Rhode Island FC kicked off its second USL Cup campaign in style on April 25, prevailing over regional rival Hartford Athletic in a penalty shootout on a cold, rainy night at Trinity Health Stadium. The opening day result has the Ocean State club sitting third in Group 5 of the World Cup-style tournament, and it will look for its first win on Saturday when it travels to USL League One club Portland Hearts of Pine.
Rhode Island FC will look for its first win in the tournament on Saturday, in hopes to replicate its run to the Semifinals of the competition during its first-ever run in 2025. The USL Cup is a departure from regular-season action, promoting attacking, high-stakes soccer in an exciting interleague knockout competition. Ahead of this weekend’s busy slate, here is everything you need to know about the Prinx Tires USL Cup, and what is at stake for the Ocean State club.
WHAT IS THE PRINX TIRES USL CUP?
2026 marks the third-annual USL Cup, a World Cup-style, in-season cup tournament that began in USL League One in 2024. After its initial success, it expanded to include every team from the USL Championship and USL League One in 2025, marking the first time the U.S. Soccer Federation has established its own cup between two professional divisions.
The group stage of the tournament – which consists of seven regional groups, each made up of six or seven teams assigned by league or conference affiliation – kicked off on April 25 and will conclude on July 11. Each team will play four games in the group stage. Following the conclusion of the group stage, all seven group winners and one wild card team will advance to the single-elimination knockout rounds. The wild card will be awarded to the second-placed team with the most points in the group stage, followed by the first tiebreaker of goals scored. The Quarterfinals will take place on Wednesday, Aug. 13, followed by the Semifinals on Wednesday, Sept. 9. The Prinx Tires USL Cup final will be nationally-televised on Sunday, Oct. 4 at 3 p.m. on ESPN2.
HOW DOES IT WORK?
In an effort to add more meaningful games to the schedule and promote attacking-minded soccer, the tournament includes a number of fan-first match modifications for the group stage. In similar fashion to other competitions, teams receive three points for a win in the group stage, zero points for a loss and one point if a group stage game is tied after 90 minutes. However, tied games will automatically go straight to a penalty shootout, with the winner of the shootout receiving an extra point in the group standings. Each team plays two home games and two road games in the group stage.
Rhode Island FC’s tournament-opening tie vs. Hartford Athletic was a perfect example of the tournament’s attack-minded modifications – after a scoreless tie, an exhilarating penalty shootout gave the Ocean State club an extra point that lifted it into third place after the first gameday.
At the conclusion of the group stage, all seven group winners will receive automatic qualification to the quarterfinal knockout stage of the competition. In addition, the best second-place teams will receive a wild card spot and advance to the Quarterfinals to complete the eight-team knockout slate.
In the event that two or more teams are tied on points, the following tiebreaker scenarios will be used to determine the group winner:
- Head-to-head record in group play
- Total wins in group play
- Most goals scored in group play
- Least goals conceded in group play
- Goal differential in group play
- Disciplinary points (ex: yellow card, red card accumulation)
- Coin toss
After the group winners are determined, if two or more second-place teams are tied on points, the following tiebreaker scenarios will be used to determine who receives the remaining wild card spot:
- Most goals scored in group play
- Head-to-head record in group play
- Total wins in group play
- Least goals conceded in group play
- Goal differential in group play
- Disciplinary points (ex: yellow card, red card accumulation)
- Coin toss
The order of the tiebreakers, which begins with most goals scored rather than the traditional head-to-head or goal differential, is designed to encourage attacking soccer and generate exciting, high-scoring games. The team that receives the wild card spot cannot face the winner of their own group in the Quarterfinals. If knockout stage games finish tied after 90 minutes, the game will go straight to a penalty shootout.
With only one second-place team advancing, every group stage game is meaningful and a very tight group stage race. For both the Quarterfinals and Semifinals of the competition, matchups are determined via a random draw rather than a bracket format. The draw will determine both the matchups and hosting priority.
DO PRINX TIRES USL CUP GAMES COUNT TOWARD THE REGULAR SEASON?
No. Prinx Tires USL Cup games are contested solely for the tournament title and do not count towards the USL Championship or USL League One regular-season standings. Any yellow card cautions or red card suspensions issued in a Prinx TIres USL Cup game carry over to the next Prinx Tires USL Cup game, and do not impact a player’s standing in the regular season. All statistics are measured separately and do not count towards a player or team’s regular-season statistics or the regular-season standings.
The only way a red card suspension can carry over into the regular season is if it is violent in nature or violates the League’s zero tolerance policy. All red cards will be reviewed by the League Disciplinary Committee.
HOW DID RIFC DO IN THE CUP LAST SEASON?
In Rhode Island FC’s first-ever appearance in the cup last season, it found some of its most proficient attacking play. It led Group 4 with 11 goals through four group stage games, including a 4-1 win vs. Portland Hearts of Pine at Centreville Bank Stadium. It went 3W-0L-1T through the group stage in its inaugural USL Cup run to win the group, including a pair of 4-1 wins vs. Portland and Westchester SC, fueling its run to the semifinals of the World Cup-style competition. It defeated Birmingham Legion FC 1-0 in the quarterfinals before falling in a penalty-shootout loss to Sacramento Republic FC in the semifinals, ending an impressive cup run that saw the club come within two games of a trophy. In total, the run saw eight different players combine for 12 goals through six games.
