The NWSL expects to add two expansion teams in the 2026 season.

The league already has announced two additional teams set to join the league in 2024, in Utah and in the San Francisco Bay Area. Two more are in the pipeline, commissioner Jessica Berman said Tuesday on Washington Post Live.

“We do expect for the 2026 season to add two more teams,” Berman said. “That process will began later this calendar year, and through the process we ran in 2022 for this round of expansion, we have an incredible amount of interest from qualified investors.”

.@JessicaBerman1 on adding teams to NWSL: “We are a 12 team league for this season, the 2023 season, and for 2024, we’ll be a 14 team league. We are inviting the Utah Royals back into the league, and our team 14 is going to be in the bay area." #PostLive pic.twitter.com/q0vsgwuMxc

— Washington Post Live (@PostLive) May 9, 2023

Boston has been tabbed as an expansion destination, the Wall Street Journal reported in January, though the NWSL has not confirmed its selection.

The Boston Breakers franchise previously called the city home for the first five NWSL seasons but folded after the 2017 season. A Breakers revival has precedence; the Utah Royals are making their return in 2024 after folding in 2020, and Kansas City introduced the Current in 2021 after FC Kansas City folded in 2017.

The NWSL has grown from an eight-team league at its founding in 2013 to a 12-team league. With the introduction of four additional teams by 2026, the league would double its original number.

The 2022 season featured two new teams, both in California: Angel City FC and San Diego Wave FC. The newcomers proved wildly successful in their inaugural seasons, as Los Angeles-based Angel City averaged more than 19,000 fans per game and San Diego reached the playoff semifinals (and set the postseason attendance record to boot).

As the league has expanded, franchise values have increased, with the Bay Area ownership group paying $53 million to buy the franchise rights. (The Utah team paid a fixed reactivation fee of between $2 million and $5 million.)

“Even though our valuations have increased in a meaningful way to $53 million with the team we sold to the Bay Area, we’re still really early in our process in terms of our growth and where we think this league is going to be in three to five to 10 years,” Berman said.

The Royal Spanish Football Federation (RFEF) handed Barcelona star Mapi León a two-game suspension last week, finding the defender guilty of "unsporting conduct" during a Liga F match against Espanyol.

While lining up for a set piece in the 15th minute of the February Catalan derby, León appeared to say something to Espanyol center-back Daniela Caracas before seemingly touching her inappropriately.

The incident garnered condemnation from Caracas’s club, who said that León "violated the privacy of Caracas" and that the action was “unacceptable and should not go unnoticed." Espanyol's support of Caracas included the club offering their legal services to the Colombian international.

In response, the RFEF banned León for two matches, though the defender continues to deny the allegations, saying she simply touched Caracas's leg.

"I am very upset and disappointed," León stated immediately after the February 9th incident. "That is why I reserve the right to take legal action against anyone who intends to take advantage of this situation to damage me and continue defaming me on unfounded evidence."

In León's defense, Barcelona both appealed the RFEF’s ruling and unsuccessfully asked Spain's Sports Administrative Court to suspend her ban until the club's appeal.

Without an appeal hearing or a pause on the ban, León sat out her club’s 6-0 win over Atlético Madrid on Sunday. She is due to serve the second game of her suspension during Barcelona’s Wednesday matchup with Sevilla — clearing her for next weekend’s UWCL semifinal.

Chelsea FC kept their quadruple dreams alive this weekend, advancing to the 2025 FA Cup Final with Saturday’s 2-1 semifinal win over Liverpool in their quest to lift four major trophies in a single season.

With the 2025 League Cup already secured last month, the Blues will continue hunting a sixth straight WSL title when they dive back into league play next week.

The WSL leaders have yet to lose a league match this season. Chelsea currently holds a six-point lead over both London rival Arsenal and Manchester United at the top of the table, with just four matchdays separating the club from their second piece of 2024/25 hardware.

A first-ever UWCL title could clinch a Chelsea quadruple

If the Blues take home the 2025 FA Cup after their May 18th battle with Man U, they will need just one final championship to clinch the quadruple — the 2024/25 UEFA Women's Champions League trophy.

First, however, Chelsea must book a spot in the UWCL's championship match on May 24th. To do so, first-year manager Sonia Bompastor’s squad must outlast Champions League powerhouse Barcelona in the tournament's two-leg semifinals, which kick off next weekend.

Should they go on to lock down the 2025 FA Cup, WSL, and UWCL titles, the Blues will become just the third team to ever win a quartet, joining the 2006/07 Arsenal squad and last season's dominant Barcelona roster.

China PR pulled out of their June 3rd friendly against the USWNT, according to a Friday US Soccer release which announced that Jamaica will replace the 2022 Asian Cup winners at Energizer Park in St. Louis.

As of now, China will still face the USWNT on May 31st in St. Paul, marking the first of the US’s upcoming two-game international break.

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"After initially agreeing to play two matches during the upcoming FIFA window, the Chinese Football Association subsequently informed US Soccer that its Women’s National Team could play only the first match," USSF said in its statement.

The federation did not provide an explanation for China’s cancelation, quickly tapping Jamaica as stand-ins.

USWNT to contend with Concacaf foes Jamaica

Despite sharing a confederation, the US and Jamaica have only squared off six prior times, with June's match marking the teams' first meeting in three years.

The last clash between the pair occurred at the 2022 Concacaf W Championship, where the US walked away from the pitch with a 5-0 victory over the Reggae Girlz.

Led by Manchester City striker Khadija "Bunny" Shaw, Jamaica earned spots in the last two World Cups, advancing to the Round of 16 for the first time ever in the 2023 edition.

The pair's upcoming seventh meeting will also serve as a celebration of retired USWNT captain and local product Becky Sauerbrunn, with US Soccer calling the decorated defender "the greatest female player in St. Louis soccer history."

With the 2025 WNBA Draft tipping off on Monday night, experts across women’s basketball are busy predicting the results, as this year’s sure-thing overall No. 1 pick begets question marks down the line.

Barring a shocking surprise, the Dallas Wings will snap up UConn star Paige Bueckers first, ushering in a new era of Texas basketball.

The rest of the lottery is more of a mystery, with one lesser-known name projected to shake up the early picks.

Mock drafts from both ESPN and The Athletic have the Seattle Storm using their No. 2 spot to select 19-year-old French center Dominique Malonga, pivoting away from the NCAA-to-WNBA pipeline.

After the top two picks, opinions diverge, with factors like team-fit and overall talent influencing WNBA teams' strategies as they eye the guard-heavy field.

Among the top NCAA players expected to go early in Monday's first round are Notre Dame guard Sonia Citron, USC forward Kiki Iriafen, and LSU forward Aneesah Morrow.

Sportsbooks are also weighing in, with FanDuel currently favoring Citron at No. 3 (-140), Iriafen at No. 4 (+170), and Morrow at No. 5 (+105).

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How to watch the 2025 WNBA Draft

With commissioner Cathy Engelbert set to announce the No. 1 pick shortly after 7:30 PM ET, live coverage of Monday's 2025 WNBA Draft will begin at 7 PM ET on ESPN.