Five bold predictions for women's soccer in 2026

Stepping into the new year like…

Five bold predictions for women's soccer in 2026

When the world of women’s soccer looks back on 2025, it may well be remembered for its dynasties.

• Chelsea won a sixth straight WSL title, Euros champion England and Copa winner Brazil retained their continental crowns, and Gotham FC lifted a second NWSL trophy in three years.

Rising tides: But the winds of change also began to blow, with Arsenal upsetting Barcelona to win the Champions League final, top NWSL talent departing the US for opportunities overseas, and Kansas City reminding everyone what happens when regular-season dominance meets playoff vulnerability.

• And through it all the game continued to grow, with increasingly interesting results on both sides of the pond, as the ramp-up to the 2027 World Cup and a new slate of regional competitions coincide with an ever-shifting economic landscape

Bottom line: Instead of looking back this New Year’s Eve, we’re keeping the spirit of progress alive by presenting five bold predictions for women’s soccer in 2026.

Sophia Wilson will be a serious NWSL MVP contender

News of USWNT Sophia Wilson’s impending return to the Portland Thorns gave NWSL fans a boost earlier this month, as the Triple Espresso forward signed a single-year extension with her original club team.

• Expect Wilson to hit the ground running as she comes back from pregnancy — the 2022 NWSL MVP has been very consistent throughout her career, and she’ll be joined by other returning Thorns attackers to bolster her opportunities in front of goal.

• Fellow extended Portland star Olivia Moultrie will be paramount to the 25-year-old’s MVP campaign, especially as Wilson looks to challenge two-time reigning MVP Temwa Chawinga.

Comeback loading: Don’t bet against Wilson showing shades of Alex Morgan’s 2023 Golden Boot run, when the USWNT legend blew past expectations of what new mothers could achieve in their first season back on the pitch.

There won’t be any repeat league title winners

Reigning WSL winner Chelsea’s repeat bid is already shaky, with Everton snapping their 34-game unbeaten streak while they prepare to enter the new year six points behind surging Manchester City in the league table.

• Blues manager Sonia Bompastor has at times appeared to prefer a static roster rotation, as she continues to manage players from two eras: former coach Emma Hayes’s successful reign and the team’s modern iteration. If there was a time for a changing of the WSL guard, 2026 is the year.

Stateside shakeups: Over in the US, 2025 NWSL Shield winners Kansas City continue to navigate offseason changes, with the Current starting 2026 under brand new leadership after former head coach Vlatko Andonovski announced he’ll move to a Sporting Director role with the club.

• ESPN recently reported Kansas City’s plan to bring on former MLS head coach Chris Armas to lead the team in 2026. But without a formal announcement and the offseason clock ticking, the Current might run out of runway to set up a repeat bid.

• 2025 NWSL champion Gotham has both FIFA and Concacaf Champions Cup commitments this year, complicating their repeat quest as they maneuver a jam-packed season. The club has landed one major re-signing in Midge Purce, but forward Ella Stevens departed for expansion side Boston, leaving the team to rely on a title-winning core with an average age over 28.

European dreams: And while Arsenal hasn’t looked too terribly far off their Champions League game yet, the resurgence of Barcelona and OL Lyonnes could see the WSL on the outside looking in once the tournament reaches its May final.

• Despite having a few worthy clubs — including surprisingly strong newcomers Manchester United — the UK league’s chances of claiming another UWCL title seem to be overshadowed by mainland Europe’s renewed dominance.

Big names will be left off the USWNT’s World Cup qualifying roster

USWNT coach Emma Hayes embraced change in 2025, giving a whopping 43 players their first national team cap this year — the most since 2001.

• Though the approach came with some speed bumps, as the US matched their single-year total loss record with three dropped matches.

• Considering Hayes’s approach, it seems that the future of the USWNT has arrived much sooner than expected.

Growing pains: Looking back, those losses actually made an emphatic argument for more lineup overhauls — not less.

• The team’s November loss to Portugal showcased a veteran midfield trio in Rose Lavelle, Lindsey Heaps, and Sam Coffey, exposing the old guard’s weaknesses as the team looks to hold ground among the world’s elite.

Bottom line: Remember — Hayes made the call to leave Alex Morgan off the gold medal-winning 2024 Olympic roster, laying the groundwork for even bigger moves as the US gears up for a tough World Cup qualifying run in 2026.

More stars will leave the NWSL — while others head Stateside

The NWSL closes 2025 with flashy off-field headlines and waning on-field enthusiasm, as the league attempts to grapple with a rash of overseas departures.

• They’ve even gone so far as to institute a new “High Impact Player” rule, allowing teams to exceed the salary cap for top talent after rejecting the Washington Spirit’s blockbuster play for superstar striker Trinity Rodman.

Big picture: Viewed as a half-measure to circumvent larger salary cap issues, the NWSL Players Association has come out against the newly approved mechanism.

• The union is advocating for the league to raise the base salary cap across the board to help clubs keep up in an increasingly competitive global market.

• Whether or not the two parties will reach a compromise remains to be seen, with NWSL fans left to hope for a solution as wealthy European clubs continue to draw top free agents away from the US league.

Ebbs and flows: Of course, money isn’t everything — even raising the salary cap won’t guarantee that NWSL favorites stick around, as another league’s pull features more than just a pay bump.

• Expect more players to test their abilities in new environments when the transfer window opens back up in January, especially considering the looming World Cup and its national team implications.

• But should the NWSL figure out its salary cap woes in time, US clubs might just bring in a few big names themselves.

The Men’s World Cup will profoundly impact women’s soccer

International soccer’s largest event lands in the US next year, as the 2026 Men’s World Cup promises to reshape football fandom in this country and beyond.

• And while the NWSL remains bullish on the tournament’s ability to convert soccer fans across gender lines, the competition itself is bound to have a serious and immediate impact on the women’s game.

Big picture: The NWSL plans to pause for the duration of next summer’s tournament, in part due to infrastructural strains as the event takes over venues shared between men’s and women’s club teams.

• The USWNT’s own World Cup qualifying campaign will also hit the breaks until November, rendering the team’s summer international windows largely meaningless.

• And with Concacaf qualifiers kicking off immediately after the 2026 NWSL Championship, many top players will have to balance intense commitments at the end of a long year.

Bottom line: No matter how the 2026 World Cup ends up influencing US soccer culture, it will inevitably present some challenges as the domestic women’s game pushes to be more than an afterthought alongside the sport’s biggest stage.