The Five Biggest Storylines to Look Out for in the NWSL Semifinals

From rematches and revenge to upsets and unpredictability, there’s so much on the line as the NWSL’s season approaches its climax.

Trinity Rodman scored twice in the NWSL quarterfinals against the Portland Thorns. | ISI Photos via Getty Images

And then there were four. The National Women’s Soccer League (NWSL) semifinals are this weekend, and the matchups are rife with storylines and drama as all the teams battle it out to book their spot in the final at Audi Field in Washington, D.C., on Nov. 21.

First up, on Saturday, Nov. 15, the Washington Spirit will host the Utah Royals at 12 p.m. ET on CBS. Then, on Sunday, Gotham FC will welcome the KC Current to Icahn Stadium at 3 p.m. ET on ABC.

Let’s get into the storylines to know and the narratives that will drive the drama this weekend and beyond.

Will we see a repeat of the 2025 final?

Ever since the playoff bracket was confirmed, fans of the NWSL have been eagerly plotting a potential repeat of the 2025 final that saw Gotham FC defeat the Washington Spirit 1–0. Both teams are the higher seeds and are playing at home in their matchups this weekend. This means the odds are in their favor to advance from both semifinals and set up a repeat of 2025.

With the final in D.C. at Audi Field, it would certainly be a very different vibe from last year’s final in San Jose. And one that would probably favor the Spirit, who beat Gotham at Audi Field just one month ago in the regular season.

Almost all of the big hitters from last year will also be ready to go head-to-head again. From the U.S. women’s national team stars, Rose Lavelle and Trinity Rodman, to Spanish managers Juan Carlos Amóros and Adrián González.

Gotham FC players celebrate on the pitch after defeating the Washington Spirit in the 2025 NWSL championship game. | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

Trinity Rodman’s MVP charge

Speaking of Rodman, the Spirit forward has had the best season of her career. Putting her injury problems from the last two seasons behind her, she has played in every single game for the Spirit in 2026, scoring 14 goals and making nine assists. That includes a brace and an assist in last week’s 4–1 demolition of the Portland Thorns in the playoff quarterfinals.

Rodman was limited in what she could do as the Spirit made deep playoff runs in 2024 and 2025, eventually losing in both those finals without their biggest star fully fit. But now she is playing some of the best soccer of her career both in terms of her off-ball pressing game, technique and decision-making in front of goal.

Everything is lining up quite nicely for Rodman to win her first NWSL MVP award. Her thrilling performance in the first round of the playoffs sent shockwaves around the league and probably pushed her ahead of the others on the shortlist: Temwa Chawinga, Ashley Sanchez, Janine Sonis and Sophia Wilson.

Could the Utah Royals do the unthinkable?

In their first playoff match in team history, the Utah Royals went on the road as a seven-seed and beat the No. 2 San Diego Wave 1–0. It was exactly the sort of upset long-time NWSL fans have come to expect from a league known for its chaos.

The Utah Royals celebrate after defeating San Diego Wave FC at Snapdragon Stadium in the 2026 NWSL playoffs. | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

History is full of underdog stories. After all, Gotham won the championship last year as the eight-seed, and also in 2023 as the six-seed, when there were only six playoff teams. The KC Current also made it to the final in 2022 as a five-seed, before losing to the Portland Thorns.

Can Utah do it again and advance to its first final? The Royals will need to win a playoff game at Audi Field, something that no away team has ever accomplished in NWSL history. The odds will be heavily stacked against them. And yet, you can’t count them out after the resolve they showed last week.

The good news for Utah fans could be the return of Mina Tanaka. The Japanese international has missed the last few weeks, including the playoff win against San Diego, but is said to be close to returning. She finished the regular season as Utah’s top scorer with nine, while also chipping in with five assists.

Does defense win championships?

Sunday’s semifinal matchup between Gotham and the Current is wonderfully poised. It is the NWSL’s top defense, Gotham, with 23 goals conceded, against the league’s top attack, the Current, with 55 goals scored.

In many American sports, there’s an old adage that defense wins championships. And the NWSL might be no different. The top-scoring team in the NWSL has not won the championship since 2022, when the Thorns, spearheaded by MVP Sophia Wilson, scored 56 goals in 25 games.

Despite finishing eighth in the table in 2025, Gotham still conceded the second-fewest number of goals (25) on their way to winning the championship last year. Similarly, in 2024, the Orlando Pride triumphed with the stingiest defense in the league (20 goals conceded). Something else to keep in mind is that both of those teams won the final by a 1–0 scoreline.

Revenge on Randall’s Island

One of the other major storylines coming into the semifinals was the drama surrounding Gotham’s unplayable pitch at Sports Illustrated Stadium. The dire quality of the grass has forced the reigning NWSL champions to move their semifinal to the 5,000-capacity Icahn Stadium on Randall’s Island, Manhattan.

Understandably, this could weaken Gotham’s home advantage that they get as the higher seed. Gotham have lost just one match at Sports Illustrated Stadium in 2026, and even beat the Current 2–1 there back in August. Gotham have only played one NWSL match at Icahn, defeating the Seattle Reign 3–2 there in July.

What will give the Current extra cause to spring the upset will be getting revenge for getting bounced out of the playoffs as the top seed in 2025. At CPKC Stadium in Kansas City, the top-ranked Current lost 2–1 in extra time to eight-seed Gotham in one of the biggest upsets in NWSL history.

However, when we look back on that playoff classic a year later, the Current were missing Chawinga and Michelle Cooper through injury, with midfield maestro Vanessa DiBernardo unavailable due to maternity leave. All three of those heavy hitters are set to play for KC on Sunday, and a chance for revenge on Randall’s Island feels quite possible. What a flip from a year ago that would be.