The 2026 season is the 14th and current season for the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL), the top division of women's soccer in the United States. Including the NWSL's two professional predecessors, Women's Professional Soccer (2009–2011) and the Women's United Soccer Association (2001–2003), it is the 20th overall season of FIFA and USSF-sanctioned top division women's soccer in the United States.
The league has 16 teams, with 2 expansion teams Boston Legacy and Denver Summit joining the 14 teams that contested the 2025 NWSL season. All teams are scheduled to play 30 regular-season matches, home and away against every other team.
The defending NWSL champion is Gotham FC, and the defending NWSL Shield winner is the Kansas City Current.
Teams, stadiums, and personnel Expansion teams Boston Legacy and Denver Summit are playing their inaugural season.
Stadiums and locations
Team Stadium Capacity Angel City BMO Stadium 22,000 Bay FC PayPal Park 18,000 Boston Legacy Gillette Stadium 20,000 Chicago Stars Martin Stadium 12,023 Denver Summit Centennial Stadium 12,000 Gotham FC Sports Illustrated Stadium 25,000 Houston Dash Shell Energy Stadium 22,039 Kansas City Current CPKC Stadium 11,500 North Carolina Courage First Horizon Stadium at WakeMed Soccer Park 10,000 Orlando Pride Inter&Co Stadium 25,500 Portland Thorns Providence Park 25,218 Racing Louisville Lynn Family Stadium 11,700 San Diego Wave Snapdragon Stadium 35,000 Seattle Reign Lumen Field 10,000 Utah Royals America First Field 20,213 Washington Spirit Audi Field 20,000
Personnel and sponsorship Note: All teams use Nike as their kit manufacturer as part of a league-wide sponsorship agreement renewed in November 2021. Team Head coach Captain(s) Shirt sponsor Angel City (interim) DoorDash Bay FC Sutter Health Boston Legacy TJ Maxx Chicago Stars (interim) Wintrust Denver Summit Gotham FC CarMax Houston Dash MD Anderson Cancer Center Kansas City Current United Way of Greater Kansas City North Carolina Courage Merz Aesthetics Orlando Pride (interim) Orlando Health Portland Thorns ring Racing Louisville GE Appliances San Diego Wave Kaiser Permanente Seattle Reign Trupanion Utah Royals America First Credit Union Washington Spirit CVS Health
Coaching changes Team Outgoing coach Manner of departure Date of vacancy Position in table Incoming coach Date of appointment Boston Legacy Expansion teamPreseason June 25, 2025 Denver Summit August 6, 2025 Bay FC Resigned September 8, 2025 December 4, 2025 Kansas City Current Promoted to global sporting director November 14, 2025 January 7, 2026 Chicago Stars (interim) End of interim period November 23, 2025 August 13, 2025 North Carolina Courage (interim) End of interim period November 23, 2025 Mak Lind January 24, 2026 Portland Thorns Fired November 25, 2025 (interim) November 25, 2025 (interim) End of interim period March 4, 2026 March 4, 2026 Angel City FC Fired June 17, 2026 11th (interim) June 17, 2026 Chicago Stars FC Fired August 12, 2026 16th (interim) August 12, 2026 Orlando Pride Fired August 31, 2026 12th (interim) August 31, 2026
Regular season
Standings
Tiebreakers The initial determining factor for a team's position in the standings is most points earned, with three points earned for a win, one point for a draw, and zero points for a loss. If two or more teams tie in total points total when determining rank, playoff qualification, and seeding, the NWSL uses the following tiebreaker criteria, going down the list until all teams are ranked.
Greater goal difference across the entire regular season (against all teams, not just tied teams). Most total wins across the entire regular season (against all teams, not just tied teams). Most goals scored across the entire regular season (against all teams, not just tied teams). Head-to-head results (total points) between the tied teams. Head-to-head most goals scored between the tied teams. Fewest disciplinary points accumulated across the entire regular season (against all teams, not just tied teams). Coin flip (if two teams are tied) or drawing of lots (if three or more teams are tied).
Format Results
Attendance
Average home attendances Ranked from highest to lowest average attendance.
+ Regular season Rank Team 1 Portland Thorns FC 14 265,991 22,017 15,683 18,999 2 Denver Summit FC 13 225,601 63,004 11,008 17,354 3 Washington Spirit 13 205,367 19,365 9,349 15,797 4 Angel City FC 13 199,355 18,089 11,574 15,335 5 San Diego Wave FC 14 168,559 15,881 8,428 12,040 6 Bay FC 13 151,518 13,110 10,237 11,655 7 Kansas City Current 14 161,000 11,500 11,500 11,500 8 Gotham FC 14 152,933 42,175 4,738 10,924 9 Boston Legacy FC 14 148,243 30,207 3,804 10,589 10 Utah Royals 13 114,949 19,274 5,572 8,842 11 North Carolina Courage 13 104,308 10,551 6,217 8,024 12 Orlando Pride 14 112,194 16,320 6,004 8,014 13 Seattle Reign FC 14 101,850 14,793 3,023 7,275 14 Houston Dash 13 88,125 10,259 5,168 6,779 15 Racing Louisville FC 14 77,275 7,018 4,728 5,520 16 Chicago Stars FC 13 58,819 6,678 1,821 4,517 Total 215 2,336,087 63,004 1,821 10,866
Highest attendances + Regular season Rank Home team Score Away team Attendance Date Stadium 1 Denver Summit FC 0–0 Washington Spirit 63,004 Empower Field at Mile High 2 Gotham FC 1–0 Washington Spirit 42,175 Citi Field 3 Boston Legacy FC 0–1 Gotham FC 30,207 Gillette Stadium 4 Portland Thorns FC 1–0 Denver Summit FC 22,017 Providence Park 5 Portland Thorns FC 2–2 Gotham FC 21,743 Providence Park 6 Portland Thorns FC 2–0 Seattle Reign FC 21,321 Providence Park 7 Portland Thorns FC 0–0 Angel City FC 20,652 Providence Park 8 Portland Thorns FC 2-2 Utah Royals 20,053 Providence Park 9 Portland Thorns FC 2–0 San Diego Wave FC 19,806 Providence Park 10 Washington Spirit 2-1 Seattle Reign FC 19,365 Audi Field
Statistical leaders
Top scorers
Rank Player Club Goals 1 Ashley SanchezNorth Carolina Courage 20 2 Barbra BandaOrlando Pride 17 3 Sophia WilsonPortland Thorns FC 13 4 Temwa ChawingaKansas City Current 12 Janine SonisDenver Summit FC 6 Evelyn IjehNorth Carolina Courage 11 Trinity RodmanWashington Spirit 8 Trinity ByarsSan Diego Wave FC 10 Kat RaderHouston Dash Jaedyn ShawGotham FC Aïssata TraoréBoston Legacy FC
Top assists
Rank Player Club Assists 1 Croix BethuneKansas City Current 10 Cloé LacasseUtah Royals 3 Pietra TordinPortland Thorns FC 9 4 Trinity RodmanWashington Spirit 8 5 Evelyn ShoresAngel City FC 7 6 Shinomi KoyamaNorth Carolina Courage 6 Lauren MillietRacing Louisville FC Janine SonisDenver Summit FC 9 10 players tied 5
Clean sheets
Rank Player Club Clean sheets 1 Ann-Katrin BergerGotham FC 10 Sandy MacIverWashington Spirit 3 Angelina AndersonAngel City FC 9 4 Kailen SheridanNorth Carolina Courage 8 5 Mackenzie ArnoldPortland Thorns FC 7 Claudia DickeySeattle Reign FC Jordan SilkowitzBay FC 8 Anna MoorhouseOrlando Pride 6 9 Jane CampbellHouston Dash 5 Abby SmithDenver Summit FC
Hat-tricks
+ Player For Against Score Date Temwa Chawinga Kansas City Current vs. Chicago Stars FC 3–0 May 10, 2026 Evelyn Ijeh North Carolina Courage vs. Orlando Pride 5–0 July 31, 2026 Pietra Tordin Portland Thorns FC vs. Boston Legacy FC 4–3 August 9, 2026 Ashley Sanchez North Carolina Courage vs. Chicago Stars FC 6–0 September 6, 2026 Haley Hopkins Kansas City Current vs. Denver Summit FC 4–1 September 26, 2026 Debinha Kansas City Current vs. Bay FC 5–1 October 3, 2026
Playoffs
Challenge Cup
Individual awards
Weekly awards Week Player of the Week Save of the Week Player Club Player Club 1 Ashley Sanchez North Carolina Courage Jordyn Bloomer Racing Louisville FC 2 Sveindís Jónsdóttir Angel City FC Abby Smith Denver Summit FC 3 Lia Godfrey San Diego Wave FC Morgan Messner Portland Thorns FC 4 Kiki Van Zanten Houston Dash Kathrin Hendrich Chicago Stars FC 5 Leicy Santos Washington Spirit Katie Atkinson Chicago Stars FC 6 Trinity Rodman Washington Spirit Jordan Silkowitz Bay FC 7 Temwa Chawinga Kansas City Current Jorelyn Carabalí Boston Legacy FC 8 Janine Sonis Denver Summit FC Angelina Anderson Angel City FC 9 Sophia Wilson Portland Thorns FC Malia Berkely Houston Dash 10 Manaka Matsukubo North Carolina Courage Kailen Sheridan North Carolina Courage 11 Trinity Rodman (2) Washington Spirit Jane Campbell Houston Dash 12 Esther González Gotham FC Ann-Katrin Berger Gotham FC 13 Rose Lavelle Gotham FC Kailen Sheridan (2) North Carolina Courage 14 Maja Lardner Racing Louisville FC Katie Atkinson (2) Chicago Stars FC 15 Evelyn Ijeh North Carolina Courage Mandy McGlynn Utah Royals 16 Pietra Tordin Portland Thorns FC Mackenzie Arnold Portland Thorns FC 17 Caiya Hanks Portland Thorns FC 18 Ashley Sanchez (2) North Carolina Courage Angelina Anderson (2) Angel City FC 19 Trinity Byars San Diego Wave FC 20 No award 21 Ashley Sanchez (3) North Carolina Courage Sandy MacIver Washington Spirit 22 Alyssa Naeher Chicago Stars FC 23 Sophia Wilson (2) Portland Thorns FC Week Goal of the Week Assist of the Week Player Club Player Club 1 Ashley Sanchez North Carolina Courage Sveindís Jónsdóttir Angel City FC 2 Sofia Cantore Washington Spirit Kennedy Fuller Angel City FC 3 Melanie Barcenas San Diego Wave FC Jayden Perry Portland Thorns FC 4 Gisele Thompson Angel City FC Jayden Perry (2) Portland Thorns FC 5 Sophia Wilson Portland Thorns FC Trinity Rodman Washington Spirit 6 Aïssata Traoré Boston Legacy FC Olivia Moultrie Portland Thorns FC 7 Katie O'Kane Racing Louisville FC Dudinha San Diego Wave FC 8 Manaka Matsukubo North Carolina Courage Michelle Cooper Kansas City Current 9 M.A. Vignola Portland Thorns FC Delanie Sheehan Denver Summit FC 10 Leicy Santos Washington Spirit Riley Jackson North Carolina Courage 11 Melanie Barcenas (2) San Diego Wave FC Leicy Santos Washington Spirit 12 Leicy Santos (2) Washington Spirit Tara Rudd Washington Spirit 13 Rose Lavelle Gotham FC Gift Monday Washington Spirit 14 Sofia Cantore (2) Washington Spirit Sophia Mattice Angel City FC 15 Kiana Palacios Utah Royals Casey Murphy Boston Legacy FC 16 Ashley Sanchez (2) North Carolina Courage Mackenzie Arnold Portland Thorns FC 17 Mallory Swanson Chicago Stars FC Melanie Barcenas San Diego Wave FC 18 Izzy Rodriguez Kansas City Current Mandy McGlynn Utah Royals
Monthly awards
Month Rookie of the Month Player of the Month Player Club Player Club March Lia Godfrey San Diego Wave FC Sveindís Jane Jónsdóttir Angel City FC April Jordynn Dudley Gotham FC Ashley Sanchez North Carolina Courage May Kat Rader Houston Dash Temwa Chawinga Kansas City Current July Linda Ullmark Houston Dash Trinity Rodman Washington Spirit August Kat Rader (2) Houston Dash Ashley Sanchez (2) North Carolina Courage
Month Coach of the Month Coach Club March Alexander Straus Angel City FC April Adrián González Washington Spirit May Jimmy Coenraets Utah Royals July Adrián González (2) Washington Spirit August Mak Lind North Carolina Courage
Team of the Month
Month Goalkeeper Defenders Midfielders Forwards March Abby Smith, DEN April Sandy MacIver, WAS May Mandy McGlynn, UTA July Sandy MacIver, WAS (2) August Ann-Katrin Berger, GFC
See also
2026 CONCACAF W Championship (continental club tournament with NWSL teams)
References
External links