Getty Image / Doug Zimmerman / ISI Photos
The U.S. Open Cup, America’s oldest soccer tournament, got off to a hot start on Tuesday when El Farolito, an amateur team named after a Mission style burrito shop in San Francisco, upset the Portland Timbers 2 team.
It’s hard to quantify how monumental of an upset this is in America because we’re not really accustomed to teams outside of our major pro leagues competing against anyone outside of those leagues, but this would almost be akin to your buddy’s weekend rec team beating a minor league team with future pros on the squad.
El Farolito scored their monumental upset win over Portland Timbers 2 (second squad) on Tuesday during the first day of the US Open Cup. They beat the Timbers 2-1 which brought back some incredible memories because El Farolito won the entire tournament back in 1993 and according to this congratulatory post by Men In Blazers, their 1993 trophy still sits on the bar at the restaurant in San Francisco.
El Farolito came back from the 2-1 deficit after tying the game on this header:
EL FAROLITO—amateur side in San Francisco named after local burrito joint—beat Portland Timbers 2 in 1st round of US Open Cup on Tuesday night. Would be like Nashville reserves losing to Prince’s Hot Chicken. 🌯🌯🌯#SaveTheCup #KeepTheUSOpenCupWeirdpic.twitter.com/o6sG26ir4I
— Men in Blazers (@MenInBlazers) March 20, 2024
They need to frame this image and put it over the bar next to the 1993 trophy:
Vamos FAROLITO!!!! pic.twitter.com/cobg86Ysyg
— El Farolito (@elfarolito_npsl) March 20, 2024
The US Open Cup is a single-elimination tournament that has been ongoing since 1914. Initially, it was feared that MLS teams were going to pull out of the 2024 Lamar Hunt US Open Cup but reason prevailed and the MLS announced 19 MLS clubs and MLS Next clubs would be participating in this year’s competition.
Is El Farolito the best burrito in the Mission District? Perhaps. Maybe not. It’s in the discussion. In fact, the SF Chronicle has it ranked as the 5th best. Rest assured, none of the other Mission burrito spots have an amateur soccer team with such rich history.