It's a busy week for some top NWSL teams, as the second edition of the Concacaf W Champions Cup kicks off its 2025/26 group-stage matches on Tuesday night.

Designed to mirror Europe's UEFA Champions League, the Concacaf Champions Cup pits the top clubs from North American leagues in a tournament to determine the continental champion.

This year, a trio of NWSL standouts made the 10-club cut, with last season's top three teams — the Orlando Pride, Washington Spirit, and Gotham FC — in the running for the 2025/26 Concacaf trophy.

Each team will play four group-stage matches over the next two months to determine the four semifinalists who will battle for the trophy in May 2026.

The Champions Cup winners will automatically qualify for the 2026/27 edition of the tournament as well as earn a spot in both the 2027 FIFA Women's Champions Cup and the inaugural FIFA Women's Club World Cup in 2028.

How to watch the NWSL in the Concacaf W Champions Cup

Kicking off this season's Concacaf competition are the 2025 NWSL Challenge Cup champs and 2024 league runners-up Washington Spirit, who will travel south to take on El Salvador's Alianza at 8 PM ET on Tuesday night.

Then on Wednesday, 2024/25 Champions Cup winners Gotham FC will open their title defense by hosting Liga MX Femenil side CF Monterrey at 7 PM ET.

As for reigning NWSL champion Orlando, the Pride will begin their Champions Cup campaign at home next month, facing Costa Rican side Alajuelense at 7 PM ET on September 2nd.

All 2025/26 Concacaf Champions Cup matches will air live on Paramount+.

No. 3 New York will have one last shot at redemption against the No. 1 Minnesota Lynx on Tuesday, as the reigning champion Liberty look to upend the team they defeated in the 2024 WNBA Finals when the pair meet for the fourth and final time in 2025 regular-season play.

Even without injured leading scorer Napheesa Collier, Minnesota sits 3-0 against their rivals this season, following a truncated scheduling quirk that saw the Lynx and Liberty battle four times in less than three weeks.

"I'm super proud of us," Lynx head coach Cheryl Reeve said before Tuesday's matchup. "I'm super proud of those that have Phee's back. That makes Phee feel better."

Collier is currently listed as doubtful for Tuesday's powerhouse matchup, with Minnesota vying for top postseason seeding as New York looks to defeat the Lynx in Round 4 — and inch back toward their recently relinquished No. 2 spot on the WNBA table in the process.

New York will hope a few more whistles go their way as they hunt their season's first victory over Minnesota, unlike their Saturday clash in which the Lynx drew 33 free throws en route to an 86-80 win while officials only awarded the Liberty eight.

"It's tough to win a game in this league with eight free throws…. There are so many things out of our control," New York guard Sabrina Ionescu said afterwards, pointing to injured team leader Breanna Stewart. "Like the players we don't have and the free throws we didn't get."

How to watch the Minnesota Lynx vs. New York Liberty on Tuesday

The No. 3 Liberty will host No. 1 Minnesota at 7 PM ET on Tuesday, with live coverage of the game airing on NBA TV.

UConn basketball star and reigning NCAA champion Azzi Fudd added another stop to her whirlwind offseason this week, landing in Chongqing, China, to team up with NBA icon Steph Curry on his Curry Brand World Tour.

Fudd said just last week that she considered Curry her favorite NBA player, with the 22-year-old UConn grad student going on to beat the 16-year league veteran in a three-point contest while in China.

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Kicking off its ninth US edition in San Francisco earlier this month, this year's Curry World Tour brings Curry Camp — a high school basketball clinic where the Golden State Warriors star provides "one-on-one coaching, advice, and exposure to his habits, routines, and mindset" — overseas for the first time.

Fudd's history with Curry runs deeper than her assist at this week's Curry Camp, with the 2025 NCAA Final Four Most Outstanding Player attending one of the two-time NBA MVP's first elite girls basketball camps as a rising high school sophomore in 2018.

She then became the first-ever college player to sign an NIL deal with Under Armour's Curry Brand back in 2021 — just 17 days after Fudd made her collegiate basketball debut.

"Steph has been such an amazing resource," Fudd said back in March. "It kind of just goes to show the kind of person he is."

The No. 13 Chicago Stars earned a dramatic NWSL draw on Monday night, battling back from a three-goal deficit against the No. 6 Seattle Reign — with superstar goalkeeper Alyssa Naeher scoring the stoppage-time equalizer to secure the 3-3 result.

After the entire Seattle frontline of Jess Fishlock, Jordyn Huitema, and Emeri Adames netted early goals, the Stars began chipping away at the Reign's lead, with Chicago forward Ludmila and defender Camryn Biegalski putting their squad within one strike entering second-half stoppage time.

USWNT retiree and Stars captain Naeher then sealed the Chicago comeback with her first-ever NWSL goal, tapping in the ball amid the melee of a last-gasp 99th-minute set piece.

"Chaos kind of sums up our season at this point, the way it finished like that," Naeher said after the match. "You just see the heart in that play."

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Multiple staffing changes and on-pitch inconsistencies have seen the Stars struggle this season, with Chicago tallying just one 2025 win so far.

That said, interim head coach Ella Masar has arguably turned the tide, leading the Stars to five draws in their last six games. Masar will soon resume her assistant coach role once new head coaching hire Martin Sjögren's longtime right hand Anders Jacobson arrives to assume interim manager duties.

"That's the belief in this group, that's the mentality," Naeher continued. "We stuck together all season long."

One of the newest WNBA additions made a big announcement on Tuesday morning, as incoming expansion side Cleveland named Allison Howard president of business operations ahead of the team's 2028 season tip-off.

Howard, the current EVP and chief commercial officer for the NBA's Cleveland Cavaliers, previously helped launch the Kansas City Current as the 2022 NWSL expansion team's first-ever president, while also securing naming rights for the first purpose-built women's soccer stadium.

"Allison comes to this role with an extraordinary track record of leadership in premier sports organizations and expanding the reach of women's sports," said Nic Barlage, CEO of franchise owner Dan Gilbert's Rock Entertainment Group, in a team statement.

Cleveland will re-join the WNBA as the league's 16th team, part of a controlled expansion plan that will see the league grow to 18 franchises by 2030.

The city's original WNBA team — the Cleveland Rockers — played from 1997 to 2003, folding prior to the 2004 season.

Notably, the incoming team has already sold more than 6,000 season ticket packages since the WNBA announced the return of the Cleveland squad on June 30th.

"It has been energizing to feel the passion of Cleveland WNBA fans across Ohio and to see how quickly our community has already embraced our team," said Howard in Tuesday's announcement.

"We're committed to making this team a source of pride for our city and broader region, to inspire future athletes and to create an environment where everyone belongs and feels welcome."