Copa Tejas is the two cup competitions and one shield between the Major League Soccer, USL Championship, NWSL, and USL Super League teams of the state of Texas, awarded by independent supporters groups of the state's teams. It was initially founded in 2019 by supporters of San Antonio FC. It awards a Division 1 trophy for the top Major League Soccer team, a Division 2 trophy for the top USL Championship team, and the Copa Tejas Shield for the best team across all participants. The current Major League Soccer clubs are Austin FC, FC Dallas, and Houston Dynamo FC. The USL Championship clubs are El Paso Locomotive FC and San Antonio FC. NWSL side Houston Dash and USL Super League side Dallas Trinity FC participates only in the Copa Tejas Shield as the lone Texas teams in their respective league.
It was first contested in 2019 and was won by Austin Bold FC.
History
San Antonio FC and Rio Grande Valley FC both competed in the USL from 2016 through 2023, contesting their own rivalry: the South Texas Derby. With the addition of Austin and El Paso in the 2019 season, the Copa Tejas was created by supporters of San Antonio FC to determine the best team in Texas.
Austin Bold FC claimed the inaugural Copa Tejas with a 3–0 win over Rio Grande Valley FC on September 1, 2019. They finished top of the table with a 3–2–1 (W–T–L) record and 11 points.
Due to the coronavirus pandemic and the rescheduling of the 2020 USL Championship season into group play, El Paso was not included in the group with the other Texas teams. This resulted in the lack of a "fair round-robin format", and so the Copa Tejas was not awarded in 2020.
In 2021, with Austin FC joining Major League Soccer, an MLS division of the competition, called Division 1, was created. This was to supplement the existing Texas Derby which is contested between FC Dallas and Houston Dynamo FC. The USL Championship division would now be known as Division 2.
The Copa Tejas Shield was announced in 2021 as a cross-league award, featuring the teams from both the Division 1 and Division 2 competition and NWSL side Houston Dash.
Austin Bold FC announced it would not participate in the 2022 USL Championship season as it actively sought relocation to another city in Texas. Rio Grande Valley FC ceased operations after the 2023 USL Championship season, leaving only two teams at the Division II level.
Dallas Trinity FC was included in the overall ranking from the 2025 Copa Tejas Shield. Since USL Super League runs a fall to spring calendar, the Trinity's 2024–25 season standings was used.
Division 1
Club Titles Years FC Dallas 3 2021, 2024, 2026 Austin FC 2 2022, 2023 Houston Dynamo FC 1 2025
Year Champions Second Third 2021 FC Dallas Houston Dynamo FC Austin FC 2022 Austin FC FC Dallas Houston Dynamo FC 2023 Austin FC Houston Dynamo FC FC Dallas 2024 FC Dallas Austin FC Houston Dynamo FC 2025 Houston Dynamo FC FC Dallas Austin FC 2026 FC Dallas
2021
2022
2023
2024
2025
2026
Division 2
Club Titles Years Austin Bold FC 1 2019 El Paso Locomotive FC 3 2021, 2024, 2026 Rio Grande Valley FC 0 San Antonio FC 3 2022, 2023, 2025 Notes
Year Champions Second Third Fourth 2019 Austin Bold FC San Antonio FC Rio Grande Valley FC El Paso Locomotive FC 2020 Not held due to COVID–19 2021 El Paso Locomotive FC Austin Bold FC Rio Grande Valley FC San Antonio FC 2022 San Antonio FC Rio Grande Valley FC El Paso Locomotive FC – 2023 San Antonio FC Rio Grande Valley FC El Paso Locomotive FC – 2024 El Paso Locomotive FC San Antonio FC – – 2025 San Antonio FC El Paso Locomotive FC – – 2026 El Paso Locomotive FC San Antonio FC – –
2019
2020
2021
2022
2023
2024
2025
2026
Shield Club Titles Years Austin Bold FC 0 Austin FC 0 Dallas Trinity FC 1 2025 El Paso Locomotive FC 1 2021 FC Dallas 0 Houston Dash 0 Houston Dynamo FC 1 2024 Rio Grande Valley FC 0 San Antonio FC 2 2022, 2023 Notes
Year Champions Runners-up 2021 El Paso Locomotive FC San Antonio FC 2022 San Antonio FC Austin FC 2023 San Antonio FC Houston Dynamo FC 2024 Houston Dynamo FC Austin FC 2025 Dallas Trinity FC Austin FC
All scorers
Division 1 Stats as of September 19, 2026 – Bold denotes still active with team PositionNameTeamGoals1 Petar MusaFC Dallas82 Fafà PicaultHouston Dynamo FC6 Jesús FerreiraFC Dallas Sebastian DriussiAustin FC5 Jáder ObrianFC Dallas/Austin FC5 Diego FagundezAustin FC Gyasi ZardesAustin FC8 Ricardo PepiFC Dallas3 Julio CascanteAustin FC Paul ArriolaFC Dallas Griffin DorseyHouston Dynamo FC Jack McGlynnHouston Dynamo FC13 Sebastián FerreiraHouston Dynamo FC2 Tomás PochettinoAustin FC Alexander RingAustin FC Thorleifur ÚlfarssonHouston Dynamo FC Ethan FinlayAustin FC Nkosi TafariFC Dallas Adalberto CarrasquillaHouston Dynamo FC Amine BassiHouston Dynamo FC Logan FarringtonFC Dallas Mateusz BoguszHouston Dynamo FC GuilhermeHouston Dynamo FC24 Cecilio DominguezAustin FC1 Iván Franco Houston Dynamo FC Teenage HadebeHouston Dynamo FC Matt HedgesFC Dallas/Austin FC Héctor HerreraHouston Dynamo FC Danny HoesenAustin FC Ryan HollingsheadFC Dallas Franco JaraFC Dallas Tsiki NtsabelengFC Dallas Tyler PasherHouston Dynamo FC Daniel PereiraAustin FC Facundo QuignonFC Dallas Darwin QuinteroHouston Dynamo FC Brandon ServaniaFC Dallas Maximiliano UrrutiAustin FC Matías VeraHouston Dynamo FC Diego RubioAustin FC Emiliano RigoniAustin FC Sebastien IbeaghaFC Dallas Marco FarfanFC Dallas Anderson JulioFC Dallas Ondřej LingrHouston Dynamo FC Ezequiel PonceHouston Dynamo FC Ilie SánchezAustin FC Guilherme BiroAustin FC Owen WolffAustin FC Shaq MooreFC Dallas Bernard KamungoFC Dallas Osaze UrhoghideFC Dallas Erik SviatchenkoHouston Dynamo FC Lawrence EnnaliHouston Dynamo FC Myrto UzuniAustin FC Jayden NelsonAustin FC Lalas AbubakarFC Dallas Ervin TorresAustin FC
Division 2 Stats as of August 18, 2026 – Bold denotes still active with team PositionNameTeamGoals1 Luis SolignacEl Paso Locomotive FC/San Antonio FC82 Diego LunaEl Paso Locomotive FC6 André LimaAustin Bold FC Justin DhillonSan Antonio FC/El Paso Locomotive FC Santiago PatiñoSan Antonio FC6 Aarón GómezEl Paso Locomotive FC57 Nathan FogaçaSan Antonio FC4 Juan Carlos AzócarRio Grande Valley FC Toros Sebastián VelásquezEl Paso Locomotive FC Mitchell TaintorSan Antonio FC11 Elvis AmohRio Grande Valley FC Toros3 Frank LópezSan Antonio FC/Rio Grande Valley FC Toros Rida ZouhirSan Antonio FC Christian SortoRio Grande Valley FC Toros/El Paso Locomotive FC Cristian ParanoSan Antonio FC15 Kyle EdwardsRio Grande Valley FC Toros2 Wan KuzainRio Grande Valley FC Toros Rodrigo LopezRio Grande Valley FC Toros Dylan MaresEl Paso Locomotive FC José AguinagaEl Paso Locomotive FC Xavier BáezAustin Bold FC Fabien GarciaAustin Bold FC/San Antonio FC Marcus EppsSan Antonio FC Andrew FoxEl Paso Locomotive FC Jesús EnríquezRio Grande Valley FC Toros Michael SalazarRio Grande Valley FC Toros Elliot CollierSan Antonio FC Juan David CabezasRio Grande Valley FC Toros Christian PinzónRio Grande Valley FC Toros Taylor DavilaRio Grande Valley FC Toros Wilmer Cabrera Jr.Rio Grande Valley FC Toros/El Paso Locomotive FC Amando MorenoEl Paso Locomotive FC Alex CrognaleSan Antonio FC Alex MendezEl Paso Locomotive FC35 Emil CuelloSan Antonio FC1 Mathieu DeplagneSan Antonio FC Kortne FordSan Antonio FC Jose GallegosSan Antonio FC Axel SjöbergSan Antonio FC Ates DioufSan Antonio FC Collin FernandezAustin Bold FC Sonny GuadarramaAustin Bold FC Stefano PinhoAustin Bold FC Kofi SarkodieAustin Bold FC Sean OkoliAustin Bold FC Macauley KingEl Paso Locomotive FC Chapa HerreraEl Paso Locomotive FC Leandro CarrijóEl Paso Locomotive FC Nick RossEl Paso Locomotive FC Alexis CerritosRio Grande Valley FC Toros Carter ManleyRio Grande Valley FC Toros/San Antonio FC Derek GebhardEl Paso Locomotive FC Emilio YcazaRio Grande Valley FC Toros KléberAustin Bold FC Isaac PromiseAustin Bold FC Ema TwumasiAustin Bold FC Éver GuzmánSan Antonio FC Amobi OkugoAustin Bold FC Billy ForbesSan Antonio FC Bradford Jamieson IVSan Antonio FC Jack BarmbyRio Grande Valley FC Toros Romilio HernandezRio Grande Valley FC Toros Carlos SmallRio Grande Valley FC Toros Ebenezer AckonRio Grande Valley FC Toros Eric BirdRio Grande Valley FC Toros David LoeraSan Antonio FC Dylan BorczakRio Grande Valley FC Toros Duilio HerreraSan Antonio FC/Rio Grande Valley FC Shannon GomezSan Antonio FC Akeem WardRio Grande Valley FC Toros Samuel AdeniranSan Antonio FC Eric CalvilloEl Paso Locomotive FC José TorresRio Grande Valley FC Toros Ian CerroRio Grande Valley FC Toros Brandan CraigEl Paso Locomotive FC Jake LaCavaSan Antonio FC Miles LyonsEl Paso Locomotive FC Juan AgudeloSan Antonio FC Nicky HernandezSan Antonio FC Luke HaakensonSan Antonio FC Rubio RubínEl Paso Locomotive FC Alex CrognaleSan Antonio FC Jorge HernandezSan Antonio FC Jimmy FarkarlunEl Paso Locomotive FC
Cup rule
The Division 1 and Division 2 Copa Tejas format is similar to the Cascadia Cup, although in the Copa Tejas uneven numbers of games can be played - points from all games between the teams count toward the total. Points are earned during the regular season: three for a victory, one for a draw, and no points for a loss. The team that accumulates the most points during the regular USL season, excluding possible U.S. Open Cup match ups and league playoffs, will be awarded the trophy at the conclusion of the league season, and will keep it and bragging rights for a year. If a tiebreaker is necessary, it will be determined from goal differential and other criteria.
The winner each year is decided by these criteria, in order:
Greater number of points earned in matches between the teams concerned Greater goal difference in matches between the teams concerned Greater number of goals scored in matches between the teams concerned Reapply first three criteria if two or more teams are still tied Greater goal difference in all cup matches Greater number of goals scored in all cup matches Smaller number of disciplinary points in all cup matches (yellow = 1 point, red = 2 points)
Shield rule The Copa Tejas Shield format is similar to the Supporters Shield awarded by Major League Soccer's Supporters Shield Foundation. Total points for a team across a its regular season will be divided by the number of matches played for an average points per game total. The team with the highest average points per game will be awarded the Copa Tejas Shield. In the event of a tiebreaker, the following criteria will be used to break the tie:
Goal difference average Fewest disciplinary points Away goals average Away goal difference Home goals average Home goal difference Coin toss if two teams tied and draw straws if three teams tied.
References
External links