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.

PWHL fans can now own a piece of hockey history, as the third-year league unveiled a new memorabilia collection with auction site The Realest on Thursday morning.

According to a release, the partnership creates "the first-ever witness-based, fully-authenticated collection of game-used and player-sourced PWHL hockey jerseys, equipment, and one-of-a-kind artifacts."

"As we enter our third season of unprecedented growth and record-shattering fan support, it was important to preserve our league's history and share those moments with our fans," PWHL VP of merchandising Kate Boyce also added.

The debut collection features memorabilia from all six original franchises as well as the two new 2025/26 expansion teams, with fans able to bid on game-used collectables like Montréal Victoire captain Marie-Philip Poulin's game-worn 2025 PWHL Playoffs jersey, a stick from then-Boston Fleet star and now-Seattle Torrent captain Hilary Knight, and Minnesota Frost defender Natalie Buchbinder's helmet.

Additional items include 2025 PWHL Draft selection cards as well as autographed posters and pucks, among other exclusives.

"From day one, we set out to make women's sports memorabilia a true category, not an afterthought, and our record-setting work across women's leagues proves the demand," said The Realest CEO Scott Keeney.

How to score PWHL memorabilia

The PWHL collection is now open for bidding via The Realest, with all items in the league's debut auction set to close on Sunday, December 28th.

The WTA scored a major victory this week, entering into a multi-year partnership with luxury automaker Mercedes-Benz that has the potential to become the largest deal in women's sports history.

Mercedes-Benz signed on as the pro tennis association's premier partner on Wednesday, committing $50 million per year to the WTA for up to 10 years — a possible lifetime value of half a billion dollars.

What's more, the deal's intention is to help the WTA Tour reach its goal of achieving equal prize money across all men's and women's tournaments and standalone tennis competitions by 2031.

While the four Grand Slams already achieved equal purses nearly two decades ago, this week's partnership allowing the WTA to recommit to adopting that prize money parity across all its events.

The move also reflects the growing global investment in women's sports, building on the WTA's expiring four-year, $20 million-per-year contract with Hologic.

"From the day we founded the WTA, our mission was to ensure that every girl, every woman, could have a place to compete... and make a living playing the sport she loves," legend Billie Jean King said in a press release. "Seeing a global brand like Mercedes-Benz stand with us sends a message that echoes far beyond tennis. It says women's sport matters."

One NWSL legend isn't hanging up her club boots just yet, as former USWNT goalkeeper Alyssa Naeher signed a one-year contract to remain in net for the Chicago Stars this week.

The 2026 NWSL season will mark the 37-year-old's 11th season with the Stars, where she holds the club record for regular-season starts and appearances (165), minutes played (14,821), and saves (512).

"I feel like I still have more to give and want to be out there competing with my teammates and continue to push this organization forward," Naeher said in a Wednesday club statement. "We made a lot of positive strides to close out last season and I want to build on that."

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Naeher and her veteran presence will be a boost for Chicago as the team welcomes new head coach Martin Sjögren, with the Stars aiming for consistency after cycling through three interim sideline leaders following Lorne Donaldson's April firing.

The Stars finished the 2025 season in last place, and have not made it past the first round of the NWSL Playoffs since 2021.

"If you feel like you can still give 100% to what you're trying to do, then keep going," Naeher told fellow NWSL vet Ali Riley on Monday's episode of BFFR. "If you don't think that you can, then it's not fair to yourself or the team to do that."

With just one league-phase matchday left, a trio of unbeaten clubs — Barcelona, OL Lyonnes, and Chelsea — stand alone atop the 2025/26 Champions League table, leading the 18-team pack after all three squads notched midweek wins.

No. 1 Barcelona and No. 2 OL Lyonnes each have 13 points, with the Spanish contenders earning the edge over their French counterparts with a +15 goal differential.

Meanwhile, Chelsea sits in third with 11 points following a 6-0 drubbing of No. 17 AS Roma on Wednesday, though the Blues will need a result against No. 7 Wolfsburg next week to secure a spot in March's quarterfinals with a top-four finish.

Though the byes into the quarterfinals are still up for grabs, with just one matchday left before the knockouts, several of Europe's biggest teams have qualified for February's playoffs.

Wolfsburg alongside No. 10 Paris FC, No. 9 Manchester United, No. 8 Arsenal, No. 6 Juventus, No. 5 Real Madrid, and No. 4 Bayern Munich have already racked up enough points to advance out of the league phase.

Three clubs — No. 13 Vålerenga, No. 12 Oud-Heverlee Leuven, and No. 11 Atlético de Madrid — are fighting for the two remaining playoff tickets, with December 17th's simultaneous kickoff set to determine the winners.

How to watch the final 2025/26 Champions League league-phase matches

Determining both the first four UWCL quarterfinalists and the eight teams entering the playoffs, the final league-phase matchday will see all 18 clubs kicking off at 3 PM ET next Wednesday.

All 2025/26 Champions League matches will stream live on Paramount+.