The 2026 regular season is returning with more games, more teams, and even more players after a few months of preseason. The new season has finally arrived, and with it come two expansion franchises and a new 30-match regular season schedule—a first for the league. That means it’s the perfect time to make some predictions.
Just like any previous NWSL season, making predictions for the 2026 season will be both fun and a lesson in humility, since anything can happen in such a long year. Kansas City Current are NWSL Shield holders, and Gotham FC are reigning NWSL Championship winners. Meanwhile, the Washington Spirit will be on a hunt for another title, coming away with the 2025 NWSL Challenge Cup last season, and settling for another NWSL Championship runner-up finish.
With any new season comes an aura of fresh hope, or maybe even delusional thinking, depending on who you ask. Either way, let’s have some fun with 2026 NWSL predictions.
Here’s a look at the CBS Sports team’s outlook on the 2026 NWSL season.
Attacking Third and CBS Sports picks for NWSL
NWSL Championship
Washington Spirit: After two consecutive trips to the NWSL Championship without wins, will this finally be the year for the Washington Spirit? It just might be. Now that Trinity Rodman’s contract situation has been sorted out, the Spirit can resume regular programming as one of the NWSL’s most exciting teams with an entertaining mix of world-class talent from around the world. The list includes Colombian midfielder Leicy Santos, Italy forward Sofia Cantore and top-tier defenders in American Tara Rudd and Rebeca Bernal. This is a team built to compete for titles, and with the added motivation of two empty-handed trips to the championship, they might finally pull it off. — Pardeep Cattry
NWSL Shield
Washington Spirit: And speaking of winning titles, there’s one the Spirit have yet to win – the NWSL Shield. Injuries have hampered their ability to do so in previous years, but if their players can stay healthy in 2026, there’s no reason they cannot compete for this trophy too. The Kansas City Current may still be the team to beat, but without the injured Temwa Chawinga and Michelle Cooper, rising to the top of the table for a second year in a row will be a massive ask. Even with a few fresh faces, the Spirit should have its core intact and the bonus of coaching continuity after a few rocky years in that category. — Cattry
MVP
Jaedyn Shaw, Gotham FC: Championships are not won by one person in a team sport, but if one was to reduce Gotham’s title-winning campaign in 2025 to one person, it would easily be Jaedyn Shaw. The 21-year-old hit the ground running after arriving in a trade from the North Carolina Courage in September, returning to the fold in 2026 with the benefit of a full preseason. Gotham needed her attacking output in an inconsistent 2025 regular season campaign, so if the reigning champions find themselves in better standing this year, expect Shaw to play a meaningful role along the way. — Cattry
Golden Boot
Mia Fishel, Seattle Reign: The wait for a fully fit Mia Fishel to resume play at the club level has been a long one, but it just might be worth it. Fishel has now fully recovered from the ACL injury she sustained two years ago and has her feet wet in Seattle after her midseason arrival in 2025, which should allow her to hit the ground running for a team that needed goals last season. The potential of a star-making season awaits for Fishel, and perhaps a reintroduction to the U.S. women’s national team along with it. — Cattry
Best Newcomer (new to league, non-rookie)
Ayo Oke, Denver Summit: The only real problem for Denver Summit FC when it comes to Ayo Oke is where exactly they are going to put her on the pitch. The former UCLA standout joined the expansion side after her first professional season in Liga MX Femenil with Pachuca and is fresh off a training camp with the U.S. women’s national team. Sorry to everyone who yelled at me for not putting her on the rookies to watch list; she’s not on there because she unfortunately does not qualify.
She does, however, qualify as an absolute baller, and one who will be ready to handle the high altitudes of Denver, having already whipped through similar challenges playing in Mexico. Will she be at the right back position, or will she cause headaches for defenders as a winger? Either way, she’ll be a problem for whoever is tasked with marking her. — Sandra Herrera
Rookie of the Year
Tessa Dellarose, Chicago Stars FC: Following voting trends, three of the last five winners of this award have been defenders, with midfielder Croix Bethune, then of the Washington Spirit, the one exception for her historic 10-assist season through 17 games before being sidelined with an injury. The last time a forward won the award was in 2021, when Trinity Rodman took home the honors. Still, there’s plenty of exciting new attackers to keep an eye on this year, from Olivia Thomas to Jordynn Dudley.
But if a goal-scoring forward is going to win Rookie of the Year in NWSL, it will likely have to be someone who does so consistently, and asking them to do so during the first-ever 30-match schedule in NWSL history is an added hurdle. — Herrera
Best new expansion team
Denver Summit: This is always a tough question since expansion seasons can be hard to predict, and building team chemistry from scratch is easier said than done. The Boston Legacy may have had more of a runway to build their squad than the Denver Summit, but the latter’s roster is made up of some fascinating players worth keeping an eye on this season. Defenders Ayo Oke and Eva Gaetino are interesting additions, while Janine Sonis was a fun watch at Racing Louisville last season and was second only to the Portland Thorns’ Olivia Moultrie in terms of shot creation. That’s without even mentioning Lindsey Heaps, the Colorado native who is sure to add some star power to the dynamic when she arrives in the summer. — Cattry
Next expansion team
Columbus, Ohio: With five of the last six expansion teams either on the West Coast or the western half of the country, it’s a no-brainer that the NWSL will start looking out on the other side of the map. Franchises over the last few seasons were awarded to Los Angeles, San Diego, the Bay Area, Denver, and Utah, along with Boston representing the East Coast of the nation. The league recently announced Atlanta as its latest expansion market, with a target arrival in the 2028 season.
NWSL Commissioner Berman stated in her 2026 kickoff address that the next expansion side would be announced this year to allow a lengthy build-up. It’s no secret the league has been looking at more southeastern and central markets, with Atlanta recently being named, and even Cleveland showing interest. Cincinnati was in the running for a franchise but missed out with Denver’s higher bid.
With increased attention to women’s sports in the Ohio area, recent reports that Columbus is an interested market, and the 2026 NWSL Challenge Cup scheduled to kick off in the city in June, all signs point to the Midwest city as the home of the next NWSL franchise. — Herrera
Bold Prediction
Chicago Stars FC make the playoffs: If this league really is about that second-half push, then maybe this is the season where the Stars put things together, when they just couldn’t get the timing right last year. Going from last place to a contender isn’t some completely out-of-this-galaxy-brained concept. Kansas City Current, Gotham FC, and even Orlando Pride are all recent examples of success.
A mix of acquisitions that balances new faces, stable editions, and veteran experience with the likes of rookie Tessa Dellarose, Aalyiah Farmer, and Briana Pinto, brings fresh talent to a squad in transition. All combined with an eventual return of Mallory Swanson later in the season, could be exactly the kind of push they need at the right time. — Herrera
