The National Women’s Soccer League regular season is officially past the halfway point. Fourteen teams are in the hunt to finish in the top eight playoff positions. The club that accrues the most points in the regular season wins the NWSL Shield. Clubs that finish in the top four are guaranteed home-field advantage in the quarterfinals.

The NWSL Championship will take place Saturday, Nov. 22 at PayPal Park in San Jose, California. 

Entering this weekend’s action, just 12 points separate 2nd place and 12th place in the standings. Let’s assess the playoff status of all 14 clubs. 

Running away with it

1. Kansas City Current (40 points; 13W-2L-1T)
The Current leads the chasing pack by a country mile. Coach Vlatko Andonovski‘s side is on pace to finish the regular season with the highest ever point total in NWSL history, eclipsing the Orlando Pride’s 60-point record made in 2024. The Current owns an imperious home field advantage, and has only ever dropped points at CPKC Stadium twice — both times to Orlando, including this past weekend. Temwa Chawinga became the fastest player in league history to score 30 goals, and is in contention to repeat as league MVP and Golden Boot winner.  

2024 NWSL Temwa Chawinga has struck 10 times so far this season. (Photo: Kansas City Current)

Feeling comfortable  

2. San Diego Wave (29 points; 8W-3L-5T)
The Wave is arguably the surprise package of the 2025 NWSL season. The 2023 Shield winners missed out on the playoffs last year, and also saw the departures of club icons Alex Morgan and Naomi Girma. Jonas Eidevall joined the club this offseason from Arsenal and has imprinted a new playing style and structure. A well-balanced squad that includes European veterans like Kenza Dali and Delphine Cascarino has proved to be the perfect complement to teenagers such as Kimmi Ascanio and Trinity Armstrong.  

Kimmi Ascanio celebrates after scoring during the first half of the San Diego Wave’s game against Gotham FC. (Photo by Rich Graessle/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)

3. Orlando Pride (28 points, 8W-4L-4T)
It is an unreasonably tall task to expect the Pride to elevate to the same heights as last year. The Pride won its first-ever hardware, not once but twice, with both the NWSL Shield and the NWSL Championship. The Pride has the experience to grind out results this year. An early injury to last season’s second-highest goalscorer Barbra Banda in the Pride’s match against Kansas City last weekend could ring alarm bells. However, the recent acquisition of 25-year-old Lizbeth Ovalle from Tigres for a world-record fee will likely silence concerns about the Pride’s firepower. 

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