NWSL Preview: The West

Welcome to part one of our NWSL preview, a quick guide to what's cool, interesting, or scary about each team in the league. We've divided it up into two halves to keep it manageable – turns out there's sixteen clubs in this league – and geographically made the most sense. If you're new to the NWSL, know that there are not conferences or other geographic divisions in the league, each team plays each other twice, then there are playoffs for the top eight.

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Here's what the table looked like last year, with expansion clubs Boston and Denver joining this season.

Now the western half of the league, organized roughly in order of where I might think they'll finish:

Kansas City Current

WHAT'S THE STORY? - Kansas City swiftly became one of the model franchises in the NWSL after returning to the league in 2021, going from bottom of the league to contender by 2024 and the best team in regular season history by many standards in 2025. 

"Regular season history," however, turned into a millstone around KC's neck when the playoffs came and two of their star attackers, Temwa Chawinga and Michelle Cooper, were injured for their first-round match against Gotham, which they ended up losing 2-1 in extra time. KC went through major changes after; basically trading star young defensive midfielder Claire Hutton for attacking midfielder Croix Bethune; head coach Vlatko Andronovski moving to the front office and Chris Armas, who's never managed women before, hired; and forwards Bia and Nichelle Prince leaving the club. 

THE BIG STAR - Malawian forward Temwa Chawinga has played two seasons in the NWSL, winning the Golden Boot and MVP both times, after scoring the most goals in the world for Wuhan in China the year before that. She's easily the best player in the NWSL right now, and probably the only significant competitor with Aitana Bonmati for "best in the world." 

Chawinga most impressive trait is her speed, just flashing past players when blowing by them or tracking back, but her tenacity, skill, and intelligence are all top-notch. Kansas City's TikTok account posted her 15 goals from last year, if you need proof. 

PLAYER TO WATCH - Ally Sentnor is, in theory, one of the United States' most promising youngsters, purchased by KC from Utah in mid-season last year. You can see that promise in this superb goal she scored for the national team last year! But she's had trouble consistently converting "promise" into "consistent greatness." With Chawinga starting the season injured, and much less depth on the front line this year, it's Sentnor's time to shine – and whether she can consistently may determine if KC can have another great regular season. The USWNT wanted Sentnor to be a striker in their last set of matches, but KC needs her to be a striker.

2025's BEST GOAL - There are more attractive goals that Temwa Chawinga scores, but what I love about this late goal to seal an early-season win against fellow contenders Washington Spirit is how it shows off her three biggest skills. Her speed, of course, lets her get a step on defenders; her tenacity has her steal the ball off the goalkeeper's fingertips; and her incredible judgment lets her understand that she can steal that ball without it being a foul.

2026 HINGES ON… Health. Kansas City still has most of the stars of last year's run like Brazilian goalkeeper Lorena (my top goalkeeper in the world), Lo'eau LaBonta, the defensive midfielder and heart of the team, creative attacker Debinha, and NWSL Best XI defenders Izzy Rodriguez and Kayla Sharples. But last season exposed what could go wrong with a few injuries at the wrong time and this team has less depth than last year, especially in the forward line. 

San Diego Wave

WHAT'S THE STORY? - San Diego feels like the Kombucha lady meme at this point:Won the Shield in 2023! 😀

Completely fell apart in 2024 and sold Naomi Girma. 😭

Hired controversial former Arsenal manager Jonas Eidevall. 🤨

Picked up French stars Kenza Dali and Delphine Cascarino! 🇫🇷

The most attractive attacking team in NWSL in the first part of 2025! 😃

The most attractive attacking team in NWSL that can't score a goal in the middle part of 2025. 😬

Losing Cascarino, Savannah McCaskill, and goalkeeper Kailen Sheridan in the offseason… 😡

But getting Ludmila, Gabi Portilho and potentially Cat Macario… 😎

THE BIG STAR - French midfielder Kenza Dali was the engine behind the Wave's attack last season, with superb passes, driving runs, and a few goals for good measure. The leadership and the creativity are still there but she'll also be turning 35 this season, so will the legs? The Wave hope so, as they just gave her a two-year contract extension.

PLAYER TO WATCH - American teenager Kimmi Ascanio is clearly an immense talent, but what her best position is is significantly less obvious. Watching her last year, sometimes she'd be consistently in the play, sometimes she'd float around popping up in opportune moments to finish chances, and sometimes she'd just float entirely out of the match. 

The slight Ascanio could definitely work on her strength to physically stay connected more, but having a tactical plan that allows her to thrive is probably the real key. I like her as a false nine or poacher like Esther or Mina Tanaka, but a midfielder or winger is also tempting.

2025's BEST GOAL - Hannah Lundqvist (now at Manchester United) wins the ball and gets the assist to MacKenzie Robbe (now at Houston Dash) as Delphine Cascarino (now at London City) joins the celebration for what would be the tournament-clinching goal for San Diego at the World Sevens competition. Why am I showing you a goal from a tournament that's not even conventional soccer, from players who all left? Well, they earned $2 million, split evenly between the players and the club, for this win, which makes a nice going-away present for all involved. 

2026 HINGES ON… Youth. Besides the 18-year-old Ascanio, San Diego also employs 20-year-old Brazilian forward Dudinha and 18-year-old American defender Trinity Armstrong (yes, there's another Trinity), all three of which are already good, and could be world-class. There's also another 18-year-old, Colombian goalkeeper Luisa Agudelo, who's talented enough to challenge DiDi Haracic for the starting spot between the pipes. 

San Diego is probably a playoff team in the NWSL anyway; the more of those four who make a leap, the more likely they're contenders.

Angel City

WHAT'S THE STORY? - Angel City joined the league with a lot of fanfare in the early 2020s, with lots of star power on the pitch and in the ownership group, lots of fan support in Los Angeles, and….not a lot of winning, only making the playoffs once, in 2023. Last year felt like a clearing of the slate, as NWSL legends Ali Riley and Christen Press retired, while face-of-the-franchise Alyssa Thompson for the second-highest transfer fee in women's football (which somehow felt like too little, given Thompson's talent, marketability, and youth.)

Still, in 2025 the team started well, but after an on-field heart attack for young defender Savy King, then the sale of Thompson, their results took a nosedive. Now former Bayern Munich manager Alex Straus has had a full offseason to rebuild. I like this team's signings generally, and it looks like forward Syd Leroux is coming back from a year off for mental health, but can this team click?

THE BIG STAR - Angel City signed several players this offseason, but none is likely to be more important than 2024 NWSL Defender of the Year Emily Sams, transferred from Orlando for $650,000. In ESPN's The Final Third documentary, the Angel City section concludes with Straus looking for veteran leadership, and Sams, who recently captained the USWNT, fits the bill in spades, at least in theory. In addition she's also really good at defense.

PLAYER TO WATCH - Japan's 2023 Women's World Cup campaign won them fans across the globe, and the key player in that might have been Jun Endo, a left wingback whose passing and running carved open defenses basically every time she touched the ball. Then she tore her ACL in early 2024 and has been recovering ever since – including taking at least a month to train and recover by herself at the start of this year because the knee wasn't quite right still. Endo's skillset is an ideal match for Angel City's need for aggressive through balls. I hope she gets better, because:

2025's BEST GOAL - Jesus Christ this Jun Endo assist.

2026 HINGES ON… Chemistry. Angel City had a set of good young players last year, including Rookie of the Year candidate striker Riley Tiernan and fullback Gisele Thompson (Alyssa's younger sister), added Icelandic winger Sveindis Jonsdottir and Japanese midfielder Hina Sugita late last season, then added Emily Sams and Brazilian midfielder Ary Borges in the offseason, among others. Getting all the parts working together will be the crucial thing for Angel City's success.

Denver Summit

WHAT'S THE STORY? - Denver Summit is one of the two new expansion clubs in the NWSL, alongside Boston. Both of them are working in an entirely new mode of expansion: they start with a clean slate, and sign or buy whatever players they can. The two teams have built using very different philosophies: while Boston has picked up ballers, Denver has picked up physically gifted players and NWSL veterans like Ally Watt and Kaleigh Kurtz. For this reason they feel more solid than Boston, but maybe less exciting.

THE BIG STAR - Denver made a huge splash when they signed USWNT captain and superstar midfielder Lindsey Heaps from Lyon (Heaps will join in the summer). On paper this is massive, Heaps is one of the biggest stars in American soccer. On the pitch…I know I'm not the only one who's been disappointed with Heaps' performances in the last couple years.

My theory is that Lindsey Heaps needs competition and being in tough matches to be at her best as both an attacking and defensive player, while playing for dominant French club Lyon has led her to a sort of enforced attacking-only role. The alternative is that she's a very physical player who's lost some of that physical ability in her 30s. The former is extremely good news for Denver and the league as a whole, the latter could be disastrous for the Summit. 

PLAYER TO WATCH - For their starting goalkeeper, Denver signed France's top goalie, Pauline Peyraud-Magnin. PPM, as she's affectionately (?) known, has a terrific haircut and pedigree, but I'm not sure I've ever actually been convinced by her at the highest level for France. The competitiveness of the NWSL will be a real test for her.

2025's BEST GOAL - Denver obviously didn't score NWSL goals last year, but they did sign a bunch of notable college players, including the Hermann Trophy winner for best college player of the year, Stanford forward Jasmine Aikey. Here she is scoring on a bicycle kick. That's pretty exciting, Denver fans!

2026 HINGES ON… Power. Denver has signed a bunch of players, especially Heaps, with a major physical presence. The more they can impose that presence on other teams, the better things will go for them. 

Portland Thorns

WHAT'S THE STORY? - The Portland Thorns are the most decorated club in NWSL history, winning multiple championships and propping up the league's attendance, by quite a bit, for years – there's a reasonable argument that they, alongside Lyon, are the biggest club in women's football across the last 15 years.

They've backslid somewhat in the last few years, after scandal in 2020 forced a change in ownership and the rest of the NWSL, and the world, catching up to them in many ways. Last year, despite a raft of players missing the season from injury and maternity, including face of the franchise, star striker Sophia Wilson (nee Smith), they managed to sneak into third place in the league and the semifinals, where they were outclassed by Washington. Despite this, the franchise fired coach Rob Gale, and then took six months to hire his replacement with less than two weeks before the season. They also lost superstar midfielder Sam Coffey, without an apparent replacement, so things are…confusing in Portland these days. 

THE BIG STAR - Okay, yes, the biggest star for Portland is Sophia Wilson, now-returned from maternity. But the best thing about Portland in 2025 was youngster Olivia Moultrie fully reaching her potential as a superstar. Moultrie dominated several games in the second half of the season with creativity and skill and some of the best free kicks in the world. 

PLAYER TO WATCH - Star Canadian midfielder Jessie Fleming had a bit of a down season in 2025, but in 2026, she's being talked up as the core to Portland and Canada's chances. Portland has named her as captain and seems to be expecting her to take Coffey's role as influential box-to-box midfielder who's part of every play. Fleming is good, sometimes extremely good, but this is a huge ask and Portland doesn't have a lot of depth beside her. 

2025's BEST GOAL - Alongside Moultrie, one of Portland's other breakout stars in 2025 was striker Reilyn Turner. The two combine with Fleming for a lovely goal here, with Moultrie driving into the defense, Fleming with a nutmeg pass, and Turner for the finish.

2026 HINGES ON… Leadership. I mean really it hinges on the midfield, but that's generally the case in soccer. Ownership lost of a lot of patience from fans with their lack of movement this offseason, GM Jeff Agoos has been in the job barely a year and made some odd decisions, new manager Robert Vilahamn was last seen being fired for being in a relegation struggle with Tottenham, fans are worried that ownership is more concerned with their WNBA franchise than the Thorns. On the pitch, Coffey is irreplaceable and has Fleming, Moultrie, and Wilson all stepping into leadership-type roles in different ways. The pieces are there for Portland to be a good team, maybe even a great one with a star midfield addition, but also this feels like it's on the verge of collapse in the front office and on the field.

Bay FC

WHAT'S THE STORY? - Bay FC joined the league with a lot of fanfare in 2024, becoming the first expansion club to make the playoffs. But they struggled last year after a promising start, with a wounded feel to the end of the season. With new manager Emma Coates and notable acquisitions, including young American midfielder Claire Hutton and Italian legend Christiana Girelli, this team looks like it'll be better, though I'm skeptical of "better" meaning "actually good."

THE BIG STAR - Racheal Kundanaji was Bay's big splashy initial transfer, a then-world record of  $862,000. The Zambian forward has blazing speed, great skill, and a near-desperate hunger for goals, which served her well in the first season with Bay, but less well last year, where she created chance after chance but only scored three goals. Some of that was her doing too much by herself, some of it was bad luck, some of it was not trusting her teammates. Bay's season hinges on improvement in those categories.

PLAYER TO WATCH - Claire Hutton is also "the big star" so I'm cheating a bit here, but Bay FC is resting their present and future on her. Hutton is one of the brightest lights in American soccer, a top-tier defensive midfielder and leader who seems to already be set in Emma Hayes' starting lineup for the USWNT. As someone who thinks that holding midfielders are maybe the most important positions to build around, I'm utterly baffled by Kansas City's decision to move on from Hutton, but their loss is Bay's (massive) gain. 

The question now is this: can Hutton successfully both protect Bay's back line and stay connected to their attack? This is a real test of whether she's the sort of solo superstar who can make a huge difference on her own, or needs a great team around her to thrive. 

2025's BEST GOAL - On the same day as Jordyn Bugg's absolute banger (see Seattle below), Bay FC rookie Karlie Lema scored this incredible solo goal that I kinda think might have been even better. She's so fast she stumbles over the ball and is still two steps ahead of the defenders! She has no business taking that shot and making it! 

2026 HINGES ON… Class. I like a lot of Bay's players, but they were almost all miscast as like, third-best players on a team when they should have been fifth-best players. Hutton and Girelli are great improvements to positions of need, but I think this team needs one or two more stars to do anything more than "maybe sneak into the playoffs." 

Seattle Reign

WHAT'S THE STORY? - Seattle is one of the core franchises in the NWSL, home of Megan Rapinoe and half of the league's biggest rivalry, the Cascadia Rivalry with Portland.  But they've never quite broken through, losing in the championship game three times, and have fallen behind a bit, missing the playoffs in '24 and losing in the first round last year.

Seattle's core through many of these games has moved on or retired, like Rapinoe or defender Lu Barnes, while Welsh firebrand Jess Fishlock remains mesmerizing off the bench at 39, but can't always go 90 minutes. 

THE BIG STAR - By most individual standards, Claudia Dickey was the best goalkeeper in the NWSL last year, particularly in xG prevented, where she stopped 12 expected goals, double that of second place, Portland's Mac Arnold. She's played her way into contention for the top spot for the USWNT. Is it a good sign if your biggest star is a goalkeeper? Probably not, but that's no shade on Dickey. 

PLAYER TO WATCH - Mia Fishel came out of college an exciting young talent, but surprisingly signed with Tigres in Mexico instead of the NWSL. The gamble seemed to work, but an ACL tear hampered her development, and she moved to Seattle as she recovered. Fishel played several matches for Seattle last year, but didn't score at all. If she can recover any of her Tigres flair, Seattle's offensive difficulties may be solved. 

2025's BEST GOAL - "Oh! That goal is nuts!" Jordyn Bugg is Seattle's most promising young star, a cool, calm, defender in the Naomi Girma mode. Except sometimes she steps up and cranks one, including this, the NWSL goal of the season and Marta Award nominee. 

2026 HINGES ON… Identity. Seattle is going through a major changing of the guard, with veterans heading out and new players stepping in. Last season they tried to be the most defensive team in the league, but too many draws – including giving up three goals at the end of the match to draw Chicago 3-3 – showed the limitations of that identity. What, if anything, is next? 

Utah Royals

WHAT'S THE STORY? - This is the second incarnation of the Utah Royals, after the first moved to Kansas City in 2020, and then was reborn for the 2024 season. In both seasons Utah has existed, they've had a terrible start then an excellent finish to the season, including a two-month unbeaten run last fall. These strong finishes have won head coach Jimmy Coenraets goodwill, but at some point Utah's going to want to be good all season long, right?

THE BIG STAR - Japanese attacker Mina Tanaka is one of the craftiest and most skilled players in the world, proving key to the Japanese resurgence of the last few years, including a dominating performance in last year's SheBelieves Cup. Despite Utah's struggles, they've kept this world-class player, getting her to sign a contract extension last year. 

PLAYER TO WATCH - Utah signed two more Japanese players alongside Tanaka at the end of last year, fullback Miyabi Moriya and the player I've got my eye on, Narumi Miura. Utah's potential improvement will hinge on possession, I think, and the hard-nosed Narumi can help with both winning the ball and moving it forward to the Royals' talented attackers. 

2025's BEST GOAL - "Mina Tanaka oh my goodness!" You can see Tanaka's poaching intelligence and playful skills on full display with this one.

2026 HINGES ON… Flukes. Utah is betting that the first half failures of the last two seasons have been the flukes, while the second half successes are real. If it turns out that's the wrong way around, well, things might get embarrassing for the Royals. 

I hope you enjoyed Part 1 of my NWSL preview! Look for the second part later this week. Please subscribe, follow me on Bluesky, or consider donating to my Patreon.