The 2025 NWSL regular season is officially here. All 14 clubs will be in action on opening weekend, kicking off with reigning champions Orlando Pride hosting the Chicago Red Stars. The Pride will be the team to beat after capturing the shield and championship last season, but there are plenty of formidable challengers, including the Washington Spirit, who downed Seb Hines’s team in the league’s preseason Challenge Cup.
Which clubs are favorites to take home some hardware? What players should you keep an eye on? Who are the potential spoilers to watch?
Here’s Sports Illustrated’s predictions for the 2025 NWSL season:
NWSL Shield
Kansas City Current: Even though the Current’s goals conceded in 2024 ranked fifth (31) the club ranked first for expected goals conceded (24.2). All that is to say, whether it was bad luck or a data variance, Kansas City is primed to improve their defensive statistics while already having the most powerhouse offense in the league. Temwa Chawinga and a returning Bia Zaneratto being able to collaborate with rising star Michelle Cooper is the stuff of a head coach’s dream and an opposition’s nightmare. When it comes to overall play in the regular season, the teal-clad team from the Midwest is going to top the standings. One potential hurdle for winning the shield could be how quickly new Brazilian goalkeeper Lorena adapts to the NWSL. — Theo Lloyd-Hughes
Orlando Pride: This Pride team knows each other well. And they know they can win. Orlando has a target on its back after capturing the shield and the championship last season—and much of its victorious core is back for 2025. Legend of the game Marta returns after signing a two-year deal this offseason, as does Barbra Banda, one of the most skillful strikers in the world. Not only is this squad’s attack lethal, but they’ve proven to be stout defensively. Emily Sams anchored a Pride back line that tied with NJ/NY Gotham FC for the least amount of goals allowed in the league last regular season (20 in 26 games). Plenty of expectations will be heaped upon Orlando, but this group may just be able to withstand the pressure. — Clare Brennan
NJ/NY Gotham FC: Last place, sixth place, third place. This is the current trajectory of Gotham’s table placement since 2022, and I believe ’25 will be the year the team secures the top of the table for the first time. Although it may seem like the superteam has disbanded due to the departures of Lynn Biyendolo, Crystal Dunn, Yazmeen Ryan and more, the squad retained much of its core and added great players like Gabi Portilho and Jaelin Howell. This, along with a recently-recovered Midge Purce could be the recipe for a now well-balanced team that can go long into the regular season without any out-of-season competitions or international tournaments taking away their attention. If Esther can remain healthy and Ella Stevens can continue on her upward trajectory, I think Gotham makes the case as a contender for the 2025 shield. — Jenna Tonelli
NWSL Championship
Washington Spirit: We all know motivation is perhaps the strongest power in sports, and the Spirit coming so close last season is just the fuel they need to come into 2025 and win it all come November. There are certainly questions over the fitness, depth and availability of the squad right now, but my guess is by the fall they have rounded into shape and are firing on all cylinders. Who will stop a fully fit Trinity Rodman and Croix Bethune? No one. — TLH
Washington Spirit: It feels like Washington’s year. After falling to the Pride in the 2024 NWSL championship, the redemption story arc writes itself. U.S. women’s national team star Rodman and reigning Rookie of the Year Bethune headline the squad, but the Spirit’s roster is deep, with Hal Hershfelt managing the midfield and Tarr McKeown bolstering the back line. While not always the most compelling indicator, Washington did set a powerful tone with its Challenge Cup win at the outset of the season. — CB
Washington Spirit: The expectations around the Spirit this year feel a bit similar to the ones around Gotham after their 2023 championship. The Spirit was so close to a championship in ’24 but fell just short, and I truly believe with a fully healthy Rodman, an available Bethune and Ouleymata Sarr, it might have played out differently. The team showed their stuff in the Challenge Cup, so I fully believe the championship is theirs for the taking. — JT
MVP
Trinity Rodman: The most conspicuous member of the USWNT’s Triple Espresso is heading into the final year of her contract with the Spirit and I have a gut feeling she is going to hit new heights (Rodman’s best goals total is eight). Whether she signs a new record contract with Washington or moves abroad, the motivation is there to remind everyone that she is one of the best players in the world. I also think Rodman will clinch MVP because she will deliver bigger, more audacious moments than Chawinga and Banda. Her trickier skills and ability to rattle opponents on and off the ball are captivating. A 360-degree player, and maybe the NWSL’s biggest American star. — TLH
Temwa Chawinga: What’s left to say about Chawinga that hasn’t already been said? The 26-year-old striker took home MVP and Golden Boot honors last season after an unprecedented outing, becoming the first NWSL player to score 20 goals in a campaign. Can Chawinga make more history in 2025? Sam Kerr is the only NWSL player to win the MVP award twice, and no player has won the honor in consecutive years. Should Chawinga take home the hardware she’ll be the first player to do so. — CB
Trinity Rodman: This just feels like Rodman’s year. After joining the league so young and finding immediate success with the Spirit, Rodman has continued to grow and elevate her game. Her skills come not only with goalscoring or her trademark “Trin Spin”, but her ability to make the right runs, pick out the right pass and just make magic with the ball at her feet. I think Rodman is a crucial element of the Spirit’s game, and as long as she’s making an impact, the Spirit will be headed in the right direction. — JT
Golden Boot
Temwa Chawinga: Call this one boring, but Chawinga is the purest goalscorer on the planet right now, alongside the likes of Charlyn Corral, in Mexico for Pachuca, and Khadija Shaw in England for Manchester City. Even if teams try to mark her closer, double-team her or play in a lower defensive block to limit the space in behind, I would back the Malawian star to top the charts. Current head coach Vlatko Andonovski said this week that her runs have looked “more sophisticated” in preseason and maybe we will get an even better version of Chawinga in 2025. — TLH
Barbra Banda: Chawinga will once again be Banda’s strongest rival in the Golden Boot race. The Current striker clinched the award last season with a staggering 20 goals in 25 games, with Banda coming in second with 13 goals. While Chawinga eventually pulled ahead by a considerable margin, it's important to note the two were even in goals tallied at the Olympic break. Perhaps this year it will be Banda who gets to take home the individual hardware. — CB
Esther: When Esther debuted for Gotham FC in 2023, she did so with flair, scoring two goals against the visiting Spirit. In 2024, she missed several games due to injury, but still managed nine goals in 18 starts. Esther has a nose for the goal, and if she is supported by her cast at Gotham (and stays healthy), she could rival many of the prolific goalscorers in the NWSL. — JG
Coach of the Year
Vlatko Andonovski: If I’m backing the Current to raise that shiny new shield come October, then I have to stick my chips in the middle for Andonovski. He’s a quiet man that lets his soccer do the talking and what he’s been able to do in his adopted home of Kansas City is special. He’s making so many players, young and old, the best versions of themselves, and that will be rewarded with the coach of the year mantle. — TLH
Jonatan Giráldez: Giráldez led the Spirit on an impressive charge after arriving in Washington last June. Despite mounting injuries across the lineup, the team fell just short of the championship. This year–if the squad can stay healthy—the sky’s the limit. Yes, the Spirit’s roster is littered with talent, but Giráldez has done well to deploy the firepower at his fingertips—and this season he will have an opportunity to really put his fingerprints on the club. If he can lead the Spirit to another championship final, Giráldez will have earned himself Coach of the Year honors. — CB
Jonatan Giráldez: Giráldez is a man who hates losing. The work he did with the Spirit in 2024 was only a taste of what he can do in the NWSL. Now that he’s got a hang of the league and a hopefully healthy roster, I think this season sees him taking the team all the way to the championship again, but this time with the trophy. From squad building to tactics and gameday decisions, Giráldez is the complete package, and could very well be writing his name in the history books as one of the best coaches in the league. — JT
Dark Horse
Seattle Reign: I’m not totally confident on this one but it just wouldn’t feel very NWSL if the Reign didn’t rise back up into the elite part of the standings after finishing second-last in 2024. I’m not necessarily expecting them to challenge for the shield but I am backing them to make the playoffs. I really like the transfers they made last summer and in the winter offseason. Haiti international Nérilia Mondésir, who joined last August, could be a breakout player, and I ranked UNC graduate Maddie Dahlien as my number No. 2 player coming out of the NCAA this year. The roster balance isn’t perfect, but Laura Harvey has rejuvenated Seattle before and I expect them to be in the mix. — TLH
North Carolina Courage: The Courage was a squad brimming with potential last year, and after a busy offseason, North Carolina’s roster is looking even more formidable. Yes, Sean Nahas & Co. lost Brazilian juggernaut Kerolin but gained USWNT rising star Jaedyn Shaw. Should the 20-year-old cultivate chemistry in the middle of the pitch with the similarly creative Ashley Sanchez, expect the Courage to be a potential postseason spoiler. — CB
Utah Royals: The Royals didn’t have the best record last year, but they also did not have the worst. The “Royals 2.0” team returned to the league in 2024 after initially folding in ’20 and finished 11th in the NWSL standings, tied on points with 2023 shield winners San Diego Wave. Despite issues on the coaching side, players shone for Utah, including goalkeeper Mandy McGlynn, captain Paige Monaghan and rookie Ally Sentnor. Sentnor had a standout winter with the USWNT, earning calls up and dazzling fans, opening up her scoring account with a long-range banger during the SheBelieves Cup. During the offseason, the Royals went on a signing spree, bringing in Alex Loera from Bay FC, Tatumn Milazzo from free agency, Ana María Guzmán on a one-year loan from Bayern Munich and Aisha Solórzano from Club Tijuana. These signings, along with a stable coach in Fabrice Gautrat, may actually make the Royals a playoff contender that no one sees coming. — JT
This article was originally published on www.si.com as Picks and Predictions for the 2025 NWSL Season.