As the NWSL regular season gets back underway this weekend, Just Women’s Sports is taking a look at where the Golden Boot race stands and who could end up being the league’s top scorer.

Alex Morgan won last year’s Golden Boot award with 15 goals, and she currently has five goals for the San Diego Wave this season. Reigning league MVP and Portland Thorns forward Sophia Smith was close behind Morgan in 2022 and now holds the top spot in the league, while 2021 winner and Washington Spirit forward Ashley Hatch is tied for second.

Sophia Smith, Portland Thorns
10 goals

Smith entered the international break on a high, scoring a hat trick in her final game with Portland before leaving to represent the U.S. women’s national team at the World Cup. In addition to her 10 goals this season, she has five assists, which ranks second in the league behind teammate Sam Coffey.

Of Smith’s goals, four have come off her left foot and six off her right. Her goals from inside and outside of the box are split evenly.

Who else but @sophsssmith?! 🎯@ThornsFC is on top in Seattle! pic.twitter.com/HYcjCsUpiE

— National Women’s Soccer League (@NWSL) June 4, 2023

Ashley Hatch, Washington Spirit
8 goals

The former Golden Boot winner is in the hunt again this season with eight goals. After being left off the USWNT’s World Cup roster, Hatch scored two goals during the Challenge Cup while the regular season was paused. Now, she re-enters the regular season with momentum after others in the race were out with their international squads.

Kerolin, North Carolina Courage
8 goals

Brazilian star Kerolin had eight goals before leaving for the World Cup, seven of which came inside the box. She also scored all of them with her right foot. Kerolin held the Golden Boot lead before Smith’s pre-World Cup hat trick, and could jump back to the front if she picks up where she left off before the international break.

She can't be stopped!!

Kerolin gets a first-half brace, and her 6th goal of the season 🔥 pic.twitter.com/HuCKTfDgzO

— National Women’s Soccer League (@NWSL) June 11, 2023

Lynn Williams, Gotham FC
7 goals

Williams was in the midst of a breakout season with her new club following a return from injury. She’s been the centerpiece of Gotham’s offense this season, scoring seven goals — which is more than Gotham scored as the team all of last year. Six of her goals have come inside the box, and she’s had 30 shots on target out of 48 total shots.

Other top scorers

6 goals

Debinha, Kansas City Current

5 goals

Bethany Balcer, OL Reign
Savannah DeMelo, Racing Louisville
Crystal Dunn, Portland Thorns
Alex Morgan, San Diego Wave

4 goals

Messiah Bright, Orlando Pride
Jordyn Huitema, OL Reign
Cece Kizer, Kansas City Current
Veronica Latsko, OL Reign
Tyler Lussi, North Carolina Courage
Trinity Rodman, Washington Spirit
Ashley Sanchez, Washington Spirit
Jaedyn Shaw, San Diego Wave
Ella Stevens, Chicago Red Stars
Morgan Weaver, Portland Thorns

Sweden veteran defender Magda Eriksson is hanging up her international boots to focus on her health, with the 32-year-old officially announcing her retirement from her national team on Sunday.

Eriksson will continue competing at the domestic level for her German club, Bayern Munich.

The longtime captain sat out the most recent international window due to a head injury, watching as world No. 3 Sweden fell to No. 1 Spain in the two-leg 2025 Nations League semifinals.

"It's by far the toughest decision I've ever made," Eriksson said in her social media announcement. "But I'm listening to my body and mind instead of my heart."

"I've landed in the fact that unfortunately it's a decision that has to be made."

After an 11-year career with the Swedish senior national team, Eriksson retires as a two-time Olympic silver medalist, earning those podium finishes in Rio in 2016 and at the delayed 2020 Tokyo Games.

Often leading Sweden through major tournaments where early domination dissolved into a third-place finish, Eriksson also helped her team eke onto the World Cup podium in both 2019 and 2023.

"It is heavy news," said Sweden head coach Tony Gustavsson after Eriksson announced her international retirement, calling her "one of our most important players for a long time."

"[Magda's] professionalism, courage, and heart have left a strong mark on the national team," he added.

Chelsea FC's £1 million gamble is paying dividends, as USWNT rising star Alyssa Thompson continued her goal-scoring momentum for the six-time defending WSL champs on Sunday.

The young forward found the back of the net in the ninth minute of the Blues' 1-1 Sunday draw with Liverpool, solidifying her status as a decisive attacking threat for her new club.

"You can see how much talent she has and the quality she brings to the team," Chelsea manager Sonia Bompastor said of Thompson earlier this month. "She's improving game after game, becoming more connected to her teammates, and understanding the way we want to play better."

View this post on Instagram

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

Thompson left NWSL side Angel City for Chelsea on a then-record £1 million transfer fee in early September, with the 21-year-old going on to notch three goals and one assist in four matches across both WSL and Champions League play.

"Being able to play with players that are the best in the world is an amazing opportunity," said the striker. "I want to learn, grow, and develop a lot. I feel like Chelsea is such an amazing environment to do that in."

Beyond individual accomplishment, Thompson's success underscores Chelsea's depth as they continue to hunt domestic and continental honors on a now-34 match WSL unbeaten streak — while also looking to potentially draw more USWNT stars away from the NWSL.

Women's professional baseball has landed a home base, with Front Office Sports reporting on Monday that the newly formed WPBL will play the entirety of its 2026 debut season at Robin Roberts Stadium in Springfield, Illinois.

The incoming league prioritized a neutral venue without an existing baseball team to house its four inaugural clubs — New York, Boston, LA, and San Francisco — for its first campaign, with barnstorming games also planned for each team market.

"Our sport is for everybody," WPBL co-founder Keith Stein told FOS. "It's for middle America, everybody. We thought, 'Our teams are on these two coasts, it would be good to be in the middle of the country.'"

Founded in 2024 as the first professional women's baseball outfit in the US since 1954, the WPBL will hold its first-ever draft on Thursday, with the league's four teams drawing from a pool of 120 eligible players.

The WPBL recently fielded an oversubscribed Series A investment round, telling FOS that they're closing a $3 million raise with another round planned ahead of its August 2026 season-opener.

Each 30-player team will operate under a $95,000 salary cap for the first year, with the league also covering living costs throughout the seven-week season as well as giving players a percentage of sponsorship funds.

How to watch the first-ever WPBL Draft

The 2025 WPBL Draft kicks off at 8 PM ET on Thursday, with live coverage streaming across the league's Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube channels.

Las Vegas Aces boss Becky Hammon spoke her mind last week, telling CNBC Sport that the WNBA might need "a change in leadership" for the league's CBA talks to successfully progress.

"I just think [player relations] might be too fractured at this point, but we'll see," Hammon said, while also noting that she's had only limited interactions with WNBA commissioner Cathy Engelbert.

View this post on Instagram

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

Citing Engelbert's "private conversations...with individual players — or lack of the conversations," Hammon described the commissioner's current relationship with players as "rocky" while describing her widely criticized leadership style.

"I don't know if she can ever regret, retract, and get that traction back from those conversations," the Aces boss posited.

"When the players speak, people need to sit up and listen," she continued. "I think [Engelbert is] sitting up and listening now."

Hammon also voiced support for Minnesota Lynx star Napheesa Collier after the five-time All-Star described the WNBA as having the "worst leadership in the world" in her now-viral 2025 exit interview.

"I completely agree with Napheesa that the players should be making more than coaches," the Las Vegas sideline leader — who publicly earns seven figures per year — continued. "They're due for a huge increase in salary, and it's got to be something that is sustainable. That's the biggest thing you got to remember, that this league is still a young league."

Ultimately, while the 2025 WNBA season is over, CBA concerns loom large over the league's current offseason and 2026 campaign, leaving Hammon and others looking to avoid a lockout as the November 30th extension deadline nears.