The 2024 National Women’s Soccer League playoffs are approaching. And they’re bigger than ever.

With two expansion teams joining the league this year, making the league 14 teams, the play-offs have been expanded to include eight teams instead of six for the first time.

Over the next three weeks, these eight teams will compete to become the NWSL champion.

Here’s everything you need to know to prepare for the NWSL Playoffs.

The top eight teams from the NWSL regular season will advance to the play-offs. These teams will be ranked from one to eight.

The first round, to be held from November 8 to 10, will be a straight quarter-final with the top seed taking on the eighth seed, the second seed taking on the seventh seed, the third seed taking on the sixth seed, and the fourth seed taking on the fifth seed. . This is a single-game knockout with no away goals and matches will be decided by penalties if the tie remains after 30 minutes of extra time.

After the quarter-finals come the semi-finals. Two matches will be held on November 16, featuring the four winners of the opening round. The home team will be the team that is most successful in reaching the quarter-finals.

Finally, the two winning teams in the semifinals will meet at CPKC Stadium in Kansas City on November 23 to fight for the championship.

One thing to keep in mind is that the NWSL playoff tournament will not be re-seeded. The group is now in its final form as each club has its own route already determined.

One side of the draw includes Orlando Pride, Chicago Red Stars, KC Current and North Carolina Courage. On the other side are Washington Spirit, Bay FC, NJ/NY Gotham FC and Portland Thorns.

For example, if the Pride beat the Chicago Red Stars, then they will face the Current or Courage and will not be re-seeded against the lowest seeded Semifinal team.

This is the 11th full season in NWSL history. Only six clubs have ever won the title; two of those clubs, FC Kansas City (2014 and 2015) and Western New York Flash (2016), have been dissolved.

Portland has the most wins of any club with three championships (2013, 2017 and 2022). There’s also North Carolina, which won back-to-back championships in 2018 and 2019. The Spirit and Gotham captured their first and only titles in 2021 and 2023, respectively.

The NWSL Shield trophy is awarded to the top-ranked club during the regular season. Only the Courage won the Shield in 2018 and 2019 and then also made the play-offs. The team that won the Shield in the previous three seasons was eliminated in the semi-finals.

The Bay will make their playoff debut as a 2024 expansion team against the Spirit on November 10. The California club became the second expansion team to make the playoffs in its first season, after the San Diego Wave in 2022.

In 2023, each player on the winning team was awarded $15,000 in prize money. Players from the losing club in the final received $11,250, losing semifinalists received $7,500, and losing quarterfinalists received $3,750.

Orlando Pride

Orlando, the number one team of the regular season, broke the record with a total of 60 points (18-2-6). This is the club’s first appearance in the play-offs since 2017. It will be very difficult to beat Seb Hines’ side, who have the best defensive record in the league (20 goals conceded) and club legend Marta will look to bring home the title.

Unbeaten in the first 23 matches of the year, Orlando finished the regular season by losing two of its last three matches. Moreover, Pride’s top scorer, Barbra Banda, could not find the goal in the last five matches and had only scored one goal since July.

Spirit of Washington

The Spirit expect former FC Barcelona head coach Jonatan Giráldez to join the team in June, while assistant Adrian Gonzalez guided the club through the first half of the season. Before and after Giráldez’s arrival, Washington has been one of the league’s most explosive teams.

However, injuries and suspensions also caught up with them. Star players Croix Bethune and Andi Sullivan will not be able to participate in the play-offs due to knee injuries, while Trinity Rodman is likely to play with a back injury. Breakout forward Rosemounde Koaussi will miss the quarterfinal against Bay. He is suspended due to a red card.

NJ/NY Gotham FC

Another team with some availability issues, but Gotham likely has the roster depth to weather the storm. Juan Carlos Amoros’ team, one of the biggest spenders in the NWSL, made a big splash last season by signing a quartet of USWNT players: Crystal Dunn, Tierna Davidson, Emily Sonnett and Rose Lavelle.

The reigning NWSL champions couldn’t have entered the playoffs in better shape. Gotham is unbeaten in its last eight games, winning seven of them. In this series, Yazmeen Ryan became one of the stars with three goals and two assists alongside midfielders Delanie Sheehan and Nealy Martin.

Kansas City Current

The story of the Current’s season has been Temwa Chawinga. The Malawian forward scored 20 goals for KC in 2024, breaking Sam Kerr’s NWSL record of 18 goals in a season. Perhaps more impressive than that total was the fact that the Golden Boot winner managed to score at least once against all 13 goals. rivals. Consistency made personal.

This year, KC opened CPKC Stadium, the first stadium built solely for an NWSL club. The atmosphere was electric as all home games were sold out. It must be a great advantage to host the quarter-finals on home soil. The Current lost only once at home all year.

North Carolina Courage

It’s hard to find a team more disciplined and dogmatic when it comes to ball control than North Carolina. Under Sean Nahas, the Courage have become the possession queens of the NWSL. They have completed more passes and had more possession of the ball than any other team since 2022.

2023 MVP Kerolin Nicoli tore his ACL last October and is slowly working his way back into the fold and is ready for the playoffs, but perhaps not at the peak of his powers. Strong backs Kaleigh Kurtz and Ryan Williams have been two of the best performers, along with the renewed Ashley Sanchez in attack. Sanchez made a blockbuster signing from Spirit last January.

Portland Thorns

What a chaotic year for the Thorns. At the beginning of the year the club was bought by new owners: the Bhathal family. Then, with only four games remaining in the season, the club decided to sack head coach Mike Norris. In September, it was announced that general manager Karina LeBlanc would move to a different role within the Bhathal group.

Rob Gale has had his ups and downs since assuming the title of head coach. The Thorns won seven of their first eight games under Gale but finished the season winning just two of their last 10 games. There’s also the emotional element of club legend Christine Sinclair hanging up her boots at the end of the year after an incredible career and 11 years with the Thorns.

Mr. FC

Another year in two halves. Bay started the season by trying to play from the back, emphasizing forward-thinking wide football. But after recording one of the worst defensive records in the league, head coach Albertin Montoya decided to adapt his philosophy.

With the transfer of defender Abby Dahlkemper, who was born and raised in the Bay area, the California club has slowly become one of the strongest teams in the league. And don’t forget Racheal Kundananji, who is the club He paid a world record transfer fee for. The Zambian winger finds his shooting shoes at the right time.

Chicago Red Stars

At the bottom of the standings in 2023, this season was considered a success for Chicago. In the first season under head coach Lorne Donaldson, the Red Stars have made a name for themselves as a disciplined and cautious team that is difficult to beat. No team in the NWSL puts more players behind the ball than Chicago. Expect a low block and stubbornness.

Of course, this does not mean that there is no offensive quality. USWNT golden girl Mal Swanson is still one of the best players in the league, and when Chicago draws their opponent in, a quick break can be lethal. Swanson ranked eighth in the league in goal contributions (11), seven goals and four assists.

These playoffs will also be the last time Chicago uses the Red Stars name. Ahead of the 2025 season, the club will officially become Chicago Stars FC. Whatever happens, these play-off games will evoke great emotions from the fan base that was founded in 2008.

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