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NWSL Challenge Cup

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

NWSL Challenge Cup
Organizer(s)National Women's Soccer League
FoundedMay 27, 2020; 6 years ago (2020-05-27)
RegionUnited States
Current champion(s)Gotham FC
(1st title)
Most championshipsNorth Carolina Courage
(2 titles)
BroadcasterAmazon Prime Video[1]
Websitehttps://www.nwslsoccer.com/
2026 NWSL Challenge Cup

The NWSL Challenge Cup is an annual supercup competition organized by the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL), a division 1 women's league in the United States soccer league system. The current (2026) cup holder is Gotham FC, which defeated the Kansas City Current 2–0 on June 26, 2026.

The NWSL Challenge Cup was first announced in 2020 as a one-off, league-wide tournament to mark the league's return to action from the COVID-19 pandemic.[2] It was the first top-tier professional sports league in the United States to restart after COVID-19 lockdowns began.[3] Subsequently, the NWSL announced that it would return as an annual league cup tournament.[4] Between the 2023 and 2024 editions, the NWSL announced that the Challenge Cup would change from a league-wide tournament to a single-game supercup.[5]

Format

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2020–2023

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For the first four years of the tournament, all NWSL teams began a group stage where they played four to six games, usually split geographically. The group stage was then followed by one or more knockout matches to determine the Cup winner. In 2020, all nine teams were to play four games each in a single pool, with eight teams advancing to the knockout stage; however, one team had to drop out due to COVID exposure, and the pool games among the remaining eight teams were used solely for seeding the knockout rounds.[6] In 2021, the ten teams were divided into two divisions of five teams, with the two group winners qualifying for the final match.[7] In 2022 and 2023, the twelve teams split into three groups of four, with the best runner-up joining the three group winners in a two-round knockout tournament.[8] In 2023, the format remained the same but the tournament was moved to run concurrently with the season due to player concerns about injuries.[9]

2024 onward

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In 2024, the NWSL Challenge Cup transitioned to a single pre-season match between the winners of the previous season's NWSL Shield and NWSL Championship, Should a team win both the Championship and Shield, the Challenge Cup is a rematch of the previous season's championship match.[5]

Records and statistics

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Results by team

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Team Winners Runners-up Years won
North Carolina Courage 2 0 2023, 2022
Washington Spirit 1 1 2025
Houston Dash 1 0 2020
Portland Thorns FC 1 0 2021
San Diego Wave FC 1 0 2024
Gotham FC 1 2 2026
Chicago Stars FC 0 1 –
Kansas City Current 0 1 –
Racing Louisville FC 0 1 –
Orlando Pride 0 1 –

List of finals

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Season Challenge Cup format Winners Score Runners-up Venue Attendance Player of the Final Tournament MVP
until 2023
2020 tournament Houston Dash 2–0 Chicago Red Stars Rio Tinto Stadium 0 (behind closed doors) Shea Groom (Houston Dash) Rachel Daly (Houston Dash)
2021 tournament Portland Thorns FC 1–1
6–5 (p)		 NJ/NY Gotham FC Providence Park 4,000 – 5,000 (estimate)[10] Adrianna Franch (Portland Thorns FC) Debinha (North Carolina Courage)
2022 tournament North Carolina Courage 2–1 Washington Spirit WakeMed Soccer Park 3,163 Kerolin (North Carolina Courage) Debinha (North Carolina Courage)
2023 tournament North Carolina Courage 2–0 Racing Louisville FC WakeMed Soccer Park 3,068 Manaka Matsukubo (North Carolina Courage) Kristen Hamilton (Kansas City Current)
2024 supercup San Diego Wave FC 1–0 NJ/NY Gotham FC Red Bull Arena 14,241 Alex Morgan (San Diego Wave FC)
2025 supercup Washington Spirit 1–1
4–2 (p)		 Orlando Pride Inter&Co Stadium 8,880 Aubrey Kingsbury (Washington Spirit)
2026 supercup Gotham FC 2–0 Kansas City Current ScottsMiracle-Gro Field TBA

References

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  1. ↑ "How to watch NWSL games live on Prime Video this year".
  2. ↑ Levine, Matthew (May 27, 2020). "NWSL announces 2020 Challenge Cup presented by P&G and Secret". National Women's Soccer League. Archived from the original on November 1, 2020. Retrieved July 22, 2020.
  3. ↑ Goff, Stephen (June 25, 2020). "NWSL Challenge Cup opens this weekend, making women's soccer first team sport back". Washington Post. Retrieved May 14, 2021.
  4. ↑ "NWSL Announces Innovative 2021 Competition Framework". NWSL. November 18, 2020. Archived from the original on July 24, 2021. Retrieved November 18, 2020.
  5. 1 2 "National Women's Soccer League Announces 2024 Schedule Footprint, Competition Calendar" (Press release). National Women's Soccer League. December 7, 2023. Retrieved December 7, 2023.
  6. ↑ Levine, Matthew (May 27, 2020). "NWSL announces 2020 Challenge Cup presented by P&G and Secret". www.NWSLSoccer.com. National Women's Soccer League. Retrieved December 8, 2023.
  7. ↑ "NWSL Announces 2021 Challenge Cup Presented by Secret Opener in Houston". www.NWSLSoccer.com. National Women's Soccer League. March 8, 2021. Retrieved December 8, 2023.
  8. ↑ "National Women's Soccer League announce 2022 Challenge Cup format" (PDF). www.nwslsoccer.com. December 8, 2023.
  9. ↑ Yanchulis, Kate (November 17, 2022). "NWSL Challenge Cup will take place in-season after scheduling, injury concerns". Just Women's Sports. Retrieved December 8, 2023.
  10. ↑ Estimated limited attendance provided at 15:50 on YT video: FULL GAME: 2021 NWSL Challenge Cup Final [Portland Thorns FC vs Gotham FC] | CBS Sports HQ
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