Concacaf Champions Cup. The champion will receive $600,000 and the runner-up $250,000. Teams from St. Louis have won this cup 10 times, but the most recent title came 38 years ago. Columbus, for its part, has won nine times across all cups. The Crew last took the Open Cup in 2002, beating LA Galaxy in the final.

There are notable links between the two sides. St. Louis sporting director Corey Wray and head coach Yoann Damet previously worked within the Crew system. Columbus captain Sean Zawadzki and St. Louis midfielder Dante Polvara played together on Georgetown University's NCAA championship team in 2019.

St. Louis will not be able to use Rafael Navarro, whom they signed from the Colorado Rapids, in this match. Navarro is ineligible because he already played in the Open Cup for the Rapids. In attack, Simon Becher stands out with 10 goals and four assists in 33 matches. For Columbus, Brais Mendez has contributed to 11 goals. Head coach Laurent Courtois said that Mendez's substitution at halftime in the Cincinnati match was not injury related. Anass Zaroury, who missed the squad because of illness, is also ready. Josef Martinez is expected to lead the attack.