Detroit City FC draws MLS side in U.S. Open Cup Round of 32

Detroit City FC officially has an opponent standing in the way of its quest to reach the U.S. Open Cup Round of 16.

DCFC on Thursday drew Major League Soccer side — and reigning Open Cup champion — Houston Dynamo FC as its Round of 32 opponent after defeating the Michigan Stars, 1-0, at Keyworth Stadium on Tuesday. Date and kickoff time is TBD.

The Dynamo have won two Open Cup trophies, in 2018 and 2023.

After hosting an MLS side in the Open Cup for the last two seasons, DCFC will travel to Houston for the matchup. DCFC upset the Columbus Crew in 2022 but fell to Minnesota United in last year's tournament; both of those games were at Keyworth.

It will be DCFC's third consecutive appearance in the Round of 32, which is coming a round later than usual because so many MLS teams withdrew from the tournament. That pushed USL Championship teams up the pecking order and allowed them to enter later (in DCFC's case, it was one round later) than in previous years.

DCFC is off to a 5-0-0 start across all competitions this season, but head coach Danny Dichio believes Le Rouge will need to play better if it wants to advance in the Open Cup.

"You're disappointed with tonight — I am — because I'm a little bit of a realist, but we're still 5-0," Dichio said after Tuesday's win. "You kind of look and reflect in that sense and it's hard to be disappointed with the boys, but I think that's where our ambitions are this year, that we want to be up there with the best, and we want to compete.

"We have to perform week in and week out."

nbianchi@detroitnews.com

@nolanbianchi