US Open Cup Preview: Republic to travel to San Jose Earthquakes in the Round of 32
Republic continues to the next round in the cup and faces MLS side San Jose Earthquakes
The Republic will officially travel to San Jose in the Round of 32 of the U.S. Open Cup, with the match taking place on either May 6 or 7. The exact date has yet to be announced. For this round, all lower-division sides were drawn against MLS opponents. Sacramento’s group included Tacoma Defiance, Portland Timbers, and San Jose Earthquakes. Because MLS teams cannot face each other in this round, the Republic could only be drawn to play either San Jose away or Portland at home. The draw gave Sacramento an away match in San Jose, while Portland will travel to Tacoma to face the Defiance.
How They Got Here
Sacramento Republic
The Quails entered the Open Cup in Round 3, by virtue of not finishing among the bottom eight teams in the USL Championship last season. They hosted El Farolito in that round and won 1–0. You can read our full match recap below:
Republic FC Advance in U.S. Open Cup with Gritty Win Over El Farolito
Republic FC returned to the win column on Wednesday night, edging past El Farolito 1-0 in their opening match of the 2025 Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup. The result secured Sacramento’s place in the Round of 32 and marked their first victory in all competitions since opening night of the USL Championship season—…
San Jose
The Earthquakes, along with the other 15 participating MLS teams, enter the tournament in the Round of 32. These 16 MLS sides are the highest-ranked teams from last season that did not qualify for the CONCACAF Champions Cup. A draw was held to determine which eight teams would host and which eight would travel for this round; San Jose was drawn to host.
The Match Up
This will be the sixth time that Sacramento has faced San Jose in a competitive match, all of which have been in the Open Cup. In the five meetings so far, the Republic have won 2 and lost 3 — and the home team has won every match. Additionally, the Republic have won the last two matches, both at home and both in the Round of 16.
The most recent matchup was last year’s dramatic Round of 16 Open Cup game. In that match, San Jose took an early lead before the Republic responded twice in the first half. San Jose tied the game in the 80th minute, sending it to extra time, and then quickly scored in the first half of extra time to take a 3–2 lead. The Republic weren’t out yet, though; Luis Felipe and then Sebastián Herrera scored in back-to-back minutes late in the second half of extra time to send the Quails to a 4–3 victory and on to the next round.
The only downside for Sacramento was the loss of captain Rodrigo López, who would go on to miss the rest of the season.
This year’s version of the NorCal Derby will be a challenge for the Republic. Last year’s victory was at home, with a Republic team that was performing very well, and against a San Jose team that would go on to win MLS’s Wooden Spoon — an “award” given to the worst team in the league. This year, all of that has changed. It’s a game on the road, in a stadium where the Republic have never won, while the club is struggling in league play and facing a revamped San Jose squad led by legendary U.S. coach Bruce Arena, currently mid-table in MLS.
Additionally, the Republic will have just played another derby away in Oakland the Sunday before, while San Jose will have played a home match the day prior, on Saturday. The Quails have always stepped up in big moments — they’ll need to do so again here to pull out a win.
What Comes Next?
The winner of this match will advance to the Round of 16 to face the winner of Tacoma vs. Portland. Hosting priority for the next round has already been determined: Tacoma has top priority, followed by Sacramento, then San Jose.
If the Republic advance, they will either host MLS side Portland Timbers or travel to face MLS Next Pro side Tacoma Defiance. The Round of 16 will be played on May 20–21.