The 2022 NWSL Challenge Cup group stage concluded on Sunday, sending four teams to the semifinals next Wednesday. Now that each team has played six matches, it’s time to look at where teams stand as the regular season kicks off with a matchup between Angel City FC and the North Carolina Courage on Friday night.

While the Challenge Cup was an opportunity for early evaluation, teams’ performances don’t necessarily reflect the full picture. Some coaches used the preseason tournament to experiment with different formations and attacking styles. Others focused on helping rookies adjust to the speed of the professional environment. The teams that turned over much of their roster in the offseason need time to build chemistry. During the regular season, however, the only motive is to win.

After the chaos of the Challenge Cup, here is where every team stands in the Just Women’s Sports NWSL preseason power rankings.

1. OL Reign

They’re good on paper, and they’re even better on the pitch. With the most wins of any team in the tournament, the second-most goals and the fewest goals conceded, the Reign are roaring. They’re one of a few teams with no weak link in their lineup, boasting strong depth along their backline and a Bethany Balcer-led attack that’s thriving even without 10-year veteran Megan Rapinoe and Tziarra King. Adding to the dominance are three of the best center midfielders in the world — Jess Fishlock, Quinn and Rose Lavelle — who are responsible for the Reign’s creative combination plays into the attacking third.

Playing in the West Division, the Reign have arguably had an easier run to the Challenge Cup semifinal because of the 2022 expansion teams, but beating longtime NWSL conqueror Portland in their second meeting says a lot about this team’s standing.

2. North Carolina Courage

The Courage going undefeated in the group stage of the Challenge Cup was perhaps the biggest surprise of the tournament. Finishing in sixth place last season before losing a herd of stars (including Lynn Williams, Sam Mewis and Amy Rodriguez) and signing six rookies from December’s draft, North Carolina appeared to be heading for a slight rebuild. They shut that theory down pretty quickly, racking up three wins and three ties in the tournament.

While Abby Erceg continues to be one of the strongest defenders in the NWSL, Kerolin Nicoli has been a game-changing addition up front, consistently creating dangerous chances with her 1v1 play. With veterans Meredith Speck and Denise O’Sullivan holding the team to a high standard, the Courage appear poised to extend the club’s long history of success in the league.

3. Washington Spirit

The Spirit ended the Challenge Cup with the fewest amount of wins of the three undefeated teams, but with the longest unbeaten streak. Outside of two forfeits in September due to COVID-19 protocols, the 2021 NWSL champions haven’t lost since Aug. 7. They’re still working on coming out of the gate with more intensity, but once their front trio of Ashley Hatch, Trinity Rodman and Ashley Sanchez get in a groove, they are very difficult for teams to stop. In their group stage finale Saturday, the Spirit displayed some impressive team defense to salvage a draw with the Courage while playing without starters Andi Sullivan and Sam Staab.

Trin is a menace 🔥 @trinity_rodman pic.twitter.com/uAiPwhzIFR

— Washington Spirit (@WashSpirit) April 18, 2022

4. Kansas City Current

The Central Division was perhaps the most competitive and unpredictable, with two clubs — the Houston Dash and Racing Louisville FC — tying at six points apiece. Kansas City was the outlier, earning 13 points to pull ahead of the second-place Red Stars by five, thanks in large part to the team’s depth. The Current were projected to improve this year after acquiring U.S. national team players Sam Mewis and Lynn Williams from North Carolina, but both were out of the Challenge Cup due to injury. Kansas City proceeded to dominate anyway behind the frontline duo of veteran Kristen Hamilton and rookie Elyse Bennett.

5. Portland Thorns

For the second time in just a few months, Portland has failed to advance in an NWSL competition because of an underdog. In November, the No. 4 Chicago Red Stars upset the Thorns in the NWSL semifinals. On Sunday, last-place Angel City blanked them 1-0 for their first win as a franchise. Granted, the Thorns were missing their head coach and five players in that game due to COVID-19 protocol. That match aside, Portland had a solid showing across the tournament with a handful of players stepping up in the absence of stars.

6. NJ/NY Gotham FC

Next to the Courage, Gotham FC was the second-biggest surprise of the Challenge Cup, and for the opposite reason. After adding Olympic bronze medalist Kristie Mewis and World Cup champions Ali Krieger and Ashlyn Harris, the 2021 Challenge Cup finalists appeared primed for success. But, despite being the oldest team in the NWSL by average age, they haven’t built chemistry as quickly as some might have thought for an experienced team. They also were tested early, competing in one of the toughest divisions with North Carolina and Washington.

7. Chicago Red Stars

The Red Stars have recently been without many key players due to injuries and trades, and unable to live up to the standard they set in the fall when they reached the NWSL championship game. They did, however, maintain a decent 2-2-2 record in the Challenge Cup. Defender Bianca St. Georges has become an important player on the backline, building on her breakout 2020 Challenge Cup before a quiet 2021. Mallory Pugh, before she suffered a concussion, was essential to the Red Stars remaining in the top half of the Central Division, netting four goals to place her among the top goal-scorers of the tournament.

Game on in KC 😱@biancastgeorges | @chicagoredstars pic.twitter.com/xAFnZRVcTV

— National Women’s Soccer League (@NWSL) April 24, 2022

8. Racing Louisville FC

Racing Louisville’s only two losses in the Challenge Cup unusually came against the Houston Dash, the last-place tema in the Central Division. Louisville has a group of hard-working subs who were able to turn around the team’s energy on several occasions, most notably in their 2-1 loss to Houston on Sunday despite the final score. As Louisville’s new players become more acquainted with the team, and the defense cleans up its technical errors, the team has what it takes to be a strong contender in the league this season.

9. San Diego Wave FC

The Wave, perhaps surprisingly, have come out as the stronger of the two 2022 expansion teams. The club has a bright future thanks to its promising rookie class, including center back Naomi Girma, game-changing substitute Amirah Ali and forward Kelsey Turbow, who has been key to the Wave controlling the center of the park. Sofia Jakobsson, a Swedish national team player competing in the NWSL for the first time in her career, has brought a fire to San Diego’s attack. With a number of individual talents, the Wave need more time to gel, but their competitive start bodes well for the regular season.

10. Houston Dash

The Dash finished the tournament as the only team with no draws. The inconsistency of their results — two wins and three losses — makes more sense when considering they used the Challenge Cup to experiment with new systems. In their most recent win over Racing Louisville, the Dash played three attacking midfielders, allowing them to press and capitalize on small mistakes in Louisville’s defensive third. María Sánchez had a standout tournament, solidifying her spot on the attack as the Dash adjust to losing midfielder Kristie Mewis to Gotham. They’ll have more adjusting to do at the start of the regular season after head coach James Clarkson was suspended based on initial findings in the NWSL and NWSLPA’s joint investigation into workplace conduct.

11. Angel City FC

Angel City is beginning to find their stride, especially after outplaying the Thorns in their first-ever win on Sunday. They scored in every game except one, a 3-0 loss to Portland, despite having 56.1 percent of the possession in that game. Overall, the Challenge Cup was a bit of a learning curve for Angel City as the club faced two of the strongest teams in the league, the Reign and the Thorns, two times each. A quickly developing team, ACFC has the potential to climb in the standings during the regular season.

Forward @ChristenPress talks about @weareangelcity first game of the season at @BancStadium this Friday #angelcity #angelcityfc #christenpress #nwsl pic.twitter.com/LRxeayK5Fv

— Eduard Cauich (@ecauich) April 27, 2022

12. Orlando Pride

The Pride are in for a ride this season, with nearly half the roster new to the club and head coach Amanda Cromwell embarking on her first professional season at the helm. They were tested through the second half of the Challenge Cup after Marta, their star attacker, was ruled out with a season-ending injury. The tournament, as a result, gave them a chance to adjust the lineup before jumping into regular season. Even with Marta on the pitch, it could take a couple of years for Orlando to contend for trophies.

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

As the world of women’s soccer approaches 2026, the last year may well be remembered for its dynasties.

Chelsea won a sixth straight WSL title, Euros champion England and Copa winner Brazil retained their continental crowns, and Gotham FC lifted a second NWSL trophy in three years.

The winds of change also began to blow in new directions, with Arsenal upsetting Barcelona to win the Champions League final, top NWSL talent departing the US for opportunities overseas, and Kansas City reminding everyone what happens when regular-season dominance meets playoff vulnerability.

Through it all the game continued to grow, with increasingly interesting results on both sides of the pond, as the ramp-up to the 2027 World Cup and a new slate of regional competitions coincide with an ever-shifting economic landscape

So instead of looking back, we’re keeping the spirit of progress alive by presenting five bold predictions for women’s soccer in 2026.

Sophia Wilson’s return: A top contender for 2026 NWSL MVP

News of USWNT Sophia Wilson’s impending return to the Portland Thorns gave NWSL fans a boost earlier this month, with the Triple Espresso forward signing a single-year extension with her original club team.

Expect Wilson to hit the ground running as she comes back from pregnancy. The 2022 NWSL MVP has been very consistent throughout her career, and she’ll be joined by other returning Thorns attackers to bolster her opportunities in front of goal.

Fellow extended Portland star Olivia Moultrie will be paramount to the 25-year-old’s MVP campaign, especially as Wilson looks to challenge two-time reigning MVP Temwa Chawinga.

Don’t bet against Wilson showing shades of Alex Morgan’s 2023 Golden Boot run. That's when the USWNT legend blew past expectations for what new mothers could achieve in their first season back on the pitch.

No repeat champs: Why the women's soccer guards are changing in 2026

Reigning WSL winner Chelsea’s repeat bid is already shaky, with Everton snapping their 34-game unbeaten streak earlier this month. And they’re preparing to enter the new year six points behind Manchester City in the league table.

Blues manager Sonia Bompastor has seemed to prefer a static roster rotation. Of course, she’s charged with managing players from two eras: ex-coach Emma Hayes’s success and the team’s modern iteration. If there was a time for a changing of the WSL guard, 2026 is the year.

Stateside, 2025 NWSL Shield winners Kansas City continue to navigate offseason changes. The Current will start 2026 under brand new leadership, after former head coach Vlatko Andonovski announced he’ll move to a Sporting Director role.

ESPN recently reported Kansas City’s plan to hire former MLS head coach Chris Armas in 2026. But without a formal announcement and the offseason clock ticking, the Current might run out of runway to set up a repeat bid.

2025 NWSL champion Gotham has both FIFA and Concacaf Champions Cup commitments this year, complicating their quest as they maneuver a jam-packed season. The club landed one major re-signing in Midge Purce, but forward Ella Stevens departed for expansion side Boston. Thus, the team is left relying on a title-winning core with an average age over 28.

Arsenal hasn’t looked too terribly far off their Champions League game yet. But the subsequent resurgence of Barcelona and OL Lyonnes could see the WSL on the outside looking in once the tournament reaches May's final.

Despite having a few worthy clubs — including strong newcomers Manchester United — the UK league’s chances of claiming another UWCL title appear overshadowed by mainland Europe’s renewed dominance.

Emma Hayes's USWNT: Expect major roster overhauls in 2026

USWNT coach Emma Hayes embraced change in 2025, giving 43 players their first national team cap this year — the most since 2001.

Though the approach came with some speed bumps. The US matching the single-year total loss record with three dropped matches.

Considering Hayes’s approach, it seems that the future of the USWNT has arrived much sooner than expected. And looking back, those losses actually made an emphatic argument for more lineup overhauls — not less.

The team’s November loss to Portugal showcased a veteran midfield trio in Rose Lavelle, Lindsey Heaps, and Sam Coffey. The lineup exposed the old guard’s weaknesses as the team looks to hold ground among the world’s elite.

Remember — Hayes made the call to leave Alex Morgan off the gold medal-winning 2024 Olympic roster. In doing so, she laid the groundwork for even bigger calls as the US gears up for a tough World Cup qualifying run in 2026.

The global talent war: NWSL salary cap faces European threats

The NWSL closes 2025 with flashy off-field headlines and waning on-field enthusiasm, as it attempts to grapple with a rash of overseas departures.

They’ve even gone so far as to institute a new “High Impact Player” rule allowing teams to exceed the salary cap for top talent. The move comes after rejecting the Washington Spirit’s blockbuster play for superstar striker Trinity Rodman.

Viewed as a half-measure to circumvent larger salary cap issues, the NWSL Players Association has come out against the newly approved mechanism.

The union is advocating for the league to raise the base salary cap across the board. This will help clubs keep up in an increasingly competitive global market without destroying parity.

Whether or not the two parties will reach a compromise remains to be seen. Meantime, it leaves NWSL fans to hope for a solution as wealthy European clubs continue to draw top free agents away from the US league.

Of course, money isn’t everything. Raising the salary cap won’t guarantee NWSL favorites remain Stateside, as another league’s pull features more than just a pay bump. Thoughugh should the NWSL figure things out in time, US clubs might bring in a few big names themselves.

Regardless, expect more players to test their abilities in new environments when the transfer window opens back up in January. And it's especially pressing considering the looming World Cup and its national team implications.

The 2026 Men’s World Cup will transform women’s soccer

International soccer’s largest event lands in the US next year, as the 2026 Men’s World Cup promises to reshape football fandom in this country and beyond.

The NWSL remains bullish on the tournament’s ability to convert soccer fans across gender lines. Though the competition itself is subsequently bound to have a serious and immediate impact on the women’s game.

The NWSL plans to pause for the duration of next summer’s World Cup. This is in part due to infrastructural strains, as the tournament takes over venues shared between men’s and women’s club teams. The USWNT’s World Cup qualifying campaign will also hit the breaks, rendering the team’s summer international windows largely meaningless.

And with Concacaf qualifiers kicking off immediately after the 2026 NWSL Championship, top players will have to balance commitments at the end of a long year.

No matter how the 2026 World Cup ends up influencing US soccer culture, it will inevitably present some challenges as the domestic women’s game pushes to be more than an afterthought alongside the sport’s biggest stage.

No. 3 South Carolina basketball suffered a blow this week, as top transfer Ta'Niya Latson exited the Gamecocks' 96-55 win over Providence with a lower leg injury on Sunday.

"She's smiling," South Carolina head coach Dawn Staley said of Latson immediately following the game, offering an optimistic injury update. "She got treatment all through the second half."

The star senior guard, who turned 22 years old last Friday, joined South Carolina after leading Division I in scoring with Florida State last season.

This year, Latson's 16.9 points per game trails only sophomore forward Joyce Edwards's 21.4-point average on the Gamecocks' scoresheet.

While the full extent to Latson's injury and her potential time off the court is still unknown, any absence exacerbates the team's injury woes, as South Carolina lost standout forward Chloe Kitts to a season-ending injury before the 2025/26 campaign tipped off — with the Gamecocks battling additional availability limits throughout their roster all month.

That said, with the recent returns of forward Madina Okot and guard Agot Makeer from concussion protocol, the Gamecock bench is significantly less sparse, with both returnees impacting Sunday's South Carolina victory with a double-double.

Even more, Staley's squad will see additional roster relief when 18-year-old French center Alicia Tournebize joins the team midseason.

How to watch South Carolina basketball this week

The No. 3 Gamecocks will open the new year by tipping off their SEC slate on Thursday, when South Carolina hosts unranked Alabama at 2 PM ET.

The clash with the Crimson Tide will air live on SEC+.

The world's tennis stars are preparing to open 2026 play in Australia this weekend, with top WTA and ATP leaders on Team USA gearing up to defend their United Cup title starting this Friday.

The two-time champion US enters as the No. 1 seed in the fourth edition of the hard-court tournament, bolstered by the return of world No. 3 Coco Gauff to lead Team USA's six-player United Cup contingent.

With each tournament bout consisting of one WTA singles match, one ATP singles clash, and one mixed-doubles competition, Gauff notably claimed a straight-sets victory over Polish phenom No. 2 Iga Świątek to secure the 2025 title for the US.

"I'm super excited," the 21-year-old star said prior to this year's United Cup. "I had such a good time in my first year playing with the team, and I'm looking forward to going back."

With the 2026 Australian Open beginning in less than two weeks, the United Cup pits 18 national teams against each other as players from both the women's and men's tours tune up for next year's Slams.

Fellow WTA Top-10 stars Świątek and Italy's No. 8 Jasmine Paolini will join Gauff on the 2026 United Cup court, while fan favorite No. 16 Naomi Osaka will feature for tournament debutant Japan.

Also battling for national pride will be two winners of last season's WTA awards, with 2025 Newcomer of the Year No. 18 Vicky Mboko joining Team Canada and 2025 Comeback Player of the Year No. 11 Belinda Bencic competing for Switzerland.

How to watch the 2026 United Cup

The 2026 United Cup runs January 2nd through 11th, with live coverage airing on the Tennis Channel.

The No. 3 Minnesota Frost are looking to skate up the PWHL table, as the reigning back-to-back champs hope to make up ground before the third-year league breaks for the 2026 Winter Olympics.

Eight games into the 2025/26 season, the Boston Fleet top the PWHL standings with 19 points, trailed by the No. 2 Toronto Sceptres with 14, while the No. 4 Montréal Victoire sit one point behind the Frost with 11.

"Our league is good. Every game is going to be close," Minnesota head coach Ken Klee said last week. "It's just about getting better and keep accumulating points."

With the league's original six teams largely off to a hot start, there's only a few weeks left before players hang up their PWHL jerseys for February's Winter Games.

Teams outside the current playoff chase are also making a statement, as New York Sirens forward Casey O'Brien scored her first pro goals to power the sixth-place squad past the No. 5 Seattle Torrent 4-3 on Sunday — becoming the first rookie to record a hat trick in PWHL history in the process.

"We've been putting in a lot of work in practice and video, focusing on the little things," O'Brien said postgame. "Tonight felt like the payoff."

How to watch this week's PWHL action

The puck drops on the final 2025 PWHL matches on Tuesday, when the No. 3 Minnesota Frost visit the No. 2 Toronto Sceptres at 7 PM ET, airing live on Prime.

Closing out the year on Wednesday, the No. 6 New York Sirens will host the No. 7 Vancouver Goldeneyes at 1 PM ET, with live coverage airing on MSG Network.