Columbus Crew Defeat Orlando City SC in U.S. Open Cup Semifinal, Will Host Final in October | OneFootball

COLUMBUS, Ohio – The Columbus Crew defeated Orlando City SC, 2-1, at ScottsMiracle-Gro Field on Wednesday evening in the first of two Semifinal matches in the 2026 Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup. The victory for interim head coach Laurent Courtois sees his Crew through to the U.S. Open Cup Final for the fourth time in club history, where they will host St. Louis CITY SC on Oct. 21.

Just nine minutes into the match, recent Columbus signing Josef Martínez scored his first goal for the Crew. Set up by another newcomer in midfielder Santiago Rodríguez, Martínez gathered Rodríguez’s in-swinging cross inside the six-yard box and slotted home a composed finish to open the scoring.

Martínez—starting for just the fifth time since joining the club in early August—matched a personal record with his 11th goal against Orlando with the previous 10 coming as a member of Atlanta United FC. The former Open Cup champions’ goal was his first Open Cup goal since scoring in the 2023 U.S. Open Cup Final with Inter Miami CF.

The Crew rode that early momentum over the next few minutes, though the Lions did their best to respond. Orlando peppered Columbus goalkeeper Nicholas Hagen with several shots, placing three on target inside the first 30 minutes of the match, though the Guatemala international stood tall to deny all three attempts.

The first clear chance for the visiting side came in the 30th minute, as 18-year-old Bernardo Rhein sent a looping header up and over Nico Hagen. The ball bounced off the far post and rolled along the line, allowing Crew defender and Cape Verde international Steven Moreira a chance to boot it off the line.

Just before the halftime break, Orlando finally found its breakthrough. U.S. Under-19 Men’s National Team talent Justin Ellis raced down the pitch, dribbling through a quintet of opponents before calmly dishing the ball to the Martín Ojeda, who sliced it across the box and beyond a diving Hagen. The goal marked Ojeda’s 12thgoal of the season and Ellis’ 11th assist on the year, both across all competitions.

Level after the halftime intermission, the two sides continued to trade punches early in the second half. Orlando tested Hagen with a pair of shots, but it was the hosts that again broke through. In the 52nd minute, Columbus’ big summer acquisition—former Spain international Brais Méndez—tapped home a lofted through ball from Santiago Rodríguez. The goal marked Méndez’s fifth of the season through 13 matches, while Rodriguez tallied his first assist for the Black & Gold in just his fourth appearance.

Just moments later, Méndez nearly tallied his first brace since 2022, smashing a Josef Martínez pass into the top right corner of the goal and racing off to celebrate before it was determined that Martínez was in an offside position. Martínez himself nearly double his scoring total on the night five minutes later, sending a low, curling ball just wide of the goal.

As the match progressed further into the second half, Columbus emerged as the more confident and composed team, playing with a sense of purpose and intensity that one might expect to see from the team trailing. The Crew—up a goal with less than half an hour to play—started to slow things down, focusing on controlling possession, earning fouls from a desperate Orlando side and draining the clock.

Even with its focus on controlling possession, Columbus still found plenty of opportunities in the final 10 minutes to speed down to Orlando’s end of the pitch and send the ball in the box, though no Crew attackers were able to connect with any properly.

Orlando did pick up its intensity in the final few minutes of regular and stoppage time, but the 2022 champions were unable to find the equalizer in the dying moments. The victory for Columbus—only its second since Aug 8.—means the Crew are in the U.S. Open Cup Final for the fourth time in club history and first time since 2010. Additionally, the Crew will host the 2026 Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup Final on Oct. 21, marking the first time the Crew have hosted the tournament’s crowning match since 2002.

-U.S. OPEN CUP MATCH REPORT-

Match: Columbus Crew vs. Orlando City SC

Date: Sept. 16, 2026

Competition: 2026 Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup – Semifinal

Venue: ScottsMiracle-Gro Field; Columbus, Ohio

Attendance: 8,805

Kickoff: 7 p.m. ET

Weather: 82 degrees, partly cloudy

Lineups:

CLB: 1-Nicholas Hagen, 8-Santiago Rodríguez, 10-Brais Méndez, 11-Brooks Lennon (2-Andrés Herrera, 76), 16-Taha Habroune, 18-Malte Amundsen, 20-André Gomes(7-Dylan Chambost, 73), 21-Anass Zaroury (26-Lautaro Giaccone, 58), 25-Sean Zawadzki, 31-Steven Moreira, 77-Josef Martínez (33-Gonzalo Tapia, 73)

Substitutes not used: 3-E. Bailly, 24-E. Bush, 12-C. Ruvalcaba

Head coach (interim): Laurent Courtois

ORL: 71-Maxime Crépeau, 4-David Brekalo, 6-Robin Jansson, 7-Antoine Griezmann (9-Daryl Dike, 54), 10-Martín Ojeda, 19-Zakaria Tafi (14-Tyrese Spicer, 60), 20-Eduard Atuesta Velasco, 22-Justin Ellis (87-Marco Pašalić, 78), 35-Joran Gerbet (16-Wilder Cartagena, 45), 44-Bernardo Rhein, 77-Iván Angulo Cortés

Substitutes not used: 5-Luis Otávio, 12-J. Otero, 57-Iago Teodoro

Head coach (interim): Martín Perelman

Stats Summary: CLB / ORL

Shots: 7 / 3

Shots on Goal: 3 / 0

Saves: 3 / 4

Corner Kicks: 2 / 2

Fouls: 7 / 7

Offside: 3 / 0

Officials:

R — Alexis Da Silva

AR1 — Tyler Wyrostek

AR2 — Rhett Hammill

4TH — Nabil Bensalah

VAR — Guido Gonzales Jr.

AVAR — Melissa Beck