The Colorado Rapids’ MLS game against Kansas City April 17 will double as a qualifying match for the U.S. Open Cup. The winner of the Mile High Stadium game will advance to the third round of the U.S. Open Cup, which is set to begin in mid-July, though the loser still has a wild-card chance. The third round of the tournament will consist of 16 teams, eight of which will be MLS clubs, eight of which will be from the lower divisions. The first two rounds are competitions solely for non-MLS clubs. 1999 U.S. Open Cup qualification for MLS teams Automatic qualifiers: 1. Chicago Fire (1998 U.S. Open Cup champion) 2. Columbus Crew (1998 U.S. Open Cup runner-up) 3. Dallas Burn (1997 U.S. Open Cup champion) 4. D.C. United (1996 U.S. Open Cup champion) Qualifying games: 1. Kansas City Wizards at Colorado Rapids, April 17. 2. Miami Fusion at MetroStars, May 15. 3. Tampa Bay Mutiny at Los Angeles Galaxy, May 15. The eighth MLS Open Cup place in the third round will go to the one team out of the three that lost their qualifying matches which has the highest point total in the MLS standings (per game) on June 1, 1999. Therefore, on June 1, of the three teams that lost their qualifier, the total points in the MLS standings will be divided by the total number of games, with the highest of the three clubs advancing to the third round.