After a long season, the stage is set for the National Women’s Soccer League playoffs. Eight teams will compete to see who will be crowned the 2026 champions at the end of the month. And there's been plenty of impressive soccer leading up to this point.
This year, the Washington Spirit's Ashley Sanchez tied the single-season league record with 20 goals to get the Golden Boot award. (Croix Bethune of the Kansas City Current set a league record for the most assists, too.) Angel City FC went into the postseason with an impressive 10-match unbeaten streak, making them a big team to watch. The Seattle Reign also locked down the 8th spot in the playoffs in dramatic fashion with a 1-0 win over the Orlando Pride. There were also big changes made to future player contracts, with the NWSL dropping the so-called "Rodman rule" that allows any player in the league to earn the NWSL's highest possible salaries.
That goes into effect on January 1. Finally, the regular season wrapped up with Decision Day on November 1, in which all of the final games kick off at once (whoa). When all was said and done, Gotham FC won the NWSL Shield—more on that in a minute—and all remaining teams locked in their seeding for playoffs.
So, which teams are in contention and how is this all going to go down? Whether you've never seen a NWSL game or need to brush up on the facts, we've got you covered. The NWSL hosts single-elimination playoffs, which means if a team loses once, they're out.
You can compare this to the NFL, whereas leagues like the WNBA, NBA, NHL, and MLB play a best-of series in each round to give teams multiple chances to advance. This is a little confusing, so bear with us. The NWSL Shield is a regular-season honor that culminates at the end of the year.
The Shield is given to the team that has the best record over the regular season, which began back in March. Now, the playoffs begin, and the winner of the playoff tournament wins the NWSL Championship. It's possible to win both the Shield and the Championship, btw.
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