In a season packed with parity, the NWSL enters its 10th weekend of the 2025 season with just seven points separating No. 2 San Diego from No. 12 Houston on the table — meaning a single win or loss could dramatically shift the standings.
The slate is a bit lighter this weekend with No. 4 Portland and No. 8 Gotham's trip to the 2024/25 Concacaf W Champions Cup knockouts, where the Bats will face Liga MX side Tigres UANL tournament final shortly after Portland's third-place match against Club América on Saturday (Paramount+).
Their absence leaves room for other NWSL clubs to leapfrog the Thorns and Gotham on the league table, with only No. 1 Kansas City's position secure given the Current's four-point lead over the Wave.
What to watch in the 10th weekend of the 2025 NWSL season
No. 6 Seattle Reign vs. No. 5 Washington Spirit, 10:00 PM ET on Friday (Prime): The Reign hosts a Spirit side with a 4-0-0 road record on the season and a high-octane offense that's scoring nine goals in their last three matches. Meanwhile, Seattle's 2025 campaign has featured only eight total goals across their nine matches.
No. 14 Chicago Stars vs. No. 1 Kansas City Current, 7:30 PM ET on Saturday (ION): While the league-leading Current is safe atop the NWSL table this weekend, their match is still full of question marks as Kansas City is without several key players, including MVP frontrunner Debinha, after a spat of injuries last weekend.
No. 2 San Diego Wave vs. No. 9 North Carolina Courage, 10:00 PM ET on Sunday (CBS Sports): The Wave are riding the league's best record (4-0-1) over the last five games, but the Courage is also on the rise, coming to Seattle on a 3-0-1 stretch and achingly close to a lift above the playoff line.
With San Diego's 17-year-old midfielder Kimmi Ascanio blasting three goals in the last four games and North Carolina attacker Jaedyn Shaw — the Wave's original teen scoring phenom — returning for the first time to face her former club, Sunday's closing NWSL match could be rife with youth firepower.
The NWSL's Kansas City Current officially placed defender Alana Cook on the Season Ending Injury list on Thursday, after the center back tore her left ACL, MCL, and meniscus in last Friday's 1-0 win over Orlando.
Since joining the Current in a 2024 midseason trade from Seattle, the 28-year-old starter has anchored the backline of her new team to the tune of 10 shutouts in 19 matches.
The injury is also a setback to Cook's USWNT return, with the defender logging her 30th cap and first international minutes since October 2023 just last month.
"Alana has made a big impact for our club on and off the pitch in a short period of time, and our hearts absolutely break for her," said Kansas City head coach and Cook's former USWNT boss Vlatko Andonovski in a club statement.
"Throughout her career, Alana has proven to be determined, resilient, and disciplined with an optimistic spirit," he continued. "We are confident she will carry those same attributes into her recovery process. The team will stand by her every step of the way, and we eagerly await the day she is able to join us on the pitch again."
Kansas City attack also suffers injury losses
Cook's season-ending knock wasn't the only blow to the NWSL-leading Current, as attacking midfielder Debinha and striker Temwa Chawinga also exited Friday's pitch with injuries. With five goals each, both are currently in a four-way tie for second in the Golden Boot race.
Andonovski told the media on Wednesday that while 2024 MVP Chawinga is still undergoing evaluation, Debinha "is not probably going to be back until after the summer."
With both being considered 2025 MVP frontrunners, the losses may leave fans wondering how long Kansas City can maintain their spot atop the league.
This season's NWSL Golden Boot leader Esther González is sticking with Gotham, with the Spanish international extending her contract with the NJ/NY club through 2027.
After helping Gotham to a first-ever NWSL championship in 2023, González earned the league's Best XI Second Team honors last year before launching a red-hot campaign this season.
The 2023 World Cup winner has tallied seven goals in nine games for Gotham in 2025, showcasing a blistering rush of form that has her sitting two goals ahead of the next Golden Boot race contender.
"Above all, it's about how I've felt during these two and a half years with Gotham FC," González said in Thursday's team announcement. "Continuing to be happy both on and off the field is really important. To keep enjoying myself and representing Gotham's colors, which I truly identify with, is something really incredible."
Gotham's continued investment underlines the 32-year-old's case for 2025 MVP candidacy, as award frontrunners start to emerge one-third of the way through the 2025 NWSL season.
González leads the NWSL in shots on target while sitting fourth in expected goals per 90 minutes, with her scoring outpacing many of her peers.
Other players crafting strong 2025 NWSL MVP resumes include Kansas City's 2024 MVP Temwa Chawinga and comeback star Debinha, Angel City wunderkind Alyssa Thompson, and Orlando sharpshooter Barbra Banda.
In this week's episode of The Late Sub, host Claire Watkins examines the individual standouts of the first third of the 2025 NWSL season, offering her early shortlist of players making strong cases in the league's MVP race.
As defenses continue to find their stride, league scoring is paving the way in the 2025 season so far, leading Watkins to put forth four top attackers, calling them "the most established, the most consistent" MVP candidates.
First, Watkins digs into Kansas City's Debinha, who sits second in the NWSL Golden Boot race with five goals and an assist through eight 2025 matches.
A two-time league champion and three-time Shield-winner with her previous club, the North Carolina Courage, Debinha already owns the 2019 MVP title in addition to two Challenge Cup MVP trophies.
Calling her "the big glitzy comeback story on what is right now the best team in the league," Watkins notes that Debinha is "a killer playmaker [with] a talent for exploiting space [and] finishing her own chances, while also making her teammates better."
Joining Debinha as an early MVP frontrunner is Gotham FC's Esther. With seven goals in nine games, the 2023 NWSL champ and 2023 World Cup winner tops the 2025 Golden Boot leaderboard thanks to her ability "to score with her head and with her feet."
"Where Esther goes, so goes Gotham," says Watkins. "They haven't won a single game this season in which she did not score. That's team impact."
Top 2024 candidates keep pace with 2025 frontrunners
Last year's leaders round out Watkins' MVP favorites, including "a player that gets better when the job gets harder," Orlando's Barbra Banda.
"[Teams are] doing a better job of putting a lot of bodies on Banda to try to slow her down," causing her scoring to take a hit, but Watkins argues that Banda is still "one of the best out-and-out strikers of the ball in the entire league."
Finally, though "there's never been a back-to-back MVP in league history," Watkins says that reigning NWSL MVP and Golden Boot winner Temwa Chawinga is making a major case for running it back, led by the Kansas City star's "superpower of opening space where there is none."
Angel City striker Alyssa Thompson is an NWSL MVP dark horse
Finally, Watkins gives Angel City's Alyssa Thompson a unique nod, calling her the league's most improved player — an award that does not exist in the NWSL.
Remarking on Thompson's growth, Watkins points out the 20-year-old forward's leaps in consistency, poise, and her response to coaching at both the club and USWNT level.
"Her glimpses of brilliance are turning into something more consistent," describes Watkins. "She's fast.... She's a really good dribbler. She can take players on 1v1 and make them look silly, get in behind on goal, shoot, score. But she has widened her ability to connect with teammates.... She's just become a well-rounded winger in a way that we were not seeing before."
With four goals on the season, Thompson currently sits tied for fourth place in the 2025 Golden Boot race with the likes of Banda, Chawinga, Washington's Ashley Hatch, and Louisville's Emma Sears.
"Is [Thompson] in that space to to kind of overtake these really well established, consistent, dominant players [in the MVP race]?" wonders Watkins. "Maybe not. But the fact that she has made this leap to this stature in the league is huge."
About 'The Late Sub' with Claire Watkins
The Late Sub with Claire Watkins brings you the latest news and freshest takes on the USWNT, NWSL, and all things women's soccer. Special guest appearances featuring the biggest names in women’s sports make TLS a must-listen for every soccer fan.
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Soccer legend Marta is officially returning to the canary yellow kit, earning a Brazil national team call-up just over nine months after her planned retirement from international duty.
Brazil head coach Arthur Elias named Marta to the world No. 8 Seleção's roster on Tuesday, with the 39-year-old icon returning for the team's upcoming home friendlies against No. 5 Japan on May 30th and June 2nd.
"I was with Marta recently and spoke with her," Elias told reporters on Tuesday. "She said she is available to help the team while she is playing at a high level, as she is now."
Stellar club form fuels Marta's Brazil return
Marta, who hung up her international boots after snagging a third silver Olympic medal at the 2024 Paris Games, hasn't missed a beat since, captaining the Orlando Pride to the club's first-ever NWSL Shield and Championship last fall.
In the process, the scoring phenom claimed the league's Best XI First Team honors, as well as finalist nods for both the 2024 NWSL MVP and Midfielder of the Year awards.
Unsurprisingly, the Pride inked Marta to a two-year contract extension in January.
While Marta's consistently impressive form fueled Elias's request to lure her out of retirement, the manager is also hoping her unmatched leadership will bolster younger athletes as Brazil takes aim at a record-extending ninth Copa América title this summer — and, as the host nation, a deep 2027 World Cup run.
Joining the legend on Tuesday's roster are fellow Brazil veterans Lorena and Debinha, from the NWSL-leading Kansas City Current, and Marta's Orlando teammate Angelina.
"[Marta's] presence in some call-ups is very important for the younger players, for the renewal that is taking place in the national team," explained Elias. "We really want expectations to rise for the women's national team and for football in our country."
Kansas City, Orlando, and Washington are back on top of the NWSL table, restoring their dominance with key weekend results after a series of shaky matchdays.
Anchored by a brace from Debinha, the No. 1 Current halted a two-game losing streak with a 4-1 drubbing of Bay FC on Sunday. Meanwhile, the No. 3 Spirit stopped their two-match skid with a 3-2 Saturday win over No. 14 Chicago.
The No. 2 Pride narrowly avoided their own second straight loss on Saturday, securing a 1-1 draw with No. 11 North Carolina behind Prisca Chilufya's last-gasp second-half stoppage time goal.
No. 5 Angel City's 2-0 win over No. 13 Utah captured the weekend's headlines, however, after the Friday match played to completion despite 20-year-old LA defender Savy King collapsing on the pitch in the 85th minute.
"Savy left the field in stable condition, and currently remains stable and will be undergoing further evaluation," the NWSL posted after the match.
In response to criticism about the game resuming at all, the NWSL added that the match followed "league protocols...from both a medical and game operations perspective."
"I'm not sure if we should have continued the game," Royals head coach Jimmy Coenraets told reporters after the match. "Not only [Angel City's athletes], but also our players were just scared, and I think that's not the right position, not the right situation to be in."
While the on-pitch NWSL results this weekend appeared to steady upheaval in the standings, the spotlight shown brightest on concerns over league policy clashing with player safety.
FIFA announced the eight cities that will host matches at the 2027 World Cup in Brazil on Wednesday, primarily selecting sites on the South American country's East Coast over tropical regions that require more extensive travel.
In addition to Rio de Janeiro's iconic Maracanã Stadium, the tournament's 64 games will take place across Belo Horizonte, Brasília, Fortaleza, Porto Alegre, Recife, Rio de Janeiro, Salvador, and São Paulo.
"The selection of the host cities represents the moment where the dream begins to take shape," said Brazil’s minister of sport André Fufuca. "Each of the selected host cities represents Brazil — a diverse and vibrant Brazil, with people who are passionate about football, and places that already live and breathe the sport and that will now have the opportunity to leave a transformative legacy for their communities and for generations to come."
The 32 teams battling for the 2027 World Cup will begin their hunt on June 24th of that year, with the final taking place on July 25th.
Marta, Formiga help announce 2027 World Cup cities
To bolster the news, FIFA tapped famous Brazilians for its announcement video, including star futsal player Amandinha and two-time NWSL champion Debinha.
Also helping drop the eight cities were the country’s most iconic women's soccer legends, Marta — the World Cup's all-time leading scorer — and Formiga, the only athlete to compete in seven editions of the tournament.
"I won't be on the pitch in 2027, but I'm always ready to represent Brazilian football – even more so at a special moment like this," said the retired Formiga.
"I know every corner of our country, and I can tell you: Each of these cities is full of women's football talents who need support and inspiration," she continued. "The Women's World Cup will be an opportunity for them to see the greatest up close and think, 'If they can be there, so can I.' That's the impact that only an event of this size can have."
Using the 2027 World Cup — the first ever hosted in South America — to grow the women's game is top-of-mind for former player Mariléia "Michael Jackson" dos Santos, who now serves as the country's director of women's football promotion.
"We want to create a solid network that will last well beyond 2027," said dos Santos. "The idea is to decentralise the impact so that women's football flourishes in every corner of the country."
"It's a unique opportunity to change the game, and we're going to make the most of it because Brazilian women's football deserves it, and so do the girls in our country."
As the Paris Olympics rolled to a close, the NWSL x Liga MX Femenil Summer Cup determined its first-ever finalists: Gotham FC and the Kansas City Current. The teams will face off in the Cup’s October 25th championship game.
NWSL dominates Liga MX in Cup group stage
Playing without their Olympians, all 14 NWSL clubs plus Mexico’s top six 2023 Liga MX teams cycled through 30 group stage matches. The top four group-winning teams by points then moved on to the Cup semifinals.
Logging just three wins over NWSL teams, the Liga MX squads failed to advance to the knockout rounds.
Utah — who won Group A despite entering the Olympic break at the bottom of the NWSL table — saw their Cup bid end as the other groups' top teams recorded more points than the Royals.
Top NWSL scorers lead the way in Cup semis
Kansas City — the only team with three group stage wins — defeated semifinal challenger North Carolina 2-0 last week. KC striker Temwa Chawinga — who sits tied in the NWSL’s Golden Boot race with Orlando’s Barbra Banda — wasted no time, finding the back of the net before the two-minute mark.
Sealing the deal for the Current was Brazil Olympic roster snub Debinha, whose 77th-minute goal shot her to the top the Cup’s Golden Boot leaderboard.
In the East Coast vs. West Coast semifinal, Gotham FC beat Angel City 1-0 behind midfielder Delanie Sheehan's 48th-minute goal.
Olympic gold medalists could influence Cup final
With over two months until the October 25th Cup championship, both teams will likely compete for the crown armed with full rosters — including Gotham’s seven Olympic medalists.
The Current last played the reigning NWSL champs to a 1-1 draw on April 14th, and the teams will meet again for regular season play on September 28th — less than four weeks before the Summer Cup final descends on San Antonio, Texas.
Sophia Smith is looking to run it back as NWSL MVP, as the Portland Thorns star is nominated for the top individual award for the second straight season.
In 2022, Smith became the youngest MVP in the history of the league. The 23-year-old has built a solid case for the 2023 award, leading the league with 11 goals and winning the Golden Boot award. But the Portland Thorns forward also missed significant time due to the World Cup and a knee injury.
That opens the doors for other candidates, including San Diego Wave defender Naomi Girma. Another repeat MVP finalist, Girma won the Defender of the Year and Rookie of the Year awards in 2022.
Another top candidate: North Carolina Courage star Kerolin, Just Women’s Sports‘ pick for the award. Kerolin, Girma and Smith are joined by Kansas City Current forward Debinha and Thorns midfielder Sam Coffey.
Girma also is nominated once again for the Defender of the Year award. But repeating could prove a challenge, as both Gotham FC captain Ali Krieger and Washington Spirit star Sam Staab have had outstanding defensive seasons. Kaleigh Kurtz and Sarah Gorden round out the nominees.
Alyssa Thompson, meanwhile, leads the Rookie of the Year candidates, having lived up to the hype as the No. 1 overall pick in the 2023 NWSL draft.
She is joined by Messiah Bright of the Orlando Pride and Jenna Nighswonger of Gotham FC. Bright is Just Women’s Sports’ pick for Rookie of the Year after finishing with six goals on the season and proving wrong everyone who passed her over in the draft.
Both Angel City’s Becki Tweed and Gotham FC’s Juan Carolos Amorós challenge for Coach of the Year, as does San Diego Wave’s Casey Stoney – to no surprise.
The choice between Katie Lund of Racing Louisville, Jane Campbell of the Houston Dash and Kailen Sheridan of the San Diego Wave for Goalkeeper of the Year is a tough one, although Lund has had a solid year and is Just Women’s Sports’ pick. Sheridan is looking to repeat as winner.
NWSL fans can vote on the award winners via online ballot any time before 12 p.m. ET Friday. The NWSL uses a weighted voting formula — 40% from players, 25% from owners, general managers and coaches, 25% from media and 10% from fans.
2023 NWSL award nominees
Most Valuable Player
- Sam Coffey, Portland Thorns
- Debinha, Kansas City Current
- Naomi Girma, San Diego Wave
- Kerolin, North Carolina Courage
- Sophia Smith, Portland Thorns
Defender of the Year
- Naomi Girma, San Diego Wave
- Sarah Gorden, Angel City FC
- Ali Krieger, Gotham FC
- Kaleigh Kurtz, North Carolina Courage
- Sam Staab, Washington Spirit
Goalkeeper of the Year
- Jane Campbell, Houston Dash
- Katie Lund, Racing Louisville
- Kailen Sheridan, San Diego Wave
Rookie of the Year
- Messiah Bright, Orlando Pride
- Jenna Nighswonger, Gotham FC
- Alyssa Thompson, Angel City FC
Coach of the Year
- Juan Carlos Amorós, Gotham FC
- Casey Stoney, San Diego Wave
- Becki Tweed, Angel City FC
Before the 2023 NWSL season began, the Kansas City Current looked ready to build on their run to the 2022 NWSL championship game. The team that made it all the way to the final before falling to the Portland Thorns used the offseason to add depth and looked poised to become the favorites in most matchups, rather than the plucky underdogs.
What happened instead was that the Current became the first team to be eliminated from 2023 playoff contention, likely to finish in either 11th or 12th after the final weekend of the season. A run to the Challenge Cup semifinals notwithstanding (and the organization’s continuously impressive attendance numbers), the season was a disappointment for a team that openly wants to contend for every trophy the NWSL offers.
Was the Current’s problem bad luck or execution? Or were their offseason moves just not as strong as many (myself included) believed? Let’s dive in.
The Lynn Williams trade
In one of the biggest moves of the offseason, Kansas City traded Lynn Williams to Gotham FC in January for the second pick in the 2023 NWSL draft. With the selection, the Current took 20-year-old Michelle Cooper, who was fresh off a standout sophomore season at Duke. The move shocked many, including Williams herself, but the Current had opted for a younger prospect with Williams coming off a long-term hamstring injury.
It’s not fair to directly compare a young NWSL rookie with a veteran counterpart, but Kansas City certainly missed Williams’ output in 2023. In all competitions, Williams has averaged a personal xG of 0.39 per game, scoring nine goals and registering two assists between the regular season and the Challenge Cup. Cooper, while a longer-term project, averaged a personal xG of 0.27 in all competitions, scoring four goals and notching two assists.
Williams also proved to be a distinctly important player in Gotham’s pressing system, immediately making an impact in new manager Juan Carlos Amorós’ style of play that favors one of the best defensive attackers in the league. The 30-year-old looked as comfortable as ever coming back from injury, adjusting to her role at center forward very quickly.
Cooper grew into her season, with an impressive commitment to team defending, and she’ll likely continue to develop into a clinical finisher. But the Current did not see the dividends of their major trade in the same way that Gotham benefitted in 2023.
Free agency fitness struggles
Few teams walked away from the 2023 offseason with more excitement than the Current, who were very ambitious in both their draft strategy and their free agency pick-ups. Kansas City signed Brazilian midfielder Debinha away from North Carolina, which was widely considered the biggest splash of the NWSL’s first-ever free agency period.
They also signed Vanessa DiBernardo and Morgan Gautrat out of Chicago, picked up Swedish international Hanna Glas and re-signed Canada international Desiree Scott. With NWSL clubs able to shape rosters outside of discovery signings or the college draft for the first time this past year, the Current became a team to beat before games began in 2023.
The season played out much differently, however. The Current struggled mightily with injuries: Debinha had a slow start to the season, and Dibernardo and Gautrat never got consistently healthy. Glas, coming off an ACL injury, has yet to make an appearance for the club. The injury bug also extended to other starters, including defender Elizabeth Ball, whose crucial absence resulted in a steep learning curve for a very young backline early in the season.
Kansas City boasts one of the best training facilities in women’s soccer and likely has many learnings to take into 2024 after failing to meet expectations in their third season of NWSL play.
Commitment to coaching
When Kansas City started the 2023 season 0-3, ownership made the swift decision to dismiss head coach Matt Potter, who had led the team to a surprise championship appearance the prior year. Not unlike the Williams trade, bold decision-making appeared to stem from team owners and general manager Camille Ashton. At the time, Potter’s dismissal was chalked up to results and a “lack of collaboration” when others in the front office tried to right the ship.
Assistant coach Caroline Sjöblom took over as interim manager after Potter’s departure and has been a steady presence, even if the team’s regular season results never got a significant boost from the change. Little has been said about Sjöblom’s candidacy for the permanent position once the season is over, but what has appeared to be a methodical coaching search likely also put a limit on what the team could achieve in 2023.
The team may well make a big hiring splash in the offseason — rumors have long swirled around former USWNT head coach Vlatko Andonovski, who won two NWSL Championships as head coach of FC Kansas City and still lives in Kansas City. But firing a head coach three games into a regular season and then riding out the rest of the year with an interim manager could also be perceived as indecision following an impulsive move.
The Current haven’t lost their potential for greatness, having shown a new resilience and reinvigorated offense in recent weeks, including a six-goal output against Chicago last weekend. But they’re also dealing with more upheaval than they could have expected at this point, with an expansion draft approaching. Whether they’ll make slight tweaks or more bold moves remains to be seen.
Claire Watkins is a Staff Writer at Just Women’s Sports. Follow her on Twitter @ScoutRipley.