In each of the four previous stops he has made during a lengthy international soccer career, Hany Mukhtar guided his team to a trophy.
And during his six seasons as a Nashville SC midfielder, the 30-year-old Mukhtar has amassed plenty of individual honors — winning Major League Soccer’s MVP and Golden Boot awards in 2022, along with earning league all-star selections from 2022 through 2025.
But Mukhtar has never hoisted a trophy while wearing the electric gold and acoustic blue of NSC, something he hopes to remedy Wednesday night.
That’s when Nashville SC faces host Austin FC in the final of the U.S. Open Cup tournament at 7 p.m. (CBS Sports Network, Paramount+), seeking to claim the state of Tennessee’s first major pro sports championship.
“It’s huge. It’s a very important box to check, to win a title,” Mukhtar said. “That is the objective of every player … [I have] done really good so far, but not [winning] a trophy for the club is the missing piece. That is what the club needs and that’s what every player needs.”
MLS teams place varying degrees of significance on the Open Cup, as the tournament’s games don’t count in the league standings.
In addition, the competition forces coaches to make some difficult roster decisions because the tournament is played at the same time as the MLS season: Should coaches field the strongest possible rosters in the Open Cup, even if it means having less firepower in certain MLS contests?
But NSC has regularly used most of its best players in defeating the Chattanooga Red Wolves, Orlando City SC, DC United and the Philadelphia Union — focusing on the 96-team tournament with good reason.
“I think the Open Cup is the fastest way to win a trophy,” Mukhtar said. “You have to win five games, and you have a trophy in your hands. So we took it very serious … We dominated [Philadelphia] at home, a very good win, and now going to Austin will be difficult. But I think if you’re in a final, there is only one objective, and that’s to win a trophy.”
In Austin FC, the Boys in Gold will be facing a solid defensive club, as the team has surrendered just 40 goals in 31 league contests, tied for seventh fewest in MLS.
Nashville will counter with an offense that has already produced 55 goals, tied for the all-time franchise high and 17 more than NSC scored in the entire 2024 season.
“I think we’ve made unbelievable progress with this club,” Mukhtar said. “We play one of the most attractive [soccer styles] in this league. Now we are in the final, but we have to reward ourself … [for] the hard work we’ve been putting in for seven, eight months.”
In order to emerge victorious, Nashville would have to win away from Geodis Park, something the team has been unable to do in its last six contests dating back to June 28.
But the opportunity to record a historic championship should provide even more motivation to snap that streak.
Nashville SC coach Brian Callaghan said he’ll tell his players to put smiles on their faces and enjoy the moment, the kind they likely dreamed about as youngsters kicking the soccer ball in the backyard.
“We’ll take a brief moment to remind everybody that this is a special opportunity, a final,” Callaghan said. “You don’t know when finals come. You work for them all the time. They’re always earned. They’re never just given to you. You have to soak it in when you get a chance.”