One of the top free agents in the NWSL has a destination: Debinha is headed to Kansas City.

The NWSL MVP finalist spent her first six seasons in the league with the North Carolina Courage, and she entered the offseason as one of the most sought-after free agents. The Current have signed her to a multi-year deal through the 2024 season, with an option for a third year.

More world-class talent in Kansas City 🇧🇷

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— KC Current (@thekccurrent) January 9, 2023

“As a professional athlete, I always want to get better and to be on a competitive team that fights for titles, with excellent professionals,” Debinha said in a statement. “I’m sure it will help me in that goal and Kansas City showed that last season.”

The Brazilian national team member also noted that Kansas City’s plans, which include a new stadium and training facilities, “left me really motivated.”

“All of this made me want to be part of it and made me think about being here today,” she continued. “I’m happy for this new journey that is just beginning.”

Debinha joined the NWSL in 2017 as a member of the Courage. She helped the team to three straight NWSL championship appearances, as well as two titles and three consecutive NWSL Shields.

In 2019, she was named NWSL Championship MVP after scoring the game’s opening goal.

The 31-year-old midfielder has been named Challenge Cup MVP twice, including in 2022, and owns the record for most goals all-time in the tournament with nine.

She finished the regular season last year with a career-high 12 goals through 18 matches. That total ranked third in the league behind Golden Boot winner Alex Morgan (15 goals) and NWSL MVP Sophia Smith (14 goals). Debinha also had four assists, which also put her among the best in the league.

“We are thrilled to welcome Debinha to Kansas City,” Current co-owners Angie and Chris Long said. “Debinha is one of the most talented, accomplished, and well-known players in the world. Her name is synonymous with excellence. We can’t wait for Kansas City to have the special opportunity to watch Debinha play and cheer her on.”

One of the biggest free agents of the offseason, Kansas City knows what it’s getting in Debinha.

“Obviously, she was sought after by I think just about everyone,” Current general manager Camille Levin Ashton told The Athletic. “There was a lot of competition for her. What makes this really special for us, and a big statement for us, is that she had all those options and chose to come here to Kansas City and be a part of what we’re building.

“We continue to build on the success that we had last year, obviously falling short, and she’s a winner. She wants to bring championships to Kansas City.”

But the signing is also huge for the league as a whole, as reports also had linked Debinha to Arsenal, as well as Barcelona, PSG and Manchester United, according to Rob Pratley and ATA Football.

As other players have made moves to clubs offering more money, it’s becoming increasingly clear that NWSL clubs will have to start forking over more cash in order to keep players.

“Our value of her, and what we honestly believe the global soccer community values her, as she is one of the best players in this league and in the world — we think that the salary we provided her reflects that,” Levin Ashton said.

One other NWSL club made a serious offer to Debinha, The Athletic’s Steph Yang reported: the Orlando Pride. The offer “would have made Debinha one of, if not the highest-paid player in the league,” Yang reported last week.

The same source that gave details of the Pride’s offer indicated that Debinha was more interested in Europe, including the boost that the Champions League could provide to her player profile. But, according to Levin Ashton, that potential move never came up in talks with Kansas City.

“I think everyone understands the value (of Champions League) and that players do want to play in Champions League,” Levin Ashton said. “At the end of the day, when we look at the NWSL as a whole, this league is the most competitive league in the world. It has been, and that hasn’t changed. Players that want to be the best and want to continue to get better and prove themselves, being in the NWSL, you have to prove yourself week after week, game after game.”

Debinha’s agent, Benito Pedace of SOW Sports, told The Athletic that the decision to remain in the NWSL came alongside what the midfielder views as new challenges alongside “great structure.”

“Not everyone entered the final stretch of decision-making,” Padace told The Athletic, “and she ended up choosing to stay in the league, knowing that she will have new challenges, will have a great structure for her to continue evolving and doing what she loves most, which is playing football at a high level in a league she knows and knows that every season the teams get more and more competitive.”

The Current will aim to make another run to the championship game in the 2023 season, though they’ve lost the element of surprise. A number of blockbuster signings have bolstered the team’s lineup, including Morgan Gautrat and Vanessa DiBernardo via free agency. They’ve also re-signed defenders Alex Loera, Hailie Mace and Kate Del Fava.

Tuesday night's WNBA return was mostly chalk, but the No. 12 Dallas Wings gave fans something to cheer for as they upset the No. 4 Seattle Storm in style.

Though veteran guard Arike Ogunbowale led Dallas with 20 points in the 87-63 victory, the 14 points posted by Paige Bueckers pushed the Wings rookie into the WNBA history books, tying Indiana Fever star Caitlin Clark as the league's fastest-ever players to reach 300 points and 100 assists.

"She's a true leader — she always has everybody's best interest at heart," Ogunbowale said of her first-year teammate.

Aces climb the WNBA standings

While Dallas pleased the crowds, the Las Vegas Aces were powering the night's biggest WNBA standings shift, shooting up two spots to No. 6 by downing No. 5 Atlanta 87-72.

Aces forward A'ja Wilson led her squad with 24 points, 12 rebounds, and five assists, while guard Dana Evans added 14 points off the bench.

"We're slowly creeping into the right place," Wilson said after the win. "Our chemistry is starting to form in a better way."

Atlanta, however, is slipping in the opposite direction, falling to 13-10 on the season after dropping six of their last nine games.

How to watch the WNBA on Wednesday

The Dream will look to right the ship against the No. 3 Phoenix Mercury at 10 PM ET on Wednesday.

The clash will air live on CBS Sports.

The defending Euro champs have done it again, as No. 5 England advanced to the UEFA Women's Euro 2025 Final with a 2-1 extra-time semifinals victory over No. 13 Italy — pulling off yet another knockout-stage comeback win.

"We're going to make a movie someday," manager Sarina Wiegman told BBC Radio 5 after the Lionesses' unlikely turnaround. "Well, this is a movie. My goodness, it's unbelievable."

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The Italian underdogs had the upset dialed in for most of the match, as veteran midfielder Barbara Bonansea put the Azzurre ahead 1-0 in the 33rd minute while the team locked into a sturdy defense that carried them through the end of regulation time.

However, 19-year-old England Euro super-sub Michelle Agyemang played hero in final minutes of stoppage time, scoring her second late equalizer in as many games to force the match into extra time.

As extra time drew to a close, England were awarded a controversially soft penalty, and though Italian goalkeeper Laura Giuliani originally denied the shot, second-half sub Chloe Kelly buried the rebound to give the Lionesses their 2-1 game-winning scoreline.

"Four years ago, I was just a kid throwing balls to some of these girls, now I'm playing with them," said senior team newcomer and breakout star Agyemang, who served as a ball girl during the 2022 Euro Final at London's Wembley Stadium.

How to watch the second match of the 2025 Euro semifinals

Eight-time European title-winners No. 3 Germany will close out the 2025 semifinals against 2023 World Cup champions No. 2 Spain at 3 PM ET on Wednesday.

The clash will air live on FOX.

The newest NWSL team officially has a name, with the Colorado addition announcing Tuesday that they've landed on Denver Summit FC ahead of the franchise's 2026 debut season.

"Denver Summit FC" earned top billing in the team's "Name the Club" community outreach campaign, which generated over 15,000 fan votes.

"It was vital for us to name our club in collaboration with our community," president Jen Millet said in the club's Tuesday statement. "Our crest, colors, and brand are representative of Denver and all of Colorado. It embraces our aspirational goals and pioneering spirit to build the best soccer club in the world."

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Along with a sunset the same hue as Colorado's famed red rocks, the Denver Summit crest also features a green and white mountain, reflecting the city's geographic surroundings.

"Our goal is to build a club that is always pursuing excellence on and off the field," said controlling owner Rob Cohen. "Much like the picturesque Rocky Mountains, our charge is to stand apart while always reaching for new heights."

Awarded a new NWSL team in January 2025, Denver is navigating a shorter runway than fellow 2026 expansion side Boston Legacy FC, though the club is already breaking sales records and has plans for a dedicated training facility and stadium in the works.

Denver has also been busy on the soccer operations side, with ex-Manchester City manager Nick Cushing reportedly close to becoming the club's inaugural head coach.

The success of the 2025 WNBA All-Star festivities extended beyond the court, as ESPN announced strong viewership across both nights of the midseason weekend's programming on Tuesday.

First on Friday, the 2025 All-Star 3-Point Contest and Skills Challenge claimed a viewership average of 1.3 million fans — an 89% increase over the 2024 edition.

Even more, Friday's viewership made it the most-watched All-Star contests in the events' history.

The competitions also ranked first in primetime viewership across several key demographics, winning the day for women aged 18 to 34, all adults aged 18 to 34, as well as all viewers under 35 years old.

Then on Saturday, the 2025 WNBA All-Star Game claimed an average of 2.2 million viewers, a slight dip from last year's 3.44 million with superstar and team captain Caitlin Clark stuck on the sidelines with a groin injury.

Trailing only that 2024 matchup, Saturday's matchup did become the second-most watched WNBA All-Star Game on record.

Additionally, it earned a significant 158% audience bump over the 2023 edition — the season prior to Clark's rookie campaign.

The 2025 WNBA All-Star competitions are reflective of the league's overall rise in viewership, coming less than one week after the first-ever pro clash between Indiana Fever sophomore Clark and Dallas Wings rookie Paige Bueckers became a Top-4 all-time most-watched matchup.

On the heels of impressive viewership during the league's first-ever fully broadcast preseason, the 2025 campaign has put up steady increases over last year, with ESPN reporting last week that WNBA numbers across all the broadcast giant's platforms are up 7% over 2024.