Match Preview | St. Louis CITY SC Travels to Face Columbus Crew in 2026 U.S. Open Cup Final

After a historic run to the club’s first ever U.S. Open Cup Final, St. Louis CITY SC will face Columbus Crew at ScottsMiracle-Gro Field on Wednesday, October 21. The match will kick off at 7:00 p.m. CT and will be available on CBS Sports Network and Paramount+. The club will be looking for their first ever piece of hardware.  

How to Watch 

Stream: CBS Sports Network and Paramount+ 

CBS TV Talent (English): Chris Wittyngham (play-by-play), Tony Meola (analyst), Hailey Sutton (reporter) 

Radio: KYKY Y98.1 FM (English), KXOK 102.9 FM (Spanish) 

Radio Talent (English): Joey Zanaboni (play-by-play), Dale Schilly (analyst) 

Radio Talent (Spanish): Santiago Beltrán (play-by-play), Héctor Vega (analyst) 

CBS Sports' US Open Cup Coverage 

CBS Sports will present the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup Final on Wednesday, live from ScottsMiracle-Gro Field. Coverage begins with a one-hour pre-match show at 6 p.m. CT and continues with a one-hour post-match show at 9 p.m. CT. All coverage will stream live on Paramount+ and air on CBS Sports Network. The pitchside studio team features host Poppy Miller with analysts Mike Grella, Charlie Davies and Jimmy Conrad. Chris Wittyngham (play-by-play) and Tony Meola (analyst) will call the match. Christina Unkel is the rules analyst and Hailey Sutton is the pitchside reporter. 

CBS Sports will also add several production elements to bring viewers closer to the action, including a referee cam, a drone cam, slo-mo in-net robotic cams and a fan cam in the Columbus supporters’ section. 

How We Got Here 

St. Louis CITY SC advanced to the U.S. Open Cup Final after defeating Colorado Rapids 3-0 in the semifinal at DICK’S Sporting Goods Park on Wednesday, September 16. Sangbin Jeong gave St. Louis a 1-0 lead in the 32nd minute, and the team maintained its one-goal advantage into halftime. Simon Becher scored his first career U.S. Open Cup goal in the 52nd minute, giving CITY SC a 2-0 lead. Alex Mățan extended CITY’s lead to 3-0, scoring his first goal for the club. St. Louis held the Rapids to zero shots on target in the second half to secure the team’s second clean sheet of this U.S. Open Cup campaign.  

St. Louis CITY SC vs. Columbus Crew 

The two Midwestern sides have faced each other only twice: once in the 2025 MLS regular season and once in the 2023 Leagues Cup. St. Louis traveled to Columbus in 2023 for a Leagues Cup group-stage match, where the team fell 2-1. CITY SC also fell 2-1 to the Crew in St. Louis on MLS Matchday in 2025. 

Scouting Columbus Crew 

Columbus sits in 11th place in the Eastern Conference standings with 35 points and a 10-15-5 record. In their last ten matches across all competitions, the Crew have earned six wins and suffered four losses. Most recently, Columbus beat in-state rivals, FC Cincinnati 2-0 on Sunday night, with goals from Gonzalo Tapia and Taha Habroune. The Crew have had 16 different goal scorers this season, with six of them posting three or more goals. At ScottsMiracle-Gro Field, Columbus is 7-6-2.  

The Crew began their U.S. Open Cup campaign against the Richmond Kickers in the Round of 32, then defeated One Knoxville in the Round of 16, beat NYCFC in the quarterfinals, and took down Orlando City SC in the semifinals.