NWSL Challenge Cup
Organizing bodyNational Women's Soccer League
FoundedMay 27, 2020; 3 years ago (2020-05-27)
RegionUnited States
Current champion(s)San Diego Wave FC
(1st title)
Most successful club(s)North Carolina Courage
(2 titles)
Television broadcastersAmazon Prime Video[1]
Websitehttps://www.nwslsoccer.com/
2024 NWSL Challenge Cup

The NWSL Challenge Cup is an annual supercup competition organized by the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL), the top-tier women's league in the United States soccer league system. The current (2024) cup holders are the San Diego Wave FC after defeating NJ/NY Gotham FC through an Alex Morgan goal in the 88th minute.

The NWSL Challenge Cup was first held in 2020 as a one-off tournament to mark the league's return to action from the COVID-19 pandemic.[2] It was the first top-tier professional sports league in the United States to restart after COVID-19 lockdowns began.[3] Subsequently, the NWSL announced that it would return as an annual league cup competition.[4] After the 2023 season, the NWSL announced that the Challenge Cup would change from a league cup to a supercup starting in 2024.[5]

Format

2020–2023

For the first four years of the tournament, all NWSL teams would begin a group stage where they would play four to six games, usually split geographically. The group stage would then be followed by one or more knockout matches to determine the Cup winner. In 2020, all nine teams at the time were to play four games in a single pool, with eight teams advancing to the knockout stage.[6] In 2021, the ten teams at the time divided into two divisions of five teams, with the group winners qualifying for the final match.[7] In 2022 and 2023, the twelve teams at the time split into three groups of four, with the best runner-up joining the three group winners in a two-round knockout tournament.[8] For the 2023 season, the NWSL moved the tournament to run concurrently with the season, due to player concerns about injuries.[9]

2024 onward

In 2024, the NWSL Challenge Cup transitioned to a single pre-season match between the current NWSL Shield holder and the current NWSL Champions, a similar structure to other Super Cup trophies worldwide such as the FA Community Shield. Should a team win both the Championship and Shield, the Challenge Cup will be a rematch of the previous season's championship match.[5]

Records and statistics

Results by team

Team Winners Runners-up Last won
North Carolina Courage 2 0 2023
Houston Dash 1 0 2020
Portland Thorns FC 1 0 2021
San Diego Wave FC 1 0 2024
NJ/NY Gotham FC 0 2 –
Chicago Red Stars 0 1 –
Racing Louisville FC 0 1 –
Washington Spirit 0 1 –

List of finals

Season Winners Score Runners-up Venue Attendance Player of the Final Tournament MVP
2020 Houston Dash 2–0 Chicago Red Stars Rio Tinto Stadium 0 (behind closed doors) Shea Groom (Houston Dash) Rachel Daly (Houston Dash)
2021 Portland Thorns FC 1–1
6–5 (p) 		NJ/NY Gotham FC Providence Park 4,000 - 5,000 (estimate)[10] Adrianna Franch (Portland Thorns FC) Debinha (North Carolina Courage)
2022 North Carolina Courage 2–1 Washington Spirit Sahlen's Stadium 3,163 Kerolin (North Carolina Courage) Debinha (North Carolina Courage)
2023 North Carolina Courage 2–0 Racing Louisville FC Sahlen's Stadium 3,068 Manaka Matsukubo (North Carolina Courage) Kristen Hamilton (Kansas City Current)
2024 San Diego Wave FC 1–0 NJ/NY Gotham FC Red Bull Arena (New Jersey) 14,241 Alex Morgan (San Diego Wave FC) Not awarded

References

  1. ^ https://www.aboutamazon.com/news/entertainment/nwsl-schedule-2024-prime-video#:~:text=Prime%20Video%20kicks%20off%20its%20inaugural%20season%20of%20National%20Women's,the%202024%20NWSL%20Challenge%20Cup.
  2. ^ Levine, Matthew (May 27, 2020). "NWSL announces 2020 Challenge Cup presented by P&G and Secret". National Women's Soccer League. Retrieved July 22, 2020.
  3. ^ Goff, Stephen (June 25, 2020). "NWSL Challenge Cup opens this weekend, making women's soccer first team sport back". Washington Post. Retrieved May 14, 2021.
  4. ^ "NWSL Announces Innovative 2021 Competition Framework". NWSL. November 18, 2020. Retrieved November 18, 2020.
  5. ^ a b "National Women's Soccer League Announces 2024 Schedule Footprint, Competition Calendar" (Press release). National Women's Soccer League. December 7, 2023. Retrieved December 7, 2023.
  6. ^ Levine, Matthew (May 27, 2020). "NWSL announces 2020 Challenge Cup presented by P&G and Secret". www.NWSLSoccer.com. National Women's Soccer League. Retrieved December 8, 2023.
  7. ^ "NWSL Announces 2021 Challenge Cup Presented by Secret Opener in Houston". www.NWSLSoccer.com. National Women's Soccer League. March 8, 2021. Retrieved December 8, 2023.
  8. ^ "National Women's Soccer League announce 2022 Challenge Cup format" (PDF). www.nwslsoccer.com. December 8, 2023.
  9. ^ Yanchulis, Kate (November 17, 2022). "NWSL Challenge Cup will take place in-season after scheduling, injury concerns". Just Women's Sports. Retrieved December 8, 2023.
  10. ^ Estimated limited attendance provided at 15:50 on YT video: FULL GAME: 2021 NWSL Challenge Cup Final [Portland Thorns FC vs Gotham FC] | CBS Sports HQ

External links

NWSL Challenge Cup
National Women's Soccer League
National football supercups of North America (CONCACAF region)
National football league cups
Categories