The NWSL Challenge Cup is an annual supercup competition organized by the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL), a division 1 women's league in the United States soccer league system. The current (2026) cup holder is Gotham FC, which defeated the Kansas City Current 2–0 on June 26, 2026.
The NWSL Challenge Cup was first announced in 2020 as a one-off, league-wide tournament to mark the league's return to action from the COVID-19 pandemic. It was the first top-tier professional sports league in the United States to restart after COVID-19 lockdowns began. Subsequently, the NWSL announced that it would return as an annual league cup tournament. Between the 2023 and 2024 editions, the NWSL announced that the Challenge Cup would change from a league-wide tournament to a single-game supercup.
Format
2020–2023 For the first four years of the tournament, all NWSL teams began a group stage where they played four to six games, usually split geographically. The group stage was then followed by one or more knockout matches to determine the Cup winner. In 2020, all nine teams were to play four games each in a single pool, with eight teams advancing to the knockout stage; however, one team had to drop out due to COVID exposure, and the pool games among the remaining eight teams were used solely for seeding the knockout rounds. In 2021, the ten teams were divided into two divisions of five teams, with the two group winners qualifying for the final match. In 2022 and 2023, the twelve teams split into three groups of four, with the best runner-up joining the three group winners in a two-round knockout tournament. In 2023, the format remained the same but the tournament was moved to run concurrently with the season due to player concerns about injuries.
2024 onward
In 2024, the NWSL Challenge Cup transitioned to a single pre-season match between the winners of the previous season's NWSL Shield and NWSL Championship, Should a team win both the Championship and Shield, the Challenge Cup is a rematch of the previous season's championship match.
Records and statistics
Results by team Team Winners Runners-up Years won North Carolina Courage 2 0 2023, 2022 Washington Spirit 1 1 2025 Houston Dash 1 0 2020 Portland Thorns FC 1 0 2021 San Diego Wave FC 1 0 2024 Gotham FC 1 2 2026 Chicago Stars FC 0 1 – Kansas City Current 0 1 – Racing Louisville FC 0 1 – Orlando Pride 0 1 –
List of finals SeasonChallenge Cup format Winners Score Runners-up Venue Attendance Player of the Final Tournament MVP 2020tournament Houston Dash 2–0 Chicago Red Stars Rio Tinto Stadium 0 Shea Groom (Houston Dash) Rachel Daly (Houston Dash) 2021tournament Portland Thorns FC 1–1 NJ/NY Gotham FC Providence Park 4,000 – 5,000 (estimate)Estimated limited attendance provided at 15:50 on YT video: FULL GAME: 2021 NWSL Challenge Cup Final [Portland Thorns FC vs Gotham FC] | CBS Sports HQ Adrianna Franch (Portland Thorns FC) Debinha (North Carolina Courage) 2022tournament North Carolina Courage 2–1 Washington Spirit WakeMed Soccer Park 3,163 Kerolin (North Carolina Courage) Debinha (North Carolina Courage) 2023tournament North Carolina Courage 2–0 Racing Louisville FC WakeMed Soccer Park 3,068 Manaka Matsukubo (North Carolina Courage) Kristen Hamilton (Kansas City Current) 2024supercup San Diego Wave FC 1–0 NJ/NY Gotham FC Red Bull Arena 14,241 Alex Morgan (San Diego Wave FC) 2025supercup Washington Spirit 1–1 Orlando Pride Inter&Co Stadium 8,880 Aubrey Kingsbury (Washington Spirit) 2026supercup Gotham FC 2–0 Kansas City Current ScottsMiracle-Gro Field TBA
References
External links