As the world of women’s soccer approaches 2026, the last year may well be remembered for its dynasties.
Chelsea won a sixth straight WSL title, Euros champion England and Copa winner Brazil retained their continental crowns, and Gotham FC lifted a second NWSL trophy in three years.
The winds of change also began to blow in new directions, with Arsenal upsetting Barcelona to win the Champions League final, top NWSL talent departing the US for opportunities overseas, and Kansas City reminding everyone what happens when regular-season dominance meets playoff vulnerability.
Through it all the game continued to grow, with increasingly interesting results on both sides of the pond, as the ramp-up to the 2027 World Cup and a new slate of regional competitions coincide with an ever-shifting economic landscape
So instead of looking back, we’re keeping the spirit of progress alive by presenting five bold predictions for women’s soccer in 2026.
Sophia Wilson’s return: A top contender for 2026 NWSL MVP
News of USWNT Sophia Wilson’s impending return to the Portland Thorns gave NWSL fans a boost earlier this month, with the Triple Espresso forward signing a single-year extension with her original club team.
Expect Wilson to hit the ground running as she comes back from pregnancy. The 2022 NWSL MVP has been very consistent throughout her career, and she’ll be joined by other returning Thorns attackers to bolster her opportunities in front of goal.
Fellow extended Portland star Olivia Moultrie will be paramount to the 25-year-old’s MVP campaign, especially as Wilson looks to challenge two-time reigning MVP Temwa Chawinga.
Don’t bet against Wilson showing shades of Alex Morgan’s 2023 Golden Boot run. That's when the USWNT legend blew past expectations for what new mothers could achieve in their first season back on the pitch.
No repeat champs: Why the women's soccer guards are changing in 2026
Reigning WSL winner Chelsea’s repeat bid is already shaky, with Everton snapping their 34-game unbeaten streak earlier this month. And they’re preparing to enter the new year six points behind Manchester City in the league table.
Blues manager Sonia Bompastor has seemed to prefer a static roster rotation. Of course, she’s charged with managing players from two eras: ex-coach Emma Hayes’s success and the team’s modern iteration. If there was a time for a changing of the WSL guard, 2026 is the year.
Stateside, 2025 NWSL Shield winners Kansas City continue to navigate offseason changes. The Current will start 2026 under brand new leadership, after former head coach Vlatko Andonovski announced he’ll move to a Sporting Director role.
ESPN recently reported Kansas City’s plan to hire former MLS head coach Chris Armas in 2026. But without a formal announcement and the offseason clock ticking, the Current might run out of runway to set up a repeat bid.
2025 NWSL champion Gotham has both FIFA and Concacaf Champions Cup commitments this year, complicating their quest as they maneuver a jam-packed season. The club landed one major re-signing in Midge Purce, but forward Ella Stevens departed for expansion side Boston. Thus, the team is left relying on a title-winning core with an average age over 28.
Arsenal hasn’t looked too terribly far off their Champions League game yet. But the subsequent resurgence of Barcelona and OL Lyonnes could see the WSL on the outside looking in once the tournament reaches May's final.
Despite having a few worthy clubs — including strong newcomers Manchester United — the UK league’s chances of claiming another UWCL title appear overshadowed by mainland Europe’s renewed dominance.
Emma Hayes's USWNT: Expect major roster overhauls in 2026
USWNT coach Emma Hayes embraced change in 2025, giving 43 players their first national team cap this year — the most since 2001.
Though the approach came with some speed bumps. The US matching the single-year total loss record with three dropped matches.
Considering Hayes’s approach, it seems that the future of the USWNT has arrived much sooner than expected. And looking back, those losses actually made an emphatic argument for more lineup overhauls — not less.
The team’s November loss to Portugal showcased a veteran midfield trio in Rose Lavelle, Lindsey Heaps, and Sam Coffey. The lineup exposed the old guard’s weaknesses as the team looks to hold ground among the world’s elite.
Remember — Hayes made the call to leave Alex Morgan off the gold medal-winning 2024 Olympic roster. In doing so, she laid the groundwork for even bigger calls as the US gears up for a tough World Cup qualifying run in 2026.
The global talent war: NWSL salary cap faces European threats
The NWSL closes 2025 with flashy off-field headlines and waning on-field enthusiasm, as it attempts to grapple with a rash of overseas departures.
They’ve even gone so far as to institute a new “High Impact Player” rule allowing teams to exceed the salary cap for top talent. The move comes after rejecting the Washington Spirit’s blockbuster play for superstar striker Trinity Rodman.
Viewed as a half-measure to circumvent larger salary cap issues, the NWSL Players Association has come out against the newly approved mechanism.
The union is advocating for the league to raise the base salary cap across the board. This will help clubs keep up in an increasingly competitive global market without destroying parity.
Whether or not the two parties will reach a compromise remains to be seen. Meantime, it leaves NWSL fans to hope for a solution as wealthy European clubs continue to draw top free agents away from the US league.
Of course, money isn’t everything. Raising the salary cap won’t guarantee NWSL favorites remain Stateside, as another league’s pull features more than just a pay bump. Thoughugh should the NWSL figure things out in time, US clubs might bring in a few big names themselves.
Regardless, expect more players to test their abilities in new environments when the transfer window opens back up in January. And it's especially pressing considering the looming World Cup and its national team implications.
The 2026 Men’s World Cup will transform women’s soccer
International soccer’s largest event lands in the US next year, as the 2026 Men’s World Cup promises to reshape football fandom in this country and beyond.
The NWSL remains bullish on the tournament’s ability to convert soccer fans across gender lines. Though the competition itself is subsequently bound to have a serious and immediate impact on the women’s game.
The NWSL plans to pause for the duration of next summer’s World Cup. This is in part due to infrastructural strains, as the tournament takes over venues shared between men’s and women’s club teams. The USWNT’s World Cup qualifying campaign will also hit the breaks, rendering the team’s summer international windows largely meaningless.
And with Concacaf qualifiers kicking off immediately after the 2026 NWSL Championship, top players will have to balance commitments at the end of a long year.
No matter how the 2026 World Cup ends up influencing US soccer culture, it will inevitably present some challenges as the domestic women’s game pushes to be more than an afterthought alongside the sport’s biggest stage.
Two USWNT legends are seeing their legacies cemented, as the National Soccer Hall of Fame announced on Thursday that retired forwards Tobin Heath and Heather O'Reilly are first-ballot inductees as members of the Class of 2026.
Both Heath and O'Reilly retired as World Cup champions and Olympic medalists, winning their 2008 and 2012 Olympic golds as well as their 2015 World Cup title as teammates.
The USWNT icons led all voting on the Hall of Fame's Player Ballot of 20 finalists, which only allots two to three athletes per annual class for induction.
O'Reilly snagged 47 of the 48-person selection committee's votes, with Heath earning 45 nods for inclusion.
Fellow former USWNT star Sam Mewis finished fifth on the ballot with 32 votes in her first year of eligibility, while longtime NWSL and USWNT player Amy Rodriguez came in seventh with 28 votes.
Longtime Seattle Reign defender Stephanie Cox — a 2008 Olympic gold medalist with the USWNT — also snagged votes, ranking 15th on the Class of 2026 Player Ballot.
Though they fell short of making the cut, a trio of former USWNT stars also earned votes on the 10-finalist Veteran Ballot, with longtime midfielder-turned-broadcaster Aly Wagner as well as legendary '99ers Tiffany Roberts and Lorrie Fair all snagging tallies.
The National Soccer Hall of Fame will induct Heath and O'Reilly as part of its six-person Class of 2026 in a ceremony at Toyota Stadium in Frisco, Texas, on May 1st.
Angel City captain Ali Riley is calling it a career, with the 37-year-old defender announcing plans to retire from professional soccer at the end of the 2025 NWSL season on Tuesday.
"As I reflect on what this game has given me these past three decades, since I started in the Palisades here in LA, I know that I have truly given my all, both physically and emotionally," Riley said in a club statement. "As a player, I strived to be the best teammate, a positive influence in the locker room, and compete on the field every day. For my entire career, I never took a day when I got to play soccer for granted."
"Ali Riley is Angel City. Her heart, grit, and unwavering commitment to lifting everyone around her have shaped the culture of this club," said ACFC CEO and co-founder Julie Uhrman. "Ali has shown us that leadership goes far beyond the pitch; it's in how you care for others, how you show up."
Exiting the global stage after five World Cups and four Olympics with the New Zealand Football Ferns, the Stanford alum also helped pioneer the European women's game, competing in Sweden, England, and Germany from 2012 to 2020 before returning to the NWSL to join the Orlando Pride.
Angel City snagged Riley from the Pride before the expansion team's 2022 debut season, with the captain making her first 2025 club appearance in August after returning from a chronic nerve injury that sidelined her for more than a year.
"I am so proud to be able to say goodbye on my own terms, in my hometown, and know for certain that I am giving everything I have left to the people around me and the sport that shaped me," Riley wrote in her Instagram announcement.
This week marks the 40th anniversary of the first-ever USWNT match, and sports and entertainment memorabilia authenticator The Realest has teamed up with the 1985 roster's 17 founding members to drop a limited-edition '85ers tribute collection.
The collection also coincides with the launch of The 85ers LLC, a first-of-its-kind athlete-owned business backed by the original USWNT players.
"The opportunity to re-design our uniforms, on our terms, to reflect what we would have wanted to wear back in 1985 is incredibly meaningful," said two-time World Cup champion Michelle Akers, who took the field in that inaugural match on August 18th, 1985, in Jesolo, Italy.
Before traveling to Italy for the four-team tournament, USWNT players had to sew USA patches onto hand-me-down men's jerseys — a story that deeply impacted Scott Keeney, founder and CEO of The Realest.
"For a national team, that just felt unbelievable," Keeney told The Athletic about what sparked his company's partnership with the '85ers.
The '85ers capsule collection features the player-designed replica jersey, as well as a T-shirt, a trucker hat, and a commemorative team trading card.
"We designed something modernized but true to the colors and style of that first game in 1985," he continued, explaining that "It's about taking something that was overlooked at the time and flipping it into a moment of pride."
"To have these jerseys now available for us with our names on them, created by us, for us, is really special," Akers told The Athletic. "It's continuing this legacy that we started 40 years ago, but also hopefully it'll impact other people and bring together the past generations into the future."
How to buy the USWNT '85ers memorabilia collection
All items in the limited-edition USWNT '85ers collection are currently available for purchase at The Realest.
Sunday's UEFA Women's Euro Final will look familiar, as world No. 2 Spain and No. 5 England turn the 2025 European Championship into a redux of the 2023 World Cup title match.
"I feel like the hard work has paid off," Spain manager Montse Tomé said after the reigning World Cup champions' hard-earned semifinal win over No. 3 Germany on Wednesday.
"I can't believe what happened — the togetherness of this group is so special," said England star Chloe Kelly following the 2022 Euro champs' own semifinal thriller against No. 13 Italy on Tuesday.
While the pair of European powerhouse share a fairly even head-to-head history, with England claiming a slight edge behind an 8-5-6 (W/L/D) all-time record against La Roja, Spain owns the most recent 2023 high-profile win.
Since that 1-0 World Cup showdown, England and Spain have split their two matchups, taking one apiece in the 2025 UEFA Nations League competition with the Lionesses snagging a 1-0 February win before La Roja fired back with a 2-1 victory last month.
"[The Euro is] something we have never won and is something we are missing," said Spain and Arsenal midfielder Mariona Caldentey. "We respect England, but we will go for it."
How to watch Span vs. England at the Euro Final
Spain will look to unseat 2022 Euro champs England when the pair meet in a 2023 World Cup final rematch on Sunday.
The 2025 Euro grand finale will kicks off at 12 PM ET, airing live on Fox.
FIFA is setting a new goal for the Women's World Cup, with organization president Gianni Infantino stating this week that the governing body is aiming to generate $1 billion in revenue from the international championship tournament.
"Women's football and women in football are crucially important," Infantino said at the 2025 Saudi Arabia/US Investment Forum in Riyadh on Tuesday.
"It's growing as well, and exponentially, and we are targeting [growth] as well to have $1 billion revenue just with the Women's World Cup to reinvest in the women's game."
The public push to hit the billion-dollar mark comes after the 2023 World Cup in Australia and New Zealand became the first edition of the tournament to break even, generating a revenue total over $570 million.
The 2027 World Cup will take place in Brazil, becoming the first iteration ever held in South America, while the US — as the only bid on the table — has a near-guaranteed lock on hosting the 2031 edition.
As FIFA takes aim at its $1 billion target for the 2027 tournament, the 2031 World Cup could have a leg up in the revenue game, with FIFA expanding the competition's field from 32 to 48 teams just last week.
Consequently, that 16-team increase boosts the total matches from 64 in 2027 to 104 in the 2031, instantly creating 62.5% more inventory — a move that could help meet or potentially exceed FIFA's bold new revenue goal.
The 2031 Women's World Cup will expand to 48 teams, with the 16-team increase announced among other landmark decisions by the FIFA Council on Friday.
The decision to expand the World Cup aims to "broaden representation, offering more nations and players access to elite competition and accelerating investment in women's football worldwide," according to the FIFA release.
"The FIFA Women's World Cup 2023, the first in which teams from all confederations won at least one game and teams from five confederations reached the knockout stage, among many other records, set a new standard for global competitiveness," said FIFA President Gianni Infantino.
"This decision ensures we are maintaining the momentum in terms of growing women’s football globally."
The expanded 2031 World Cup, hosted by the US, will adopt a 12-group format, increasing the total number of matches from 64 to 104 while extending the competition for an additional week.
The World Cup expansion announcement comes on the heels of last month's increased Olympic tournament news, with the IOC boosting the women's soccer field to 16 teams at the 2028 LA Games.
The decision also puts the women's competition in line with the men's World Cup, which will feature FIFA's first 48-team tournament in 2026.
FIFA approves Afghan women's refugee team
In the same Friday announcement, the FIFA Council also approved the creation of an Afghanistan women's refugee team, which would provide evacuated Afghan women players the ability to compete on an officially recognized FIFA team.
While FIFA requires that national federations sponsor teams, the Afghan Football Federation ceased acknowledging its women's team once the Taliban-controlled government banned women's sports.
Originally formed by the country's Olympic Committee in 2007, the Afghanistan women's national team has not played a FIFA-recognized match since 2018, and most of its athletes fled the country amidst the Taliban's second takeover in 2021.
Since then, players have petitioned FIFA for the opportunity to compete. Their efforts earned a one-year trial phase from the governing body on Friday, though the success of the program could see it expanded to refugees from other nations in the future.
"We are happy that FIFA has created a pathway for Afghan players to finally return to the field," team founder and former captain Khalida Popal told CNN on Friday, adding that the squad "remain[s] hopeful FIFA can amend its statutes to provide official recognition for our players as the Afghanistan Women's National Team."
Popal — who helped hundreds of Afghans, including the team, escape the Taliban — previously said the team "could show the world that Afghan women and girls belong in sport, in school and everywhere in society — and we will not be defeated."
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."
FIFA president Gianni Infantino confirmed two future Women’s World Cup hosts at the UEFA Congress in Belgrade earlier today.
The 2031 event belongs to the United States, while the United Kingdom will host in 2035.
Infantino cited the UK “Home Nations” (England, Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland) as providing the only “valid bid” for 2035. The US submitted the sole bid for 2031 after ceding a prior campaign to host the 2027 tournament to Brazil.
“As part of the bidding process, we received one bid for '31 and one bid, valid bid, I should add for '35,” said the FIFA president.
“The path is there for the Women's World Cup to be taking place in '31 and '35 in some great countries and some great nations to boost even more the women's football movement.”
US set to host third global FIFA tournament
2031 will mark a record third US-hosted Women's World Cup after successful runs in 1999 and 2003.
The national federation confirmed its intent to submit a 2031 Women's World Cup bid early last month. The decision came soon after FIFA said the 2031 tournament must be played either in North America or Africa.
“We are excited about the opportunity to co-host the 2031 FIFA Women's World Cup and, in collaboration with our Concacaf partners, are committed to delivering a tournament that leaves a lasting legacy,” U.S. Soccer posted. “One that elevates women's soccer across the world and inspires future generations of players and fans.”
Following a successful 2023 expanded tournament in Australia and New Zealand, 32 countries will again feature in the 2027 Women's World Cup. The competition is set to grow to 48 teams by the time the US hosts in 2031.
UK to host first Women's World Cup in 2035
Unlike the US, the UK has never before welcomed the global women’s tournament. England did host the 2022 Women’s Euros, eventually winning the tournament on home soil.
2023 Women's World Cup winners Spain explored a late Women's World Cup bid in conjunction with Portugal and Morocco — their partners in hosting the 2030 men's event. However, FIFA quickly ruled out the possibility in favor of the UK's joint bid.
“Football is and always will be at the core of our country's identity,” UK Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer said last month.
“Whether we watch on TV, play at the weekends like I do, or simply enjoy soaking up the atmosphere in the pub, it brings communities together like little else. That pride was on full display when England hosted UEFA Women's Euro 2022. It not only showed the best of our nation to the world but inspired a generation of girls into the game, all whilst boosting the economy.”
FIFA confirmed that the inaugural Women’s Club World Cup will now kick off in 2028, officially delaying its original 2026 launch this week.
Instead, soccer's world governing body will introduce a new Champions Cup next year, with FIFA ratifying both events on Wednesday.
The alternate Champions Cup will be a smaller, six-club affair with winners from regional tournaments like the UEFA Champions League and Concacaf Champions League.
FIFA plans to make the Champions Cup an annual event set for every year that does not include the quadrennial Club World Cup.
While worldwide club tournaments are an exciting prospect, a crowded schedule, lack of secured funding, and little news of the proposed 19-team Club World Cup’s development prompted timing concerns as 2026 rapidly approaches.
Now kicking off in early 2028, the Club World Cup will initially begin with six top clubs representing the AFC, CAF, Concacaf, CONMEBOL, the OFC, and UEFA. Those teams will take part in the play-in stage, where three winners will advance to the group stage.
Those three clubs must then contend with five directly qualified UEFA teams, plus two direct qualifiers each from CAF, CONMEBOL, AFC, and Concacaf.
While demand for increased global programming is spreading, FIFA’s delay underlines the logistical hurdles of creating new competitions — not to mention the strain they can cause athletes.
"FIFA needs to involve its stakeholders, like the NWSLPA and NWSL, for an event like this to reach its potential," NWSL Players Association executive director Meghann Burke told ESPN on Wednesday.
"Otherwise, they are hamstringing women's football yet again like they've done since time immemorial."
UK takes aim at 2027 FIFA World Cup
In other international soccer news, the UK announced Wednesday that the country is preparing a bid to host the 2035 FIFA World Cup, with England, Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland joining forces in an attempt to bring the sport’s biggest event to the United Kingdom.
England’s track record should make the bid particularly attractive after hosting the 2022 Euro to record-shattering attendance and global viewership success — and seeing the home side emerge victorious in the Lionesses first-ever major tournament win.
"Football is and always will be at the core of our country’s identity," said UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer, throwing the government's full support behind the bid.
"That pride was on full display when England hosted the Women’s Euro 2022. It not only showed the best of our nation to the world but inspired a generation of girls into the game, all whilst boosting the economy."
Should FIFA ultimately award the 2035 hosting duties to the UK, that tournament will mark the first World Cup hosted by the nation since the men's 1966 edition.
With Brazil set to host the 32-team 2027 World Cup and the US expected to lead a serious bid for the expanded 48-team 2031 edition, the FIFA Council officially recommended this week that either African or European nations serve as host for 2035.