With just two games left in the regular season, the race for the NWSL Shield is coming down to the wire.

Just five points separate first-place San Diego and sixth-place OL Reign — and mathematically, no team has been eliminated from the playoffs yet. That means that the final two weekends of the regular season will be a race to the finish line. The top six teams in the standings at the end of the regular season will make the playoffs.

OL Reign have dropped off in recent weeks, which leaves them just barely hanging on to the final playoff spot with 28 points. The San Diego Wave, meanwhile, have jumped back into the top spot of the league rankings.

Stock up: San Diego Wave

Once again, San Diego is trending upward, back atop the NWSL standings courtesy of Saturday’s 2-0 win against second-place Portland. Star forward Alex Morgan got her first goal in four months, a good sign for the Wave as they became the first (and, so far, only) team to clinch a spot in the playoffs.

“All-around, it was a huge performance from every single one of us,” midfielder Danielle Colaprico said after the game.

And now, San Diego is setting its sights on its next goal: the NWSL Shield. The Wave are playing in just their second season since joining the league as an expansion franchise, but they have won four of their last five matches.

“I can’t speak highly enough of my squad tonight,” San Diego head coach Casey Stoney said. “I think they bought in, they were engaged, they were focused. They worked so hard, and I thought they deserved the win tonight.

“Now it’s about that mentality next week, because yes we clinched playoffs, great, but what can we now achieve? That’s the standard that we’ve set tonight and really, really proud of them.”

Stock down: OL Reign

OL Reign managed to hold onto their playoff spot by their fingernails Sunday in a 1-1 draw with the North Carolina Courage. But the reigning NWSL Shield winners have managed just four points in their last five games, and they aren’t coming up with the wins needed to secure a playoff spot, let alone the prize for the best team of the regular season.

With several teams, including the Houston Dash and Angel City FC, hot on their heels, OL Reign is going to have to find a spark if they want to send off retiring star Megan Rapinoe with an NWSL championship. But the Washington Spirit and Chicago Red Stars likely will provide tough challenges to close out season.

Potential sleeper: Nobody

Recent run of play makes it difficult to find a potential sleeper for the Shield. While many teams are in the mix for the playoffs, several of the teams in postseason position are just trying to hold onto their spots.

Gotham FC are in third place, but they have won just one game in their last five — but that is better than fourth-place North Carolina, which has won zero. While the Spirit won this weekend, they went winless in the four games before that. Angel City FC have not lost in five games, but clinching the Shield is a mathematical impossibility. Even winning their last two matches would bring them to just 31 points – less than the Wave’s 33.

At this point, the NWSL Shield looks like San Diego’s to lose.

NWSL standings (Oct. 2, 2023)

  1. San Diego Wave, 33 points
  2. Portland Thorns, 32
  3. Gotham FC, 30
  4. North Carolina Courage, 29
  5. Washington Spirit, 29
  6. OL Reign, 28
  7. Houston Dash, 26
  8. Orlando Pride, 25
  9. Angel City, 25
  10. Racing Louisville, 24
  11. Chicago Red Stars, 24
  12. Kansas City Current, 22

Just three games remain in the NWSL regular season, and the players are continuing to make their case in their campaigns for the end-of-year awards.

Since Just Women’s Sports’ last check-in, no one player has pushed to the front of the pack, setting the stage for a frantic final push. Here are the players to watch in the final weeks of the season.

MVP: Sophia Smith, Portland Thorns

Shortlist: Adriana, Kerolin, Morgan Weaver, Ashley Hatch

While it remains unclear whether or not Smith will make her return from an MCL sprain during the regular season, she is back training with Portland. And her work early on in the season still puts her ahead of everyone else in the MVP race. Not only does she lead the league in goals scored with 11, she’s also second in the league in assists with five. Her goals per 90 sits at 0.88, far ahead of the next best in the league (Kerolin, 0.57). Teams don’t have an answer for the reigning MVP, and Portland has missed her in her absence.

Elsewhere, Smith’s teammate Morgan Weaver has been putting together her own case for MVP in the final weeks of the season. She’s got three goals in three games and is putting up better numbers than anyone else in the league right now.

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Tara McKeown is in the thick of the competition for the Defender of the Year award. (Dennis Schneidler/USA TODAY Sports)

Defender of the Year: Tara McKeown, Washington Spirit

Shortlist: Tatumn Milazzo, Sarah Gorden, Natalia Kuikka, Sam Staab

Fresh off a contract extension, Tara McKeown has had a standout season alongside Sam Staab. The 24-year-old defender ranks first in the league in clearances and sixth in interceptions. But while she’s been a steady presence for the Spirit, Washington hasn’t won in six games, which puts her in a tough spot.

Meanwhile, Tatumn Milazzo has once again been a bright spot for a Chicago Red Stars back line that has struggled but has started to find its groove toward the end of the season. And Sarah Gorden has had a great bounce-back season from an ACL tear for Angel City, who remain in playoff contention.

Goalkeeper of the year: Katie Lund, Racing Louisville

Shortlist: Casey Murphy, Kailen Sheridan, Jane Campbell

Katie Lund leads the league in many goalkeeping categories, and she has been one of the big reasons for Racing Louisville’s turnaround this season. She’s allowed among the fewest goals in the league per 90 (1.00) – with Jane Campbell of the Houston Dash the only goalkeeper to allow fewer goals (0.79).

While Louisville is still searching for its identity, Lund has managed to keep them in the conversation for the playoffs.

Coach of the Year: Becki Tweed, Angel City

Shortlist: Sean Nahas, Juan Carlos Amorós, Mike Norris

Becki Tweed might be the interim head coach for Angel City, but she’s led the team on an astounding turnaround after the team parted ways with Freya Coombe in June. Since then, the team has put together an 11-game unbeaten streak. Not much has changed; Tweed has just made things a little bit clearer and in turn has made Angel City a possible postseason contender.

If Angel City qualifies for the playoffs, naming Tweed as coach of the year is a no-brainer. But Sean Nahas has led Gotham on a tear in his first year as head coach, turning them into one of the best teams in the league. Part of the success is due to the addition of Lynn Williams. But he’s also managed to bring World Cup champion Esther González to the NWSL, which has further boosted the club as it makes a push for the playoffs. If the winner of this award isn’t Tweed, Nahas should take it home.

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Orlando Pride forward Messiah Bright and Gotham FC midfielder Jenna Nighswonger are among the players battling it out for Rookie of the Year. (Cory Knowlton/USA TODAY Sports)

Rookie of the Year: Messiah Bright, Orlando Pride

Shortlist: Alyssa Thompson, Paige Metayer, Jenna Nighswonger

This year’s Rookie of the Year race is less clear-cut, but Messiah Bright has continued to stand out amongst the rookie class. Her six goals lead all rookies, and she’s worked well with Adriana and Marta down in Orlando.

Alyssa Thompson also has been a bright spot for Angel City, putting her in contention for this award. She came out hot in her first NWSL season and has been consistently getting better as the season has progressed.

After the final whistle blew in North Carolina’s 2-0 Challenge Cup final victory over Racing Louisville on Saturday, the collective energy held both jubilation and relief. The Challenge Cup is a recent staple of the NWSL calendar, an in-season competition that has uplifted and strained the boundaries of what a domestic competition can look like in the U.S.

With changes to the Challenge Cup possibly on the horizon in 2024, let’s take a look at what the 2023 competition meant not just for its winner, but also the NWSL as a whole.

North Carolina is going to be just fine

With record prize money on the line, sometimes the main takeaway from a Cup competition begins and ends with the winner. This year, the Courage took the crown, adding a second-straight Challenge Cup title to their long list of NWSL championship wins and earning a payout from the $1 million prize pool. The win can serve as a galvanizing force for a talented squad firmly in the mix for a playoff spot, currently in third place in the regular season standings.

The Courage’s past success rightfully looms large over everything the current team does. What head coach Sean Nahas has managed to accomplish in a relatively short amount of time is to mold a group that plays with the same core, on-field values as the titans of 2017-19, while letting his current roster be themselves.

Brazil superstar Kerolin was her typical excellent self on Saturday, but the young players around her are the foundation of what North Carolina hopes will turn into many trophies in the future. It’s no secret the Courage have lost an immense amount of talent through requested trades and free agency in recent years, but their acquisitions have quietly come together to form a balanced group ready to prove itself. Brianna Pinto’s game-winner in the team’s Challenge Cup semifinal gave the team a necessary boost, and 19-year-old midfielder Manaka Matsukubo enjoyed her star moment with a brilliant strike to seal the victory in the final and win MVP.

In 2022, the tolls of North Carolina’s Challenge Cup victory early in the regular season appeared to haunt them as they fell out of playoff contention. This year, it could be the force that propels them to new heights.

A change in format is probably necessary

There have been reports that 2023 was the final iteration of the Challenge Cup in its current format, and issues during the knockout rounds highlighted why the NWSL is likely rethinking the future of the competition. Originally created to replace a COVID-19 pandemic-disrupted regular season in 2020, and then to mitigate regular season risks in 2021, the Cup has been an awkward fit the last two years.

Managers across the league have bemoaned the strain on their limited squad depth when adding games to the schedule. Though a more balanced approach to mid-week games softened the blow in 2023, a number of clubs seemed to prioritize simple rotation over going far in the Challenge Cup. It’s hard to fault managers for favoring the prizes of the regular season, but those decisions did produce an element of viewership fatigue.

That fatigue extended to players themselves, as travel and TV issues pervaded what was supposed to be the crowning week for the Cup. A 12:30 ET broadcast slot on CBS strained the concept of the top seed hosting the final — OL Reign forward Bethany Balcer noted on social media that if the West Coast club had taken the top spot, they would have been forced to travel cross-country on short rest anyway. The Courage, who did end up hosting the final, then dealt with a short turnaround to drum up local support for an extra game put on the schedule at the last minute.

As fate would have it, the Challenge Cup never made it all the way through its network TV time slot, with a weather delay pushing the match to digital streaming services. The NWSL should realistically look for more programming than a one 22-game season, but as it negotiates new broadcasting deals, this competitive sacrifice at the hands of short-term TV goals would be better left in the past.

The Challenge Cup also has its uses

Despite lingering logistical problems, the Challenge Cup did showcase its value during a major tournament year. The NWSL took just two match weekends off during the World Cup, but the Cup allowed them to avoid regular season matches from July 10 to Aug. 17, meaning that international stars missed far fewer season games than in previous cycles.

The flexibility provided by the Challenge Cup has brought about one of the closest Shield and playoff races in history. Instead of teams being punished for losing their stars during the World Cup, they got to welcome those players back with the league table mostly intact. That approach preserves the integrity of the competition and keeps top players who don’t want to miss their national team camps or club games happy.

The Challenge Cup also provides an NWSL-sanctioned opportunity to win another trophy, which should be prioritized even if the format of the tournament changes in the future. Players often talk about domestic or regional competitions as a draw of playing in Europe, and the NWSL will need to continue to keep pace with their international counterparts. Opening a Cup up to lower-tier club teams in the U.S., or even expanding to other regions in the Western Hemisphere (particularly Liga MX Femenil), would help add prestige to trophy opportunities outside of the NWSL Shield and championship title.

The NWSL doesn’t have the ability to create a Champions League on its own: Concacaf would have to help make that a reality. But they can look to create competitive variety for fans to enjoy and cater to advantages elsewhere. Racing Louisville’s run to the Cup final is one that clubs should be trying to emulate, rather than shy away from.

Claire Watkins is a Staff Writer at Just Women’s Sports. Follow her on Twitter @ScoutRipley.

The North Carolina Courage successfully defended their 2022 Challenge Cup title Saturday, taking home the 2023 crown with a 2-0 win over Racing Louisville. With the victory, the club has seven NWSL titles in seven years – two Challenge Cups, three Shields, and two league championships.

After knocking on the door throughout the Challenge Cup, Kerolin got the Courage on the board early and they never looked back. Manaka Matuskubo got the team’s second in the 54th minute, making the 19-year-old the youngest player to score in any NWSL title game and earning her MVP honors.

“It’s a world-class finish,” Courage coach Sean Nahas said of Matuskubo’s strike. “I don’t think anyone else would have thought about hitting that first time out of the air. I think it shows the level of IQ she has. … I’m thrilled for her.

“She was shocked that she won the MVP. But for a 19-year-old to come into this environment and have an impact I think says a lot about her.”

In addition to Matuskubo, who deserves to be among the Best XI for the Challenge Cup semifinals and championship match? Just Women’s Sports makes our picks from the North Carolina Courage, Racing Louisville, OL Reign and Kansas City Current.

2023 NWSL Challenge Cup: Best XI

GK – Casey Murphy (North Carolina)

While the goal scorers were key for the Courage, the USWNT goalkeeper recorded two clean sheets in the semifinals and the final, saving three shots total, to help ensure consecutive Challenge Cup titles for her team.

D – Ryan Williams (North Carolina)

Williams played a key role on the Courage back line, which allowed just three shots on target throughout the Challenge Cup semifinal and final. In the championship match, she won three of her tackles and recorded two interceptions.

D – Malia Berkely (North Carolina)

Against Kansas City in Wednesday’s 1-0 semifinal win, Berkely recorded three tackles and one interception, while recording a game-high 97.7% completion rate on her passes, finishing on 86 of 88 attempts. Against Louisville, she also recorded a shot on target.

D – Phoebe McClernon (OL Reign)

McClernon was all over the field defensively for OL Reign in their semifinal loss to Racing Louisville, recording a game-high six tackles and three interceptions. She also held a 72.4% completion rate on 58 attempted passes, and her 42 completions were second only to teammate Sofia Huerta.

M – Brianna Pinto (North Carolina)

Pinto scored the game-winner in North Carolina’s semifinal matchup against Kansas City in stoppage time to send the team to the Challenge Cup final. While she had just 11 touches, she made the most of them, completing five of six total passes.

M – Denise O’Sullivan (North Carolina)

The foundation of North Carolina’s defensive midfield, O’Sullivan winning a game-high seven tackles in the championship match. Against Kansas City in the semifinal, she had an astounding 90.8% completion rate on her passes, and she had two tackles and one block while also recording a shot.

M – Savannah DeMelo (Louisville)

Before leaving for the World Cup with the USWNT, DeMelo was one of Louisville’s best Challenge Cup players. And she picked up where she left off upon her return. Against OL Reign, she had three shots – including one on target – while also recording two tackles and two blocks. Her 0.3 xG was the best for Louisville in that game.

M – Mana Matsukubo (North Carolina)

North Carolina’s 19-year-old midfielder made history in the NWSL Challenge Cup final, earning her a spot on the tournament’s Best XI. She had two shots – both of which were on target – in the final, converting on the one.

F – Kerolin (North Carolina)

The Brazilian star placed among the league’s top shot-takers throughout the Challenge Cup but had not converted until Saturday, when she scored the game-winner against Louisville. She finished the match with five shots, three of them on target. She also played well in the semifinal, recording two shots, one tackle and a team-high four blocks.

F – Michelle Cooper (Kansas City)

The 20-year-old rookie out of Duke had a great semifinal game for the Current, recording a team-high two shots and three tackles. Her 0.6 xG led the Current, and she also had a 72.2% completion rate on her passes.

F – Kirsten Davis (Louisville)

Davis helped Racing Louisville to their first-ever NWSL championship game with a goal against OL Reign in the semifinal. She also had a tackle and a block in that game while completing 78.6% of her passes.

Manaka Matsukubo made history during the 2023 NWSL Challenge Cup – in more ways than one.

Matsukubo, 19, a midfielder for the North Carolina Courage, became the youngest player to start in a game in the tournament. And then, on Saturday, after the Courage’s 2-0 win over Racing Louisville in the final, she was named Challenge Cup MVP.

After the game, Matsukubo was asked through a translator how she felt. But instead of waiting for the translation, Matsukubo beamed and offered her answer: “I’m so happy.” Her teammates erupted in joy around her.

The midfielder scored in the 54th minute of the final, icing the win after Kerolin found the back of the net in the 28th minute.

Matsukubo scored on an assist from teammate Tess Boade, who broke through the line and sent a through ball to Manaka. Manaka one-timed the reception and chipped the ball into the top right corner of the net, becoming the youngest player ever to score in the Challenge Cup.

The Courage acquired Matsukubo on loan from Mynavi Sendai of the Japanese WE League for a fee. She had scored four goals and added an assist during the 2022-23 WE League season.

“We are very excited to add another young talent to the team. Manaka is one of the young up and coming talents in world football. A player with a simple approach to the game and ability to unlock opposition through the thirds,” Courage head coach Sean Nahas said in a press release announcing her acquisition.

The North Carolina Courage will host Racing Louisville at 12:30 p.m. ET Saturday with the 2023 NWSL Challenge Cup title on the line. Catch all the action on CBS.

While this year could mark the end of the Challenge Cup tournament as we know it, the prize pool stands at a hefty $1 million — including $10,000 per player to the winning team.

Racing Louisville secured their spot in the championship match with a 1-0 win over OL Reign, while the Courage got a 1-0 win of their own over the Kansas City Current to make their second consecutive Challenge Cup final.

What to know about Racing Louisville

  • This is their first Challenge Cup final. The No. 4 seed heading into the semifinals, the club finished in second place in its group but snuck into the knockout stage.
  • Savannah DeMelo leads Challenge Cup scoring for Louisville with three goals and one assist in the tournament through just four Challenge Cup games played. The midfielder missed several group-stage matches while playing for the U.S. women’s national team at the 2023 World Cup.
  • Racing Louisville were without captain Jaelin Howell and defender Carson Pickett for Wednesday’s semifinal but still managed a win by capitalizing on a turnover in the 28th minute. Kirsten Davis scored the game’s lone goal. “She has been taking one step forward,” head coach Kim Björkegren said of the development of Davis. “She has better control over everything: the ball and the target play. She can keep the ball for us much stronger.”
  • Katie Lund has been outstanding in net throughout the Challenge Cup, recording three clean sheets, which is tied for the league lead in the tournament.
  • This will be Racing’s third cup final but first in an NWSL competition. The club won the first-ever Women’s Cup in 2021 before losing last year’s Women’s Cup final. “It’s been such a ride,” Lund said of the team’s journey. “We’ve been up and we’ve been down. But I truly believe this is the best team we’ve ever had. The belief is there. The support that we have is incredible. And we felt that tonight. So, just the energy around this club right now is really positive and we hope we can move that to Saturday.”

What to know about North Carolina

  • This is North Carolina’s second-straight Challenge Cup final appearance, with the Courage having won their first title in 2022. “I said to them after the game, it was a moment. It was a moment that we’ll remember,” said Courage head coach Sean Nahas following the team’s semifinal. “It was a true test of character for our group. We knew we had it in us.”
  • Brianna Pinto scored the game winner in the semifinal, which proved to be the game’s only goal, in the 96th minute. “I think we did a really great job re-setting our culture,” Pinto said of the team’s overhaul in the last year in the wake of the scandal involving former coach Paul Riley. “Everyone has bought into it.”
  • Kerolin was named the MVP of the 2022 final, a 2-1 victory over the Washington Spirit. She has been quiet in this year’s campaign but has generated four shots on goal through four matches, which is tied for second on the squad.
  • Brittany Ratcliffe leads the team with three goals through six games played. Haley Hopkins and Olivia Wingate have the most points, with two goals and two assists each.
  • The Courage will play host in this year’s Challenge Cup final. “For us to have the opportunity to win a trophy on Saturday is massive, especially at home and especially for this young group,” Nahas said. “It’s a moment that’s only going to help us grow and improve and believe in ourselves.”

The NWSL Challenge Cup semifinals are almost here, with four teams set to face off on Wednesday for a spot in Saturday’s championship game.

This will reportedly be the last iteration of the Challenge Cup, with the NWSL planning to abandon the tournament in 2024, according to The Equalizer. Thus, Kansas City, North Carolina, OL Reign and Racing Louisville are all looking to win what could be the final Challenge Cup in NWSL history.

Semifinal #1: Kansas City Current vs. North Carolina Courage

Wednesday @ 8 p.m. ET (CBS Sports Network)

The Current and Courage are both going into their Challenge Cup semifinal matchup with some lumps. Kansas City is 1-1 in its last two games after a big 1-0 win over OL Reign on Aug. 18, while North Carolina has gone winless in its last four games. The Courage were on the verge of a win against Gotham FC on Saturday, before they squandered a two-goal lead late to draw 3-3.

In the Challenge Cup, North Carolina put on a clinic in back-to-back games in July — a 6-0 win over the Spirit and a 5-0 win over Orlando.

Still, recent history appears to favor Kansas City. The teams are tied 1-1 in their regular season series, with the Current taking the most recent game. Veteran forward Kristen Hamilton also came up big for the 2022 NWSL runners-up in their last Challenge Cup game, scoring a brace in a 3-0 win over Racing Louisville.

Prediction: Kansas City 2, North Carolina 1

Semifinal #2: OL Reign vs. Racing Louisville

Wednesday @ 10 p.m. ET (CBS Sports Network)

Racing Louisville is riding high heading into their semifinal match against OL Reign. They haven’t lost a game since a 3-0 Challenge Cup defeat to Kansas City on Aug. 5, and they haven’t lost an NWSL regular season game since June. On Saturday, they came from behind to defeat No. 2 Portland 2-1. With most of their players back from the World Cup, Racing Louisville could be a surprise contender in the Challenge Cup.

OL Reign, meanwhile, lost three in a row before beating the Orlando Pride on Saturday. After registering wins over San Diego and Portland in the Challenge Cup, they enter the knockout rounds as the No. 1 seed.

Each game between Louisville and OL Reign this season resulted in a 2-2 draw, so expect this to be an even matchup and a game that goes down to the wire.

Prediction: OL Reign 2, Racing Louisville 2 (LOU wins on penalties 4-3)

Championship: Racing Louisville vs. Kansas City

Saturday @ 12:30 p.m. ET (CBS)

Kansas City has the knockout-round pedigree, but Racing Louisville has the momentum and could ride it all the way to the Challenge Cup trophy. Louisville will lean on the USWNT’s Savannah DeMelo and Jaelin Howell to set the tone in the midfield and spur the attack in a hard-fought game.

Prediction: Racing Louisville 1, Kansas City 0

MVP pick: Savannah DeMelo

With four games left in the 2023 NWSL regular season, the league table is getting tight at the top.

Just four points separate the first-place San Diego Wave and the sixth-place Washington Spirit. Racing Louisville and Angel City are close behind in seventh and eighth, respectively, with 24 points. The top six teams in the standings at the end of the regular season make the playoffs.

Last season’s Shield winner, OL Reign, currently sit in fourth with 27 points. But who could win it this year? Just Women’s Sports breaks it down with over a month to go.

Stock up: San Diego Wave

San Diego notched a 1-0 win over the Houston Dash on Sunday, thanks to Jaedyn Shaw’s goal, to catapult to the top of the NWSL table. Currently on a three-game win streak, the Wave are peaking with the playoffs approaching.

“To get three wins in a row in this league is really, really difficult,” said Wave assistant coach Louis Hunt. “And not something that teams do too often. So the fact that we’ve been able to do it after the run that we were on prior is massive, and it puts us in a really, really strong position.”

The Wave spent time in the No. 1 spot last season but were unable to close it out to win the NWSL Shield. This time could be different, in just their second season as an expansion franchise.

Stock down: North Carolina Courage

The Courage led the table at one point in the season, but they’ve had a rough go of it in their last four regular-season games. After losing two in a row — with Challenge Cup games taking place in between — they’ve drawn their last two. North Carolina’s last win came on July 1 against Houston.

They were close to securing a win over Gotham on Saturday, leading 3-1 into the 70th minute, before Gotham scored two late goals to pull level. One bright spot during the Courage’s winless streak has been the offense, which has scored in eight straight NWSL games and in 15 of 18 games. Only the second-place Portland Thorns have scored goals in more NWSL matches this season.

Potential sleeper: Angel City FC

No team has had a better record in its last five games than Angel City. The Los Angeles club has won their last two games, including becoming the first California team to defeat OL Reign on Aug. 27, and has gone unbeaten in their last seven under interim head coach Becki Tweed.

Sitting at 24 points, Angel City has an uphill battle to win the Shield. But if they continue on their current streak, and other dominoes fall their way, Angel City could end up as a dark-horse contender in the postseason.

Full league standings

  1. San Diego Wave, 30 pts
  2. Portland Thorns, 29 pts
  3. North Carolina Courage, 28 pts
  4. OL Reign, 27 pts
  5. Gotham FC, 27 pts
  6. Washington Spirit, 26 pts
  7. Racing Louisville, 24 pts
  8. Angel City, 24 pts
  9. Orlando Pride, 22 pts
  10. Houston Dash, 20 pts
  11. Chicago Red Stars, 20 pts
  12. Kansas City Current, 19 pts

The group stage of the NWSL Challenge Cup is complete, and only four teams remain.

The two finalists will be determined Sept. 6, when the Kansas City Current play the North Carolina Courage and OL Reign face Racing Louisville in the semifinals.

Teams will ideally have their international players back from the World Cup for the Challenge Cup knockout rounds. The World Cup final takes place on Sunday, Aug. 20, two days after the NWSL regular season resumes and two and a half weeks before the Challenge Cup semifinals.

Here is a guide to the NWSL knockout games.

Kansas City Current vs. North Carolina Courage

Sept. 6 at 8 p.m. ET (CBS Sports Network)

Kansas City shut out Racing Louisville 3-0 in their final match in the group stage to clinch the Challenge Cup Central Division title for the second straight year, with a record of 4-1-1.

North Carolina, meanwhile, won the East Division with a 3-1-2 record despite falling to Gotham FC 2-0 in their final match of group play.

OL Reign vs. Racing Louisville FC

Sept. 6 at 10 p.m. ET (CBS Sports Network)

The Reign became the first team in tournament history to not allow a single goal in group play. The team went 4-0-2 in the group stage to win the West Division.

Louisville secured the most points (12) among second-place finishing teams in the group stage, finishing 4-2.

Challenge Cup Final

Sept. 9 at 12:30 p.m. ET (CBS)

The winners of each semifinal game will meet in the championship three days later. The Courage are the reigning Challenge Cup champions, while the other semifinalists have never before hoisted the trophy.

For the best in the world, thousands of small decisions go into the final product we see on the field. And for U.S. women’s national team defender Emily Fox, the work beneath the surface begins at her very foundation.

For years, women’s soccer players have had to work overtime to get cleats made for men to fit their feet. Fox has gone down a size, she’s double- and triple-socked a size above her own, and she’s even tried toe socks to get the feel right.

“With the sizing and the fit, [you’re] making sure that you don’t feel like the cleat is like going to slip or it’s too tight and you feel like you can’t move your ankle,” Fox tells Just Women’s Sports on behalf of Under Armour, who will soon release their Magnetico Elite 3 FG Soccer Cleats with women athletes’ feet in mind.

Tinkering to perfect the feel of a cleat for the best first touch could serve as a metaphor for Fox’s career. She’s grown from a college student thrown in the deep end, to sink-or-swim in her first USWNT minutes, to steady starter as the team heads to Australia and New Zealand to compete for a third-straight World Cup title.

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(Courtesy of Under Armour)

Fox is only 25 years old and entering her first World Cup, but on the field she often plays like a longtime veteran of the USWNT. She played her first minutes with the team in 2018, when she was just in her second year at the University of North Carolina, and even earned a start as the team tested the player pool in anticipation of the 2019 World Cup.

Fans will most likely remember Fox’s one cap from 2019, when she started at outside back against France in the USWNT’s first game of the year. In that 3-1 loss, the U.S. took some knocks that became the springboard for necessary growth, paving the way for the team to defeat the host country in Paris in the World Cup quarterfinals later that year.

For Fox, that game was a trial by fire, as she earned crucial international minutes against a team operating on all cylinders.

“I think everyone always talks about, ‘Oh, you’re gonna have ups and downs.’ And then everyone’s like, ‘OK, I’m gonna have ups and downs,’ but then it happens,” she says. “And you’re like, oh, it is really tough. So I think looking back, it was a really good thing for me.”

She went back to work outside the USWNT ranks, captaining the Tar Heels and finishing with two College Cup finals appearances during her NCAA career. She went from there to the NWSL, as the No. 1 pick of Racing Louisville FC in 2021. But Fox’s dream has always been to take her hard-earned experience to the biggest of international stages.

“I remember the last World Cup, watching and really being like, I want to be there next time,” she says.

She’s since returned to her college region, playing for the North Carolina Courage and honing a host of skills that have shaped her into a versatile and reliable defender for club and country. With Louisville, Fox would appear to take on a number of different positions at once — she’d line up at outside-back, but also dip into the midfield, make attacking runs and sub into the central defense when they needed greater numbers.

Fox has settled into an inverted left-back role for North Carolina, where she is encouraged to strategically cut into the middle to join the midfield. She believes some of her skills lend themselves to the No. 6 defensive midfield position.

“I love to cut inside and dribble, whether I’m on the left or right,” she said at USWNT World Cup media day. “Just being able to combine with people and kind of sit in good pockets to change the point of attack.”

The modern outside back has to be able to do many things, playing attacker, midfielder and defender all in an instant depending on the flow of play. Fox relishes the opportunity to take care of business on both sides of the ball.

“With [the U.S.], we have teams that are playing in a low block, and so it is the outside back, it is the No. 6 making a run that the No. 10 would normally make that opens and breaks people up,” she says.

Fox takes to heart the greater responsibility of starting for the USWNT, which requires her to get “high and wide” when switching from left back to right back to allow room for Crystal Dunn on the left. Training with Dunn, Becky Sauerbrunn and a few other U.S. players during the 2023 offseason helped the 25-year-old settle into a defense that she’d been rotating in and out of previously.

“It was really nice being able to train with them because I only see them at camp,” she says. “So seeing them out of camp, it was nice to see that they kind of have the same struggles and stress as I did.”

The World Cup is a stressful process, but it’s also an opportunity for Fox to cement her role as a starter for the No. 1-ranked team in the world by proving her versatility and consistency.

“I think a lot of it has to do with not expecting anything and not taking anything for granted,” she says. “I think having that mentality of always wanting more, and wanting to challenge yourself and not just thinking about success.”

The USWNT has also relied on Fox to carry heavy minutes, something she says has taken time to get accustomed to. It’s difficult to replicate the grueling schedule of a World Cup group stage, but head coach Vlatko Andonovski attempted to mimic it at this year’s SheBelieves Cup.

“I really think this past SheBelieves, playing in all three of those games and the back-to-back-to-back, after that I was like, ‘If I can do this, I can do anything,” she says.

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(Brad Smith/USSF/Getty Images)

The U.S. is going to rely on Fox as a player who can both carry the ball forward and make the necessary recovery run against international opponents stacked with winger talent.

“It is just another challenge. And obviously, it’s at the world stage, so it’s going to be more intense, it’s going to be loud,” she says. “But I think just doing my role and locking down my side, and no matter who I’m playing against, how can I lock down my side but also make them chase and defend?”

When Fox steps out on the field in New Zealand starting next week, she’ll be capitalizing on six years of work within the U.S. first team, and living out a dream that started much earlier.

“My parents are coming,” she says with a smile. “So I think it’ll be pretty surreal when I get to see them in the crowd, and obviously it’s such a trek to get there, and they’ve made so many sacrifices for me to be here. So, I think that is probably a moment when I’ll be like, ‘Oh my gosh.’”

Claire Watkins is a Staff Writer at Just Women’s Sports. Follow her on Twitter @ScoutRipley.