After a season of turmoil, the NWSL playoffs have finally arrived.

Taking the pitch in Sunday’s quarterfinal games are the Chicago Red Stars against NJ/NY Gotham and the North Carolina Courage against the Washington Spirit. The Portland Thorns and OL Reign have earned byes to the semifinals on Nov. 14.

That the NWSL season has been a long and challenging road to this point is an understatement. The regular season has been overshadowed by off-field issues including allegations of abusive coaches, staff firings, COVID-19 outbreaks and ownership concerns. In addition to training and competing, players across the NWSL have spent endless amounts of energy fighting for change within the league.

At some point, for the sake of players’ well-being, things must return to normalcy, enough for the athletes to enjoy the game of soccer again. The playoffs seem like a good place to start.

“There’s so much that’s been up in the air off the field, and it’s tough to put any more energy towards that now at this time of the year,” said Washington defender Sam Staab. “I think we’ve all just kind of taken a step back from there and just been like, ‘Let’s focus on us, let’s focus on us as players’ … We’ve had a pretty tough year, so we’re just going for it.”

On that note, bring on the quarterfinals.

The stage is set.

The first round of the @NWSL playoffs kick off this Sunday. pic.twitter.com/OyZDRXJC8A

— Just Women’s Sports (@justwsports) November 1, 2021

No. 4 Chicago Red Stars vs. No. 5 NJ/NY Gotham FC

First and foremost, Gotham coach Scott Parkinson is going to hit the restaurants when Gotham’s plane lands in Chicago. Priorities.

“I know all the food places around there, so that would be good to get some food,” Parkinson said when asked about returning to Chicago, where he was assistant coach for the Red Stars until Gotham hired him in August.

“I am obviously comfortable with that environment,” he said of the Red Stars. “I know the team. The Red Stars are always in the playoffs, so if you want to win this thing, you probably have to find a way of going through them or a team that already has.”

Chicago is making its sixth straight playoff appearance, coming off of an 11-8-5 record in the regular season, while Gotham has been ruler of the draws at 8-5-11. The teams’ three meetings this year resulted in two ties and a Gotham victory.

What makes this matchup intriguing is that both teams are on a serious roll. The Red Stars have lost only one game in their past nine matches, and Gotham went unbeaten in their last eight games. They also have two players each on the NWSL October Team of the Month: forward Midge Purce (NJ/NY), midfielder Morgan Gautrat (CHI), and defenders Caprice Dydasco (NJ/NY) and Sarah Gorden (CHI).

🌟 October's Own 🌟

Your October Team of the Month 👏

— National Women’s Soccer League (@NWSL) November 4, 2021

Gotham’s backline will be tested against Mallory Pugh and Kealia Watt, who are each in the NWSL’s top five for shots and shots on goal. They should present the biggest challenge to NJ/NY goalkeeper Kailen Sheridan, who is third in the league with 76 saves and was named to the Goalkeeper of the Year shortlist on Friday.

Then there’s Gotham forward Carli Lloyd, who could be playing in her final game as a professional, though she’s not looking at it that way.

“I think you’ve just seen in every NWSL game, anything happens,” Lloyd said. “So we’re going to have to go there, we’re going to play really well, and we’re going to have to fight to the end.”

The teams will kick off on Sunday at 3 p.m. ET on CBS Sports Network.

No. 3 Washington Spirit vs. No. 6 North Carolina Courage

Just last Sunday, the Courage were pulling for the Spirit in their game against the Houston Dash, knowing that a Spirit win would send them to the playoffs. Washington delivered, and now the teams will go head-to-head Sunday as opponents once more.

Unlike Gotham and the Red Stars, the Spirit and the Courage are coming into the quarterfinals on two very different pages.

Washington soared through the final months of the regular season. North Carolina … did not. Five of the Courage’s nine losses came in their last seven matches. They don’t have any players on NWSL’s October Team of the Month, while Washington has four: goalkeeper Aubrey Bledsoe, defender Sam Staab, and forwards Trinity Rodman and Ashley Hatch, who won the 2021 Golden Boot for the first time in her career with 10 goals.

With 10 goals in 20 games @ash_hatch33 was the @NWSL's top scorer for the 2021 regular season.

Read more: https://t.co/D80dQiBYj6 pic.twitter.com/ECx6FWFTNM

— Just Women’s Sports (@justwsports) November 2, 2021

Washington also has the upper hand from their regular-season matchups, having defeated the Courage twice and tied once. Their most recent meeting on Oct. 13 resulted in a 2-1 win for the Spirit.

“Performance-wise, everyone battled, everyone competed,” North Carolina defender Kaleigh Kurtz said of the game. “There were a lot of really good takeaways. The two goals were really unfortunate; a poor mis-clearance by me on the first one, and then Casey was screened on the second one, so that’s really unfortunate.”

Kurtz is part of a strong Courage backline. In fact, the whole team has been efficient on defense. Despite being the last-place playoff team, they conceded fewer goals during the regular season (23) than the Spirit (26), who are the top team playing this weekend.

But even defense might not be an advantage for North Carolina. The Spirit have been working on their team shape over the past couple of months, and by the sounds of it, they’ve made progress.

“We’ve all gotten on the same page now of how we’re going to press, how we’re going to defend, and if we get beat, what positioning we want to get back into,” said Staab.

Given the way the teams have been trending, Washington appears to be in a better position to advance to semifinals. But, like Lloyd said, anything can happen in the NWSL.

Find out Sunday at 5:30 p.m. ET on Twitch and Paramount+.

Jessa Braun is an editorial intern for Just Women’s Sports. She is also the Head of North American Content for the Women’s Sports Alliance. You can find her on Twitter @jessabraun.

USWNT stalwart Alex Morgan will miss at least one week of NWSL action after suffering a left ankle knock in her last club appearance, Wave manager Casey Stoney said on Thursday.

Morgan was helped off the field after rolling her ankle in the later stages of the Wave’s 1-0 loss to the Orlando Pride last weekend, despite the San Diego side being out of available substitutes.

“She's got an ankle injury and she's out for this weekend, and then it'll be week by week from there,” Stoney said, confirming that Morgan’s been ruled out for Saturday’s showdown with NWSL newcomer Bay FC.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Just Women’s Sports (@justwomenssports)

Depending on its severity, Morgan’s ankle issue might have larger ramifications than missing a few weeks of NSWL play. Morgan was added to the team's Gold Cup roster after an ACL injury sidelined young striker Mia Fishel, and she's since made a number of USWNT starts in the team's Gold Cup and SheBelieves wins. A long-term injury could potentially derail the center forward’s Olympic plans.

With her return timeline uncertain, it's possible the injury could also impact Morgan's ability to participate in new head coach Emma Hayes' first U.S. friendlies in June and July.

Morgan's injury concerns aren't uncommon in the U.S. player pool, but add a sense of urgency as Hayes eyes the NWSL for top-performing players in the upcoming weeks. Gotham's Tierna Davidson and Rose Lavelle have also been dealing with injuries: Lavelle has yet to appear for Gotham, while Davidson exited last weekend's match early with a hamstring injury.

Gotham has yet to issue an update concerning Davidson's status.

This week, legendary Brazilian superstar Marta announced that she’ll retire from the national team at the end of 2024.

In an interview with CNN Esportes published Thursday, the iconic footballer confirmed that she would be hanging up her boots regardless of whether or not she ends up making Brazil's 18-player roster for the 2024 Paris Olympics. 

“If I go to the Olympics, I will enjoy every moment, because regardless of whether I go to the Olympics or not, this is my last year with the national team,” she said. “There is no longer Marta in the national team as an athlete from 2025 onwards.”

Marta will retire as a giant of the women's game, having appeared in five Olympics and multiple World Cups. When discussing her retirement, she stressed confidence in the rising generation of Brazilian players, noting that she was, “very calm about this, because I see with great optimism this development that we are having in relation to young athletes." 

The statement echoes back to a plea she made during the 2019 FIFA Women’s World Cup after Brazil lost to France 2-1 in the Round of 16. “It's wanting more. It's training more. It's taking care of yourself more. It's being ready to play 90 plus 30 minutes. This is what I ask of the girls,” she said then, addressing the young players following in her footsteps. 

In 2023, she signaled a farewell to World Cup competition with the same sentiment, telling media, “We ask the new generation to continue where we left off.”

If selected for the 2024 Olympic team, Marta has a shot at extending her own consecutive-scoring record with the ability to score in an unbelievable sixth-straight Olympic Games. She currently stands as Brazil’s top goalscorer, racking up 116 career goals in 175 matches, as well as the leading goalscorer in any World Cup, women’s or men’s, with 17 to her name. 

Marta will continue to play for the NWSL’s Orlando Pride through at least the end of 2024. The longtime forward and club captain has already contributed to multiple goals this season.

U.S. Soccer announced Tuesday that the USWNT will play their last home game on July 16th in the lead-up to the 2024 Summer Olympic Games in Paris.

The 2024 Send-Off Match against Costa Rica will take place at Washington, DC’s Audi Field — home to both the Washington Spirit and DC United — at 7:30 p.m. ET on Tuesday, July 16th. The friendly rounds out a four-game Olympic run-up campaign under incoming head coach Emma Hayes’ side, with the last two set to feature the finalized 2024 U.S. Olympic Women’s Soccer Team roster.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Just Women’s Sports (@justwomenssports)

Hayes will appear on the USWNT sideline for the first time this June, helming the team as they embark on a two-game series against Korea Republic hosted by Dick’s Sporting Goods Park in Commerce City, Colorado on June 1st followed by Allianz Stadium in St. Paul, Minnesota on June 4th. 

The team is then scheduled to meet a talented Mexico squad on July 13th at Gotham FC’s Red Bull Arena in Harrison, New Jersey, where the Olympic-bound lineup will attempt to rewrite February’s shocking 2-0 loss to El Tri Femenil in the group stages of this year’s Concacaf W Gold Cup. And while clear roster favorites have emerged from both of this year’s Gold Cup and SheBelives Cup rosters, a spate of recent and recurring injuries means making it to the Olympics is still largely anyone’s game.

Broadcast and streaming channels for the USWNT's final July 16th friendly at Audi Field include TNT, truTV, Universo, Max, and Peacock.

The USA Basketball Women's National Team is still considering Caitlin Clark for a spot on the Paris Olympics squad, says selection committee chair Jennifer Rizzotti. 

On Monday, Rizzotti told the AP that the committee will be evaluating the college phenom’s Olympic prospects by keeping a close eye on her first few weeks of WNBA play with Indiana.

The move is somewhat unconventional. While Clark was invited to participate in the 14-player national team training camp held earlier this month — the last camp before Team USA’s roster drops — she was unable to attend due to it coinciding with Iowa’s trip to the NCAA Women’s Final Four.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Just Women’s Sports (@justwomenssports)

Judging by the immense talent spread throughout the league in what might be their most hyped season to date, competition for a piece of the Olympic pie could be fiercer than ever before.

"You always want to introduce new players into the pool whether it's for now or the future," said Rizzotti. "We stick to our principles of talent, obviously, positional fit, loyalty and experience. It's got to be a combination of an entire body of work. It's still not going to be fair to some people."

Of course, Clark isn’t the first rookie the committee has made exceptions for. Coming off an exceptional college season that saw her averaging 19.4 points, 8.7 rebounds, and 4 assists per game for UConn, Breanna Stewart was tapped to represent the U.S. at the 2016 Olympics in Brazil less than two weeks after being drafted No. 1 overall by the Seattle Storm. Eight years prior, fellow No. 1 pick Candace Parker punched her ticket to the 2008 Games in Beijing just two weeks after making her first appearance for the L.A. Sparks.

In the lead-up to Paris’ Opening Ceremony on July 26th, USA Basketball Women’s National Team is scheduled to play a pair of exhibition games. They'll first go up against the WNBA's finest at the July 20th WNBA All-Star Game in Phoenix before facing Germany in London on July 23rd.

While an official roster announcement date hasn’t yet been issued, players won’t find out if they’ve made this year’s Olympic cut until at least June 1st.