Womens
USA
Continent : North America
Captial : Washington, D.C.
Population : 329314000
Tier : 1
Leagues : 7
Teams : 39
National Association :
United States Soccer Federation – https://www.ussoccer.com/
Teams and Leagues
2026 Season · United States Women’s Soccer
USA
Women’s
Soccer
NWSL · USL Super League · NWSL D2 · WPSL Pro · USL W League · WPSL · UWS · Full Pyramid 2026
National Women’s Soccer League
NWSL Latest
2026 Season UnderwayThe 2026 NWSL season is the largest in league history with 16 teams, 30 regular-season games each and 248 matches total including playoffs. Boston Legacy FC and Denver Summit FC join, with seven of the 16 markets hosting FIFA World Cup programming, forcing creative scheduling around the June break.
The Kansas City Current’s 2025 regular season was the most dominant in NWSL history — 21 wins, 65 points, a goal difference of +36. Yet they fell to Gotham FC in the playoffs. For 2026, the club is looking to convert regular-season dominance into a championship ring.
Gotham FC, champions in 2023 and again in 2025, enter 2026 as defending champions. The club has Concacaf Champions Cup duties alongside its NWSL campaign — and faces a tougher schedule as the league grows from 14 to 16 teams. Key departure: forward Ella Stevens left for Boston.
The NWSL’s new ‘High Impact Player’ rule allows teams to exceed the salary cap for elite talent — a half-measure after the league blocked the Washington Spirit’s blockbuster play for Trinity Rodman. The Players Association opposes it, pushing instead for a higher base cap to stop top players leaving for Europe.
Gainbridge Super League (USL SL)
USL Super League Latest
Tampa Bay Sun FC became the first-ever USLS champions in May 2025, beating Carolina Ascent FC — who had held the Players’ Shield — in the final. The Gainbridge Super League heads into its second season as the US’s only other Division I women’s professional league alongside the NWSL.
Brooklyn FC is part of Michele Kang’s global portfolio of women’s soccer clubs, which also includes the OL Reign (NWSL), London City Lionesses (WSL), and Olympique Lyonnais Féminin (D1F, France). Kang is one of the most influential individual investors in women’s football worldwide.
NWSL Division II
NWSL D2 News
The NWSL filed its D2 application in April 2025, describing the proposed league as a “transitional space” between college soccer and the NWSL. It mirrors the Minor League Baseball model, with reserve teams sharing stadiums and resources with their NWSL parent clubs — closing the talent pipeline gap left by the abolition of the college draft.
Both the NWSL and WPSL Pro are applying for Division 2 status from U.S. Soccer — and there is no rule preventing multiple leagues from occupying the same division. The number of professional women’s teams in the US could grow from 12 in 2023 to roughly 50 by end of 2026 if all proposed leagues launch as planned.