In season
National Women's Soccer League 2026
National Women's Soccer League 2026: in season standings and model probabilities. Playoffs favourite: GFC >99.9%. Standings leader: Gotham FC · 58 points. Updated 2026-10-26.
- Playoffs favourite
- GFC >99.9%
- Standings leader
- Gotham FC · 58 points
| Rank | Team | P | W | L | D | GF | GD | Pts | Playoffs | Top 4 | NWSL Shield | Championship |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Gotham FC | 29 | 17 | 5 | 7 | 37 | +14 | 58 | >99.9% | >99.9% | 88% | 18% |
| 2 | San Diego Wave FC | 29 | 17 | 8 | 4 | 44 | +13 | 55 | >99.9% | >99.9% | 12% | 16% |
| 3 | Washington Spirit | 29 | 16 | 9 | 4 | 41 | +13 | 52 | >99.9% | 97% | – | 18% |
| 4 | Kansas City Current | 29 | 15 | 9 | 5 | 52 | +13 | 50 | >99.9% | 74% | – | 18% |
| 5 | Angel City FC | 29 | 14 | 8 | 7 | 50 | +19 | 49 | >99.9% | 29% | – | 11% |
| 6 | Utah Royals FC | 29 | 14 | 10 | 5 | 44 | +7 | 47 | >99.9% | <0.1% | – | 5% |
| 7 | Portland Thorns FC | 29 | 13 | 8 | 8 | 48 | +7 | 47 | >99.9% | <0.1% | – | 7% |
| 8 | Seattle Reign FC | 29 | 13 | 11 | 5 | 36 | +3 | 44 | 67% | – | – | 4% |
| 9 | North Carolina Courage | 29 | 13 | 13 | 3 | 51 | +9 | 42 | 24% | – | – | 1% |
| 10 | Denver Summit FC | 29 | 11 | 10 | 8 | 53 | +12 | 41 | 9% | – | – | 0.5% |
| 11 | Orlando Pride | 29 | 11 | 15 | 3 | 39 | -7 | 36 | – | – | – | – |
| 12 | Houston Dash | 29 | 9 | 14 | 6 | 38 | -4 | 33 | – | – | – | – |
| 13 | Boston Legacy FC | 29 | 9 | 14 | 6 | 40 | -9 | 33 | – | – | – | – |
| 14 | Bay FC | 29 | 7 | 16 | 6 | 30 | -16 | 27 | – | – | – | – |
| 15 | Racing Louisville FC | 29 | 7 | 19 | 3 | 38 | -22 | 24 | – | – | – | – |
| 16 | Chicago Stars FC | 29 | 5 | 22 | 2 | 17 | -52 | 17 | – | – | – | – |
Source and method
Snapshot updated . Source: FixtureDownload. Method: Poisson goals model.
Model notes
- Each remaining match is simulated 20,000 times from a Poisson goals model: team attack and defence ratings plus home advantage, fitted on this and last season with a 240-day half-life.
- Every simulated season also lets team strength drift (more when more of the season is left), and the playoffs are then played out from each simulated table with the same strengths; penalties are a coin flip.
- Teams level on points are ranked by goal difference, wins, goals scored, head-to-head points, head-to-head goals, with the official order used where it is published. Simulated seasons separate them by goal difference, wins, goals scored, then at random.
- Playoffs: the top eight qualify for single-match quarterfinals and semifinals hosted by the higher seed (1 v 8, 2 v 7, 3 v 6, 4 v 5, no reseeding); level games go to extra time, then penalties. The 2026 NWSL Championship is at Audi Field, so the Washington Spirit would play a final at home and anyone else on neutral ground.
- The NWSL's sixth tiebreaker, fewest disciplinary points, is not in the data; ESPN's published order is used whenever its records agree with the results.
- Backtested on the 2024 and 2025 seasons (FixtureDownload has no earlier NWSL feed): week-ahead match predictions score 0.220 (ranked probability score) against 0.237 for home/draw/away base rates, and playoff, top-four, Shield and title odds at a quarter, half and three quarters of each season were scored to check the strength drift.
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