The 2012 Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup Final was played on August 8, 2012 at Livestrong Sporting Park in Kansas City, Kansas. The match was the culmination of the 2012 Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup, a tournament open to amateur and professional soccer teams affiliated with the United States Soccer Federation. This was the 99th edition of the oldest ongoing competition in American soccer. Sporting Kansas City won their second U.S. Open Cup title, their first since 2004, by defeating Seattle Sounders FC, 3–2 in a penalty shootout following a 1–1 draw through extra time.

The Seattle Sounders FC were in their fourth-consecutive U.S. Open Cup Final, a feat that had not been accomplished since 1937. Seattle won the cup in its previous three appearances and was attempting to win a fourth consecutive championship.

As Open Cup champions, Kansas City earned a $100,000 cash prize and a berth into the 2013–14 CONCACAF Champions League, marking the club's first Champions League-era appearance in the tournament, and their third overall appearance in a CONCACAF competition.

The U.S. Open Cup is an annual American soccer competition open to all United States Soccer Federation affiliated teams, from amateur adult club teams to the professional clubs of Major League Soccer (MLS). The 2011 tournament was the 98th edition of the oldest soccer tournament in the United States.

In contrast to previous years, for the 2012 edition of the tournament, all US-based MLS teams qualified automatically for the tournament. Previously, only 8 teams from MLS could qualify for the tournament, six automatically based on the previous year's league results, and two more via a play-in tournament. Both Seattle Sounders FC and Sporting Kansas City were automatically entered in the tournament for 2012.

Seattle Sounders FC won the 2009, 2010, and 2011 U.S. Open Cup championships becoming the first team since 1968 to win three championships consecutively. As they had done in previous years, Sounders FC played 2012 U.S. Open Cup home games at the Starfire Sports Complex in Tukwila, Washington. The facility is smaller than the club's home stadium for league matches, CenturyLink Field, but Sounders FC representatives preferred the atmosphere at Starfire for smaller cup matches.

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