International talent and one of US’s most marketable players to fore as league approaches business end

The National Women’s Soccer League is just past the midway point of its 14th regular season, with 12 of 30 games remaining in the regular season (though half the league’s teams have one or more games in hand).

Despite a number of developments in 2026 – including two new expansion teams and the Utah Royals on a historic tear – some things have stayed consistent. At the moment, that includes a third consecutive season featuring the Washington Spirit as a top-two team. With the business end of the season looming, the mark of success is twofold: maintain that consistency through the end-of-year melee and into the playoffs (easier said than done) and, importantly for the Spirit, level up with a first-place finish in the table and/or a Championship trophy.