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How Nashville SC's U.S. Open Cup victory and first-ever trophy could be just the start
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- How Nashville SC's U.S. Open Cup victory and first-ever trophy could be just the start
AUSTIN — Hany Mukhtar held one handle of the giant silver trophy and Walker Zimmerman held the other. Together, the Nashville SC stars lifted it into the air while their teammates screamed and jumped and fireworks burst behind the stage.
Nashville beat Austin FC 2-1 in the final of the 2025 U.S. Open Cup on Oct. 1 at Q2 Stadium, winning its first-ever championship in a competition that dates back 111 years. Nashville, which entered MLS in 2020, has a significantly shorter history than the tournament it just won. There's little doubt where this warm fall night in Texas ranks there.
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"It feels like the most complete culmination of a journey," Zimmerman said. "We've had highs and lows, heartbreaks. This is obviously our greatest success."
With the Open Cup victory, Nashville qualified for next season's CONCACAF Champions Cup, the North American continental championship. That could be a springboard to even greater heights, including the FIFA Club World Cup.
But NSC still has plenty of soccer to play in 2025: Two regular-season games, at CF Montreal on Oct. 4 and at home against Inter Miami on Oct. 18, and then the MLS Cup playoffs .
"It's hard, because in the back of my head, it's already thinking about Montreal," striker Sam Surridge said. "You just want to finish the season really well."
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Multiple trophies this season are a possibility, something that becomes a little easier to believe after nights like this. The U.S. Open Cup is a single-elimination tournament, and Nashville had to survive five win-or-go-home matches to get its hands on the trophy. To hoist the MLS Cup on Dec. 6, it will have to do the same.
"It's the confidence that we can win a knockout competition," Zimmerman said. "Winning a trophy in a knockout competition, that's exactly like the MLS Cup playoffs. We have a lot to play for these last two games, lot of seeding opportunities that are coming out in the East."
Nashville, which went 15 straight games without a defeat at one point this season, arrived in Austin having lost six of its past eight games in MLS play. Not only does its first trophy almost entirely forgive that, but it serves as a reminder of how good it can be at its best.
"Every single game that we go, we try to play the Nashville way," coach B.J. Callaghan said. "We've had lots of experiences in games where we're up a lot and we concede, we tie games, and all of those moments are leaned on in a final . . . People step up under the brightest lights, but this body of work has been done since the beginning of the season."
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This was the challenge Callaghan was served when he was hired as coach in July 2024. How to take an experienced veteran roster — one that had reached the playoffs for four straight seasons but never beyond the conference semifinals — over the hump?
In 2025, Nashville has shown off a modernized, fluid attack — it's likely to end the season with a club record in goals — and incorporated more young talent than ever while mainstays Mukhtar, Zimmerman and Surridge continue to thrive.
Almost every player on Nashville's roster started at least one game or made some sort of contribution during the Open Cup. Mukhtar scored the opening goal against Austin. Goalkeeper Brian Schwake , a rookie whose only five appearances have come during the Open Cup, saved a penalty in the 21st minute. And Surridge, an MLS Golden Boot contender, scored the 60th-minute penalty kick that sealed the historic trophy .
"I'm so proud of the group," Mukhtar said. "A lot of new faces, new coach with a lot of new ideas how we want to play. It's hard, playing a certain way for a very long time and then changing it . . . This is a big step in the right direction, and I believe there's still another step to go."
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Correction: A previous version of this story stated that Nashville won 15 straight games at one point this season, rather than 15 games without a loss.
Jacob Shames can be reached by email at jshames@gannett.com and on X/Twitter @Jacob_Shames .
This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Nashville SC sets sights high after US Open Cup victory
