The National Women’s Soccer League is back.
The second half of the 2025 NWSL season kicks off Friday with three matchups — Chicago Stars FC vs. Gotham FC (8 p.m. ET, Prime Video), Racing Louisville FC vs. Kansas City Current (8 p.m. ET, NWSL+) and Seattle Reign FC vs. Angel City FC (10:30 p.m. ET, NWSL+) — following a five-week summer break.
The NWSL may have been paused from June 23 to July 31, but it was far from a vacation for dozens of players that represented their native countries on the international stage in the UEFA Women’s Euro 2025 tournament in Switzerland, the Women’s Africa Cup of Nations in Morocco and the 2025 Copa América Femenina in Ecuador.
Gotham FC teammates Esther González and Jess Carter, for example, represented Spain and England, respectively, in the UEFA Women’s Euro 2025 final. England ultimately won back-to-back titles after defeating Spain via a penalty shootout, but Carter’s celebration was cut short. She opted to skip England’s parade in London to return to the states ahead of Gotham’s match Friday.
‘I couldn’t be prouder to have been part of this England team,’ Carter wrote on Instagram after their Euro 2025 victory. ‘Gotham has quickly become a family and a team to me that I truly enjoy being part of so coming back to them straight away to prep for our upcoming game was a decision I made myself.’
As action is set to get underway in the NWSL, here are four burning questions going into the second half of the season:
Who leads MVP race, will it overlap with the Golden Boot?
Esther González is leading the 2025 Golden Boot Race and shows no signs of slowing down. González has a league-leading 10 goals in 13 games, becoming the fastest player in Gotham history to reach double-digit goals in a season. She was named the player of the month twice this season and has been pivotal to her team’s success. Gotham is fighting to stay in playoff contention and is 5-1-0 this season when González scores.
The Golden Boot winner has won the NWSL MVP award in every season but one since the league began play in 2013. (Lindsey Horan was named the 2018 MVP, while Sam Kerr won the 2018 Golden Boot.) So it’s safe to say González leads the MVP race as well, but she will face stiff competition down the stretch.
Kansas City Current forward Temwa Chawinga and Orlando Pride forward Barbra Banda are right behind González with eight goals each. Chawinga won the 2024 NWSL Golden Boot and MVP after becoming the first player in league history to score 20 goals in a season. If Chawinga repeats, she’ll be the first player to win multiple Golden Boots since Sam Kerr won three consecutive (2017-2019).
NWSL stars shine on international stage: Who competed?
The NWSL not only features the best players in the country, but the best players in the world as evidenced by international competitions held this summer, including the UEFA Women’s Euro 2025, the Women’s Africa Cup of Nations and the 2025 Copa América Femenina.
Esther González was the top scorer of the UEFA Women’s Euro in Switzerland, scoring four goals for Spain across six matches. Despite Spain leading the tournament in goals (18), possession (65.8%), passing accuracy (88.5%) and attempts (147), the Spaniards lost to England, which featured Gotham defender Jess Carter, Orlando Pride goalkeeper Anna Moorhouse and Washington Spirit defender Esme Morgan.
In addition to González, five other NWSL stars found net during the Women’s Euro 2025: San Diego Wave forward Delphine Cascarino scored two goals for France, Utah Royals midfielder Janni Thomsen scored for Denmark, Seattle Reign midfielder Jess Fishlock for Wales, Angel City FC forward Sveindís Jónsdóttir for Iceland and Chicago Stars defender Natalia Kuikka for Finland.
That same weekend, Nigeria won its record 10th WAFCON title in a comeback 3-2 victory over host Morocco. Bay FC forward Asisat Oshoala and Houston Dash forward Michelle Alozie were part of Nigeria’s championship team.
‘I love seeing fellow NWSL athletes here represented in WAFCON,’ Alozie told ESPN on July 24. ‘It is so important to see that African players are excelling in the NWSL, and then coming and excelling at WAFCON, just like Banda and Racheal Kundananji have shown.’
Orlando Pride forward Barbra Banda and Bay FC forward Racheal Kundananji each scored three goals for Zambia in the tournament.
The 2025 Copa América Femenina champion will be crowned on Saturday when Brazil faces Colombia in the final. Brazil’s national team includes Pride forward Marta (one goal) and midfielder Angelina, Gotham FC forward Gabi Portilho, Current goalkeeper Lorena and Racing Louisville FC forward Ary Borges. Colombia’s national team includes Racing Louisville FC centre-back Ángela Barón, Washington Spirit midfielder Leicy Santos (one goal) and San Diego Wave FC centre-back Daniela Arias.
Can anyone catch the Kansas City Current?
The Kansas City Current sits atop the standings and are clear favorites to win the NWSL Shield, which is awarded to the team with the best regular season record. Kansas City is eight points ahead in the standings and has the highest goal differential (19), in addition to a perfect 6-0 record at home.
The defending champion Orlando Pride (25 points) are in second place, followed by San Diego Wave (24 points) and Washington Spirit (23 points).
A NWSL Shield doesn’t equate to a NWSL Championship by any means. Since the league began play in 2013, only three teams have won the shield and championship in the same season, most recently the Pride in 2024.
Will Trinity Rodman return to the Spirit?
The Spirit are likely to have a boost in the second half of the season as forward Trinity Rodman nears a return. Rodman has been limited to four matches (one start) this season due to a chronic back injury that left her ‘in pain all the time,’ but the Olympic gold medalist is training with her team again.
‘I’m just happy to be back and actually in team trainings and not coming back on the side from step one,’ Rodman told reporters on Tuesday. ‘I’m still gonna be Trin. But, I think the way that I would throw my body around [before], maybe not. Maybe just being smarter about certain tackles, certain runs, certain 50-50s.’
The USA TODAY app gets you to the heart of the news — fast. Download for award-winning coverage, crosswords, audio storytelling, the eNewspaper and more.