The USYS National League Cup (The NL Cup) is a postseason competition that is debuting at the end of the 2025-26 season and is exclusive to National League teams. The NL Cup will present the top-performing teams from each season’s National League regular season and winter events with an opportunity to compete against each other in an exciting end-of-season championship competition.
Competition Overview
The NL Cup features two stages of competition: The NL Cup Playoffs and The NL Cup Finals.
THE NL Cup Playoffs
The first stage of The NL Cup — The NL Cup Playoffs — will feature four events that take place in late May or June. Locations of the playoff events may shift from year to year.
At each playoff event, eight boys teams and eight girls teams in their respective 13U-19U age group compete in a group play format with three games over three days. Each age group has two groups of four teams, with the winner of each four-team group advancing to The NL Cup Finals.
The NL Cup Finals
The second stage of the competition — The NL Cup Finals — is a single championship event. The finals feature eight teams — the two group winners from each of the four playoff events — in each of the 13U-19U age groups for both boys and girls. Teams play three games in three days in a bracket format, where games progress from quarterfinals to semifinals to the finals — in which The NL Cup champions will be determined.
How teams qualify
There are two ways to qualify for The NL Cup — via the league regular season or via Winter Events.
Qualifying via the league
Teams that win a National League Tier 1 Division automatically qualify for The NL Cup Playoffs. Tier 1 includes team-based divisions (Premier 1) and club-based divisions (Elite 64).
Qualifying via Winter Events
Each of The NL Cup Playoff events has a varying number of wildcard spots available in the 14U-19U age groups. Wildcard spots are filled by the teams that finish in second place in the four-team groups at the National League Winter Events. (Note: First-place finishers at the winter events advance to the USYS National Championships)
The 13U Age Group
All teams that advance to The NL Cup Playoffs in the 13U age group come directly from regular season league play. Teams that win a National League Tier 1 Division automatically qualify for The NL Cup Playoffs, while varying numbers of additional playoff spots will be filled based on regular season performance.
The 13U age group does not compete at the winter events, which is why no wildcard spots are drawn from those events in this age group.
Playoffs Breakdown
See which of The NL Cup Playoffs each Tier 1 division winner will attend.
Subject to change.
FAQs
Click on the questions below to view the answers. FAQs will be updated on a rolling basis.
The fee is currently be assessed, with the goal of keeping it as low as possible. The current fee structure will include an admin fee and referee fees.
We anticipate announcing all locations for the 2026 edition of The NL Cup by late summer of 2025.
There are two ways to qualify for The NL Cup: via your National League regular season or via the National League Winter Events. For more information on qualification, see the “How to Qualify” section and the “Playoffs Breakdown” section on this webpage.
If your team plays both a fall season and spring season, with separate standings, you qualify from the spring season standings.