The 2022 NWSL Championship is here.

The Portland Thorns and Kansas City Current kick off at 8 p.m. ET on Saturday at Audi Field in Washington, D.C. For the first time in league history, the game will be broadcast at primetime on a nationally televised network, CBS, for American viewers. International fans can watch on Twitch.

Here is everything you need to know heading into the final:

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No. 2 Portland Thorns FC (10-3-9)

Playoff history

• Portland is the first team in league history to qualify for four championship games.
• The team advanced to this year’s final after beating the San Diego Wave 2-1 in Sunday’s semifinal.
• The Thorns are undefeated in championship games on the road (2013 and 2017).

Regular season

• For the fifth time in six years, the Thorns finished the regular season as a top-two team in the NWSL.
• They lead the league in goals with 49, 15 ahead of the next-closest playoff team (San Diego with 34).
• They went on an 11-game undefeated streak from May 28 to Aug. 10.

She set the Thorns' single-season clean sheet record this year 💪

🎥 @JakeZivin chats with @bellageist about her regular-season and championship prep leading into Saturday.

— X - Portland Thorns FC (@ThornsFC) October 26, 2022

No. 5 Kansas City Current (10-6-6)

Playoff history

• The Current won back-to-back championships as FC Kansas City in 2014 and 2015, before relocating to Utah.
• They advanced to this year’s final after defeating 2022 NWSL Shield winners OL Reign 2-0 in their first semifinal as the Current franchise.
• Both of Kansas City’s winning goals in the 2022 playoffs were debut NWSL goals for the players (excluding the Challenge Cup), Kate Del Fava and rookie Alex Loera.

Regular season

• The Current have the most rookies in the league with over 500 minutes played, all four combining for a total of 3,759 minutes.
• Kansas City is undefeated in games in which midfielder Lo’eau Labonta has scored.
• After finishing at the bottom of the table last year and losing four of their first five games this season, Kansas City went on a 13-game unbeaten streak from May 30 to Sept. 11.

Job's not finished. #CurrentRising pic.twitter.com/vmrWLqyobN

— KC Current (@thekccurrent) October 26, 2022

Head-to-head matchup

The Thorns and Current are finishing their season the way they started it — against each other. In their first match on April 30, Portland won in a 3-0 shutout. When they met again in September, the sides drew 1-1, despite Thorns having even more possession (58 percent) and shots (29) than they did in the first matchup (55 percent, 19 shots).

No matter who wins on Saturday, the victorious team will hold the record for the most NWSL titles in league history with three (if Kansas City’s two titles as FC Kansas City count toward the overall tally). This is Kansas City’s second year as the Current, but their players’ rights transferred from the first Kansas City franchise to Utah in 2017, and then back to Kansas City in 2020.

The Current’s path to victory will likely have to go through Portland’s deep bench. If the Current have a hard time against the Thorns’ possession-dominating starting lineup, that’s not even the worst of it, with world-class stars Christine Sinclair and Crystal Dunn waiting in the wings.

The Thorns can’t afford to get comfortable. The Current will be looking for any opportunity to turn the tide in their favor, with Elyse Bennett, Kristen Hamilton, Cece Kizer and Lo’eau Labonta creating dangerous chances on the attack. Kansas City leads the league in penalties awarded, which shouldn’t go unnoticed considering a penalty kick in the fourth minute of their quarterfinal game contributed to a 2-1 win over the Houston Dash.

Players to watch

Sophia Smith, Portland

The 2022 NWSL MVP is the most dangerous player to defend on the Thorns. With the ability to dribble through multiple opponents on her own, Smith finished the regular season with 14 goals, just one fewer than Golden Boot winner Alex Morgan.

Crystal Dunn, Portland

After giving birth to her son five months ago, Dunn subbed into the midfield in the 62nd minute of Sunday’s semifinal and dominated the attacking third. After contributing to multiple scoring chances, Dunn volleyed home the game-winning goal in stoppage time.

AD Franch, Kansas City

The goalkeeper was the hero of the match for Kansas City in Sunday’s semifinal. Making several acrobatic saves to preserve the shutout, she’s now tied for the most shutouts in playoff history and holds the record for the most saves in the playoffs with 11.

Kristen Hamilton, Kansas City

With a goal on Sunday to solidify the Current’s 2-0 win over OL Reign, the forward increased her scoring tally to seven goals, the most on the team in regulation. She’s also contributed two assists and 19 key passes this season.

Prediction

Kansas City over Portland, 2-1. The Current make a comeback in the second half.

Jessa Braun is a contributing writer at Just Women’s Sports covering the NWSL and USWNT. Follow her on Twitter @jessabraun.

As the 2025/26 European club season shifts into full gear, a spike in ACL injuries is shedding new light on the increasingly dense women's soccer calendar.

Germany and Bayern Munich star Lena Oberdorf ruptured her right ACL during her club's Bundesliga match on Sunday, just weeks after the 23-year-old midfielder returned to play from rehabbing the same injury — in the same right knee.

"To now face a second such setback is incredibly hard," said Bayern Munich director of women's football Bianca Rech. "We are fully by Lena's side, will support her as best we can in her recovery and be there for her in every way."

Oberdorf is far from alone, with over 20 ACL injuries impacting multiple women's soccer leagues across the world in just the last three months.

Arsenal goalkeeper and Austrian international Manuela Zinsberger went down with an ACL tear during the Gunners' 2025/26 Champions League match last week, joining standouts like midfielder Sarah Zadrizil (Bayern Munich/Austria), striker Sophie Román Haug (Liverpool/Norway), forward Liana Joseph (OL Lyonnes/France), and midfielder Maite Oroz (Tottenham/Spain) on the injury's mounting hit list.

ACL injuries have long plagued the women's game, with FIFPRO recently developing the Project ACL research initiative to investigate and alleviate the issue.

The USWNT kicks off the first of their three October friendlies on Thursday night, facing Portugal as the team takes the pitch for the first time in nearly four months.

The matchup marks the first meeting between the two nations since the tense 0-0 group-stage finale at the 2023 World Cup that saw the USWNT narrowly advance to the knockouts.

"[Portugal] is a very good team," US midfielder Lindsey Heaps said earlier this week. "Many times that we've played them before, we get a tough game and a tough matchup."

The game also provides a glimpse of an evolving USWNT roster, bringing together NWSL standouts and European club stars ahead of next fall's World Cup qualifiers.

"That's the key right now — we need to finalize [the roster] in the next two years, and obviously leading up to qualification," continued Heaps. "That's an exciting process right now."

"It's just getting everyone together, everyone on the same page and know what the standards and levels are," she added. "What it takes to qualify for a World Cup."

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How to watch the USWNT vs. Portugal on Thursday

The world No. 2 USWNT will kick off a trio of friendlies with a match against No. 23 Portugal at 7 PM ET on Thursday.

The clash will air live across TNT, Peacock, and HBO Max.

The Toronto Tempo have apparently landed a head coach, with The IX Sports reporting Wednesday that the WNBA expansion side tapped ex-New York boss Sandy Brondello as their sideline leader for the team's 2026 season debut.

The Liberty parted ways with Brondello following New York's first-round exit in the playoffs last month — less than a year after the 20-year WNBA coaching veteran led the team to their first-ever championship.

Toronto expects to make the deal with Brondello official in the next few days, as soon as the parties finalize the terms of the contract.

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After her dismissal from the Liberty, Brondello reportedly fielded significant interest from several WNBA teams, opting to join the upstart squad as the Tempo continues to build out their front office.

Toronto brought on WNBA champion Monica Wright Rogers as GM in February 2025, later appointing longtime LA Sparks assistant GM Eli Horowitz as the new franchise's assistant GM and senior VP of basketball strategy.

With the Tempo now following fellow 2026 expansion side Portland in securing sideline leaders this month, the WNBA now has three vacancies remaining in its coaching carousel, with the Seattle Storm, Dallas Wings, and New York still searching for their next leaders.

Both the Toronto Tempo and the Portland Fire will now hope for clarity from the league's ongoing CBA negotiations in order to prep for an expected expansion draft and free agency period in early 2026.

Fresh off her rookie WNBA season, Seattle Storm star Dominique Malonga is causing a stir overseas, abruptly withdrawing from her offseason contract with Turkish club Fenerbahçe this week — and creating controversy in her wake.

Malonga initially signed a three-year deal with the two-time Euroleague champions in March before she "unilaterally terminated her professional player contract with our club without any just cause," according to a Fenerbahçe social media post on Monday.

"We inform the public that we will exercise all our legal rights to seek compensation for any material and moral damages incurred by our club during this process," the team continued.

While she didn't disclose a reason for leaving Istanbul, the 19-year-old did reveal that she recently required surgery to repair a dislocated tendon in her wrist, estimating that she'd be in a cast for six weeks.

The 2025 WNBA Draft overall No. 2 pick finished her debut WNBA season averaging 7.7 points and 4.6 rebounds per game, earning herself a spot on the stacked 2025 All-Rookie Team.

Should the contract dispute remain unresolved, Fenerbahçe could attempt to disrupt Malonga's second season in Seattle due to a longstanding "letter of clearance" rule requiring approval from both the WNBA and Europe's FIBA before athletes can move between leagues.

Front Office Sports reported on Tuesday that while the WNBA signed off on the 19-year-old's Turkish contract, Fenerbahçe could deny her ability to return to the US league "under the condition that she violated the terms of her contract."

"If the season tips off in May as it did in 2025, this would give Fenerbahçe and Malonga about six months to rectify any potential dispute and clear her for a WNBA return," warned FOS.