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The following is a compilation of notable records and statistics for teams and players in the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL). The NWSL's inaugural season was kicked off on April 13, 2013 with 8 participating clubs, four of the eight inaugural clubs still exist with their original names.[1][2] For Historical purposes, the league's stats and records include active and defunct clubs.

Statistics for the NWSL Challenge Cup, a competition originally created in place of the 2020 season that was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic, are treated separately from regular season statistics.

Champions and shield winners

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By season

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Through November 3, 2024 (Regular season and Playoff matches)

Season Playoff final Regular season
Champions Score Runners-up Shield winners Points Runners-up
2013 Portland Thorns FC 2–0
Details 		Western New York Flash Western New York Flash 38–38
Standings 		FC Kansas City
2014 FC Kansas City 2–1
Details 		Seattle Reign FC Seattle Reign FC 54–41
Standings 		FC Kansas City
2015 FC Kansas City 1–0
Details 		Seattle Reign FC Seattle Reign FC 43–33
Standings 		Chicago Red Stars
2016 Western New York Flash 2–2 AET, 3–2 PKs
Details 		Washington Spirit Portland Thorns FC 41–39
Standings 		Washington Spirit
2017 Portland Thorns FC 1–0
Details 		North Carolina Courage North Carolina Courage 49–47
Standings 		Portland Thorns FC
2018 North Carolina Courage 3–0
Details 		Portland Thorns FC North Carolina Courage 57–42
Standings 		Portland Thorns FC
2019 North Carolina Courage 4–0
Details 		Chicago Red Stars North Carolina Courage 49–44
Standings 		Chicago Red Stars
2021 Washington Spirit 2–1 AET
Details 		Chicago Red Stars Portland Thorns FC 44–42
Standings 		OL Reign
2022 Portland Thorns FC 2–0
Details 		Kansas City Current OL Reign 40–39
Standings 		Portland Thorns FC
2023 NJ/NY Gotham FC 2–1
Details 		OL Reign San Diego Wave FC 37–35
Standings 		Portland Thorns FC
2024 TBD
Details 		Orlando Pride 60–56
Standings 		Washington Spirit

Total trophies by team

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Through November 4, 2024 (2024 NWSL Shield)

Italics indicates a defunct team.

Team Seasons* Playoff appearances Championships Shields Challenge Cups Total
North Carolina Courage 7 5 2 (2018, 2019) 3 (2017, 2018, 2019) 2 (2022, 2023) 7
Portland Thorns FC 11 9 3 (2013, 2017, 2022) 2 (2016, 2021) 1 (2021) 6
Seattle Reign FC/OL Reign/Reign FC 11 7 – 3 (2014, 2015, 2022) – 3
FC Kansas City 5 3 2 (2014, 2015) – – 2
Western New York Flash 4 2 1 (2016) 1 (2013) – 2
San Diego Wave FC 3 2 – 1 (2023) 1 (2024) 2
Washington Spirit 11 4 1 (2021) – – 1
NJ/NY Gotham FC/Sky Blue FC 11 3 1 (2023) – – 1
Orlando Pride 8 1 – 1 (2024) – 1
Houston Dash 10 1 – – 1 (2020*) 1
Chicago Red Stars 11 7 – – – 0
Angel City FC 3 1 – – – 0
Kansas City Current 4 1 – – – 0
Bay FC 1 0 – – – 0
Utah Royals 3 0 – – – 0
Racing Louisville FC 4 0 – – – 0
Boston Breakers 5 0 – – – 0

*While there was no 2020 regular season (i.e., it is not included in the second column), 2020 did include the inaugural Challenge Cup, which was won by the Houston Dash. It also included the 2020 Fall Series, in which the "Community Shield" (separate from the NWSL Shield and thus not included here) was won by the Portland Thorns.

Team records

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Wins

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Losses

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Attendance by season

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Main article: National Women's Soccer League attendance
Season Matches Overall Highest Lowest Playoff
mean
Total Mean Median Club Mean Club Mean
2013 88 375,743 4,270 3,007 Portland Thorns FC 13,320 Sky Blue FC 1,664 6,820
2014 108 446,311 4,133 3,014 Portland Thorns FC 13,362 Sky Blue FC 1,639 3,763
2015 90 454,100 5,046 3,367 Portland Thorns FC 15,639 Sky Blue FC 2,268 6,766
2016 100 555,775 5,558 3,997 Portland Thorns FC 16,945 Sky Blue FC 2,162 10,863
2017 120 609,960 5,083 3,576 Portland Thorns FC 17,653 FC Kansas City 1,788 12,111
2018 108 650,562 6,024 4,025 Portland Thorns FC 16,959 Sky Blue FC 2,531 13,323[a]
2019 108 792,409 7,337 5,565 Portland Thorns FC 20,098 Sky Blue FC 3,338 8,956
2021[b] 120 567,072 5,155 Portland Thorns FC 14,391 Chicago Red Stars 3,222 8,774
2022 132 1,042,063 7,917 Angel City FC 19,105 Orlando Pride 4,385 21,730
2023 132 1,366,581 10,869 San Diego Wave FC 20,718 North Carolina Courage 5,384 19,581
2024 182 2,040,348 11,211 San Diego Wave FC 19,575[c] Houston Dash 6,194
  1. ^ A semifinal that would have been played in North Carolina was moved to Portland due to Hurricane Florence.
  2. ^ Due to restrictions related to the COVID-19 pandemic, many teams had reduced capacities for part or all of the season, including some games with zero fans.
  3. ^ Due to a match being relocated to Louisville, San Diego played only 12 home matches in the 2024 season.

Goals

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Regular season records

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Through 2024 season (regular season games only)[3][4][5]

Pts rank
(prev.
season) 		PPG rank
(prev.
season) 		Club Seasons[a] GP W D L GF GA GD Pts PPG 1st 2nd 3rd 4th
Finishing positions
1 (1) 2 (2) Portland Thorns FC 11 (2013–) 252 119 62 71 411 295 116 419 1.663 2 4 3
2 (2) 3 (3) Seattle Reign FC[b] 11 (2013–) 252 111 62 79 364 292 72 395 1.567 3 1 1 1
3 (3) 6 (7) Chicago Red Stars 11 (2013–) 252 105 63 84 352 334 18 356 1.413 2 1 3
4 (4) 11 (10) Washington Spirit 11 (2013–) 252 88 62 102 317 355 -38 326 1.294 2 1 2
5 (5) 13 (13) NJ/NY Gotham FC[c] 11 (2013–) 252 84 63 105 301 339 -68 315 1.250 1 1
6 (6) 1 (1) North Carolina Courage 7 (2017–) 166 87 31 48 282 168 114 292 1.759 3 1
7 (7) 15 (11) Houston Dash 10 (2014–) 230 70 50 110 254 331 -77 260 1.130 1
8 (8) 9 (12) Orlando Pride 8 (2016–) 186 69 39 78 241 276 -35 246 1.323 1 1
9 (-) 4 (-) FC Kansas City 5 (2013–2017) 110 45 27 36 152 125 27 168 1.527 2 1
10 (12) 5 (14) Kansas City Current[d] 4 (2021–) 94 37 22 35 131 132 -1 133 1.415 1
11 (-) 8 (-) Western New York Flash 4 (2013–2016) 86 33 22 31 142 118 24 119 1.384 1 1
12 (14) 16 (15) Racing Louisville FC 4 (2021–) 94 23 31 40 102 138 -36 100 1.064
13 (15) 7 (3) San Diego Wave FC 3 (2022–) 70 27 17 26 87 78 9 98 1.400 1 1
14 (-) 17 (-) Boston Breakers 5 (2013–2017) 110 25 20 65 132 212 -80 95 0.864
15 (-) 12 (-) Utah Royals 3 (2018–2019, 2024–) 74 26 16 32 69 88 -19 94 1.270
16 (16) 14 (9) Angel City FC 3 (2022–) 70 23 18 29 83 99 -16 84[e] 1.200[e]
17 (-) 10 (-) Bay FC 1 (2024–) 26 11 1 14 31 41 -10 34 1.308

Sort order is points, finishing positions, wins.
Italics denote defunct teams.

  1. ^ No regular season in 2020.
  2. ^ Known as Seattle Reign FC from 2013–2018, Reign FC in 2019, and OL Reign from 2020–2023.
  3. ^ Known as Sky Blue FC from 2013–2020.
  4. ^ Known as Kansas City NWSL in 2021.
  5. ^ a b The NWSL docked Angel City FC three points during the 2024 season for violating player compensation rules.[6]

Playoff records

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Through 2023 playoffs

Rank Club Championships Runners-up Seasons
qualified 		GP W L D[a] Penalty
wins[a] 		PPG GF GA GD
1 Portland Thorns FC 3 1 9/10 13 7 6 0 0 1.615 19 18 +1
2 North Carolina Courage 2 1 5/6 8 5 3 0 0 1.875 14 5 +9
3 FC Kansas City 2 0 3/5 5 4 1 0 0 2.400 10 4 +6
4 Washington Spirit 1 1 4/10 7 4 2 1 0 1.857 10 10 0
5 Western New York Flash 1 1 2/4 4 2 1 1 1 1.750 8 7 +1
6 NJ/NY Gotham FC 1 0 3/10 5 3 2 0 0 1.800 5 4 +1
7 Seattle Reign FC 0 3 7/10 10 3 7 0 0 0.900 10 15 −5
8 Chicago Red Stars 0 2 7/10 10 3 7 0 0 0.900 7 16 −9
9 Kansas City Current 0 1 1/3 3 2 1 0 0 2.000 4 3 +1
10 San Diego Wave FC 0 0 2/2 3 1 2 0 0 1.000 3 4 -1
11 Angel City FC 0 0 1/2 1 0 1 0 0 0.000 0 1 -1
12 Orlando Pride 0 0 1/7 1 0 1 0 0 0.000 1 4 −3
13 Houston Dash 0 0 1/9 1 0 1 0 0 0.000 1 2 -1
14 Racing Louisville FC 0 0 0/3 Have not qualified
15 Utah Royals 0 0 0/2
16 Boston Breakers 0 0 0/5

Sort order is championships, runners-up, PPG, fraction of seasons qualified.
Italics denote defunct teams.
Bold text denotes a column's maximum value.

  1. ^ a b Draws after 120 minutes are decided by penalties.

Player records

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Boldface indicates players currently active in the league.

Most minutes played

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Most minutes played in NWSL
(Regular season only; as of December 31, 2023)[7]
Rank Player Minutes played Games
1 United States Lauren Barnes 18,298 211
2 United States McCall Zerboni 16,141 204
3 Wales Jess Fishlock 15,305 180
4 United States Ali Krieger 15,026 176
5 New Zealand Abby Erceg 14,921 169
6 United States Allie Long 14,753 172
7 United States Alyssa Naeher 14,580 163
8 Canada Christine Sinclair 14,426 176
9 United States Sofia Huerta 14,286 161
10 United States Becky Sauerbrunn 14,071 164
11 United States Merritt Mathias 14,020 183
12 United States Kristie Mewis 13,987 171
13 United States Emily Menges 13,850 160
14 United States Vanessa DiBernardo 13,426 166
15 United States Danielle Colaprico 13,398 165
16 United States Megan Montefusco 13,257 155
17 United States Meghan Klingenberg 13,049 156
18 United States Tori Huster 13,013 159
19 United States Nicole Barnhart 12,674 144
20 United States Jessica McDonald 12,593 182

Most appearances, regular season only

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2013–2023 regular seasons, a total of 226 matches for each team that has been active since the start of the NWSL.[8]

Most NWSL appearances
(Regular season only; as of December 31, 2023)
Rank Player Games
1 United States Lauren Barnes 211
2 United States McCall Zerboni 204
3 United States Merritt Mathias 183
4 United States Jessica McDonald 182
5 Wales Jess Fishlock 180
6 Canada Christine Sinclair 176
United States Ali Krieger 176
8 United States Allie Long 172
United States Jasmyne Spencer 172
10 United States Kristie Mewis 171
11 United States Erika Tymrak 168
12 United States Vanessa DiBernardo 166
New Zealand Abby Erceg 166
14 United States Danielle Colaprico 165
15 United States Becky Sauerbrunn 164
16 United States Amber Brooks 163
United States Alyssa Naeher 163
18 United States Sofia Huerta 161
19 United States Emily Menges 160
20 United States Tori Huster 159

Goals

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  • First NWSL goal: Renae Cuellar for FC Kansas City against Portland Thorns FC, 3rd minute (April 13, 2013)
  • Fastest goal: Michelle Cooper for Kansas City Current against Washington Spirit, 22 seconds (June 18, 2023)[9]
  • Most goals in a regular season (24 games): 18, Sam Kerr (2019)
  • Most goals in a regular season (26 games): 21, Temwa Chawinga (2024)
  • Most goals per team game in a season: 0.81, Temwa Chawinga (2024)
  • Most goals in a regular season by a rookie: 11, Diana Ordonez (2022, 22-game season)
  • Most goals in a game: 4, Sam Kerr (August 19, 2017);[10][11] Kristen Hamilton (July 5, 2019);[12][13] Alex Morgan (May 7, 2022)[14][15]
  • Most goals in a half: 4, Sam Kerr (August 19, 2017)[11]
  • Most hat-tricks in a season: 2, Sam Kerr (2017);[10][11] Kristen Hamilton (2019)[13]
  • Most consecutive seasons to score at least 10 goals: 3
    • Sam Kerr, 2017–2019 (with Sky Blue FC, Chicago Red Stars)
    • Sophia Smith, 2022-2024 (Portland Thorns FC)
  • Most consecutive seasons to score at least 15 goals: 3
    • Sam Kerr, 2017–2019 (with Sky Blue FC, Chicago Red Stars)
  • Most different clubs to score for: 6
    • Jessica McDonald for Seattle Reign FC, Portland Thorns FC, Houston Dash, Western New York Flash, North Carolina Courage, and Racing Louisville FC
  • Youngest player to score: Alex Pfeiffer, 16 years, three months and 9 days (March 16, 2024, for Kansas City Current against Portland Thorns FC)[16][17]
  • First goal by a goalkeeper: Michelle Betos (June 19, 2015 for Portland Thorns FC against FC Kansas City)[18]

Top scorers

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Goals, regular season only

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NWSL all-time leading goalscorers
(Regular season only; as of October 13, 2024)[19]
Rank Player Goals
1 United States Lynn Williams 80
2 Australia Sam Kerr 77
3 Canada Christine Sinclair 64
4 United States Alex Morgan 60
5 United States Jessica McDonald 54
6 United States Megan Rapinoe 51
7 United States Christen Press 48
8 United States Ashley Hatch 50
9 Brazil Debinha 44
10 United States Carli Lloyd 43
11 Wales Jess Fishlock 42
12 United States Sydney Leroux 41
13 United States Amy Rodriguez 39
14 United States Crystal Dunn 38
Denmark Nadia Nadim
16 England Rachel Daly 37
17 United States Allie Long 36
18 United States Sofia Huerta 35
19 United States Kealia Watt 33
20 Scotland Kim Little 32
United States Sophia Smith
England Jodie Taylor

Leading goalscorers in playoffs

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NWSL all-time playoff leading goalscorers
Last updated after 2023 season.
Rank Player Goals
1 United States Amy Rodriguez 6
2 United States Crystal Dunn 5
3 United States Jessica McDonald 4
United States Samantha Mewis
United States Lynn Williams
5 Brazil Debinha 3
United States Tobin Heath
United States Lindsey Horan
United States Megan Rapinoe
Canada Christine Sinclair

NWSL top goal scorers by regular season

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Top regular-season goal scorers
Last updated after 2024 season.[20]
Year Player Team Goals Games GPG
2013 United States Lauren Holiday FC Kansas City 12 18 .666
2014 Scotland Kim Little Seattle Reign FC 16 23 .695
2015 United States Crystal Dunn Washington Spirit 15 20 .75
2016 United States Lynn Williams Western New York Flash 11 19 .579
2017 Australia Sam Kerr Sky Blue FC 17 22 .773
2018 Australia Sam Kerr Chicago Red Stars 16 19 .842
2019 Australia Sam Kerr Chicago Red Stars 18 21 .857
2021 United States Ashley Hatch Washington Spirit 10 20 .50
2022 United States Alex Morgan San Diego Wave FC 15 17 .882
2023 United States Sophia Smith Portland Thorns FC 11 18 .611
2024 Malawi Temwa Chawinga Kansas City Current 21 26 .80

*GPG = goals ger game

Assists

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Most assists

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Most assists (career)
(Regular season only; as of January 1, 2024)[24]
Rank Player Assists
1 United States Sofia Huerta 31
United States Jessica McDonald
3 United States Lynn Williams 28
4 United States Alex Morgan 27
5 Japan Nahomi Kawasumi 26
United States Megan Rapinoe
7 Wales Jess Fishlock 25
8 United States Vanessa DiBernardo 24
United States Crystal Dunn
United States Tobin Heath
Australia Sam Kerr
Japan Yūki Nagasato

Assists leaders by season

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Most assists per regular season
Last updated after 2024 season.[20]
Year Player Assists Apps
2013 United States Lauren Holiday 9 18
2014 Wales Jessica Fishlock 8 22
2015 Scotland Kim Little 7 20
2016 United States Tobin Heath 10 15
2017 Japan Nahomi Kawasumi 9 24
2018 United States Jessica McDonald 8 23
2019 Japan Yūki Nagasato 8 24
2021* United States Trinity Rodman 6 22
United States Sofia Huerta 23
2022* United States Carson Pickett 6 20
United States Mallory Swanson 16
2023 United States Sam Coffey 8 22
2024 United States Croix Bethune 10 17

*Joint record

Goalkeepers

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Clean sheets

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Most shutouts (career)
(Regular season only; as of December 31, 2023)[24]
# Player Shutouts Apps Shutout %
1 United States Nicole Barnhart 52 144 36.1%
2 United States Alyssa Naeher 43 163 26.4%
3 United States Adrianna Franch 42 127 33.1%
4 United States Casey Murphy 32 80 40.0%
5 Canada Kailen Sheridan 31 117 26.5%
6 United States Jane Campbell 30 103 29.1%
United States Aubrey Kingsbury 119 25.2%
8 United States Bella Bixby 24 57 42.1%
9 United States Ashlyn Harris 22 135 16.3%
10 United States Katelyn Rowland 20 60 33.3%

Saves

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Most saves (career)
(Regular season only; as of October 2, 2022)[24]
# Player Saves
1 United States Ashlyn Harris 518
2 United States Alyssa Naeher 494
3 United States Nicole Barnhart 468
4 Canada Kailen Sheridan 401
5 United States Adrianna Franch 395
6 United States Aubrey Kingsbury 362
7 United States Michelle Betos 340
8 United States Jane Campbell 336
9 Canada Erin McLeod 288
10 United States Haley Kopmeyer 239

Match records

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See also

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References

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  1. ^ "Stats". National Women's Soccer League. Archived from the original on January 7, 2015. Retrieved June 14, 2014.
  2. ^ NWSL (March 20, 2024). "Events and Milestones | National Women's Soccer League Official Site". NWSL. Retrieved August 20, 2024.
  3. ^ a b "Club Information | National Women's Soccer League Official Site". nwslsoccer.com. National Women's Soccer League. March 20, 2024. Archived from the original on August 20, 2024. Retrieved August 20, 2024.
  4. ^ "2024 NWSL Stats". FBref.com. Retrieved November 8, 2024.
  5. ^ "NWSL table 2023, form and next opponent". FotMob. Retrieved April 16, 2024.
  6. ^ Kassouf, Jeff (October 3, 2024). "Angel City FC docked 3 points, fined for salary cap violation". ESPN. Retrieved November 8, 2024.
  7. ^ "NWSL Player Stats".
  8. ^ Cooper, Jen (2024), "Field Player Registry", Keeper Notes NWSL Almanac, pp. 294-362
  9. ^ Sperry, Daniel (June 18, 2023). "Kansas City Current squander late lead, lose to Washington Spirit in NWSL home match". The Kansas City Star.
  10. ^ a b "Sam Kerr finishes NWSL season with bushel of scoring records". Soccer America. October 2017. Retrieved November 19, 2017.
  11. ^ a b c Siracusa, Claire (August 20, 2017). "Sam Kerr scores four goals in Sky Blue FC comeback win". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved August 27, 2022.
  12. ^ Purdy, Jacqueline (July 5, 2019). "Kristen Hamilton scores four, Courage win 5-2" (Press release). National Women's Soccer League. Retrieved August 27, 2022.
  13. ^ a b "NWSL Friday: Kristen Hamilton packs on four goals for Courage". The Equalizer. July 5, 2019. Retrieved August 27, 2022.
  14. ^ "National Women's Soccer League Official Site | NWSL". www.nwslsoccer.com. Retrieved May 28, 2022.
  15. ^ Togerson, Derek (May 7, 2022). "Alex Morgan Scores 4 Goals in Wave FC Win". www.nbcsandiego.com. KNSD. Retrieved August 27, 2022.
  16. ^ Kassouf, Jeff (March 16, 2024). "Kansas City Current open 'game-changing' stadium with 5-4 win". ESPN.com. Retrieved March 16, 2024.
  17. ^ Herrera, Sandra (March 16, 2024). "Alex Pfeiffer becomes youngest NWSL goalscorer at 16 years of age in Kansas City Current's wild win". CBSSports.com. Retrieved March 16, 2024.
  18. ^ Lauletta, Dan (June 20, 2015). "Thorns draw late on goal by keeper Betos". Equalizer Soccer. Retrieved July 15, 2024.
  19. ^ Cooper, Jen (2023), Keeper Notes NWSL Almanac, Keeper Notes, p. 8.
  20. ^ a b NWSL. "National Women's Soccer League Official Site". NWSL. Retrieved November 5, 2024.
  21. ^ Braeback, Jeremiah Mitchell (December 13, 2016). "Tobin Heath Named US Soccer Female Player of the Year". Stumptown Footy. Retrieved April 5, 2023.
  22. ^ NWSL. "National Women's Soccer League Official Site". NWSL. Retrieved November 21, 2024.
  23. ^ Ltd, Simplestream. "Nahomi Kawasumi named Player of the Week". www.nwslsoccer.com. Retrieved December 4, 2017.
  24. ^ a b c http://www.fbref.com [bare URL]
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