Women’s soccer is increasingly gaining popularity in the United States, with their soccer team ranked the best in the world. In June 2019, the team won the World Cup by huge margins breaking existing records of goals in the history of the world Cup.
The national women’s soccer league NWSL is the professional women’s soccer league. It came to be in 2012, replacing the outgoing women’s professional soccer. The NWSL season runs from April to September every year. Each team plays 24 regular-season games in a season, with half of the games played home and the other half on the road.
The first NWSL matches were held in 2013, with eight teams taking part in the games. Some of the participant teams were from the former professional women’s soccer, including the Sky Blue FC and the Chicago Red Stars. Currently, the league is made up of nine teams. The other teams that joined the league include Portland Thorns FC, Orlando Pride, North Carolina Courage, Houston Dash, Utah Royals FC, Washington Spirit, and OL Reign.
The best teams in the NWSL
Houston Dash
The Houston Dash are the cup holders for the 2020 NWSL challenge cup championship with a 2-0 win against the Chicago red stars at the finals. The 23 match tournament saw the team clutch it’s first to win in league history.
North Carolina Courage
Since the league came to be in 2013, several teams have been crowned winners, including the 2018 and 2019 winners, the North Carolina Courage. The team became the first in the league history to win the championships and shield in the same season. In 2019, North Carolina Courage won 4-0 against the Chicago Red Stars at the finals match held in Cary. In 2018, the team won 25 out the 26 games played, scoring 3-0 against Portland Thorns in the final game. The 2017 season saw the team lose 1-0 to Portland Thorns at the last game.
Portland Thorns
Portland Thorns are the 2017 NWSL champions. The club, which was only established in 2012 and started playing in 2013, clinched a win the same year winning in a 1-1 draw against Kansas City, which ended in penalties. In 2013 a Thorns FC team was in a tie atop in the regular standings coming third by goal difference. The team’s games always have record-breaking fans’ attendance. During the 2014 season, the team lost at the semifinals to Kansas City, finishing third.
FC Kansas City
The FC Kansas team was among the league founders in 2012. They won the league title in two consecutive seasons, 2014 and 2015. In 2013, the team played to the semifinals clinching second place in the regular season.
NWSL awards
The NWSL champions are determined at the final game in the playoffs. Two players voted by the media are awarded by the league: player of the week and player of the month.
There are six annual outstanding achievement awards in the NWSL. They are voted by the media, fans, coaches, owners, general managers, and players. These awards include
- The most valuable player
- Coach of the year
- Defender of the year
- Goalkeeper of the year
- Rookie of the year
- Golden boot
Annually, the league honors the best XI team and the second-best XI team as voted by the NWSL player, coaches, and journalists.
Summary
Although the United States National Soccer team is ranked world’s number one by FIFA with two world Cup titles of 2015 and 2019, the same doesn’t feature in the country’s.
