It's Monday, and with another weekend of the 2026 NWSL regular season in the books, it's time for ESPN's Power Rankings.
Who's set for a climb up the table? Who's in danger of a free fall? Our writers studied the action across Matchday 24 to come up with this week's order of all 16 teams in the league. Let's dive in.
1. San Diego Wave FC
Previous ranking: 2
Next match: at North Carolina Courage, Oct. 17, 7 p.m. ET
The Wave return to the top spot in these rankings by becoming the second NWSL team to clinch a playoff spot. They showed little struggle in a 2-1 away win at Orlando on Friday. They are peaking at the right time and are unbeaten in seven of their past eight games. Trinity Byars celebrated her first senior national team call-up by assisting Lia Godfrey on San Diego's opening goal. Byars now has 13 goal contributions on the year, second most in a single season in club history behind just Alex Morgan.
2. NJ/NY Gotham FC
Previous ranking: 1
Next match: at Washington Spirit, Oct. 17, 12:30 p.m. ET
Gotham dropped two points in the closing minutes of their home match against a resilient Angel City side. The 1-1 draw still guarantees them a home playoff spot but adds further intrigue to the Shield race. Jaedyn Shaw put the league leaders ahead in the 66th minute with her team's only shot on target. She now has six straight goal contributions at home. Sam Kerr missed a gilt-edged chance in the first half and the absence of Jordynn Dudley due to injury was also felt.
3. Angel City FC
Previous ranking: 3
Next match: at Denver Summit, Oct. 17, 8:45 p.m. ET
Angel City continue their strong second-half push with more late heroics. Taylor Suarez notched a clutch stoppage-time equalizer to rescue a point in a 1-1 draw with league leaders Gotham. It was Suarez's third goal off the bench in four games. The Los Angeles-based club has now taken points off the league's top two teams (Gotham and Washington) in two straight weeks. Angel City's stingy defense is again worth highlighting, as it has only conceded twice in its past four matches.
4. Kansas City Current
Previous ranking: 6
Next match: at Utah Royals, Oct. 17, 6:30 p.m. ET
The Current just can't stop scoring goals. They have now scored nine in their past two games. Debinha, 34, wound the clock back with her stellar hat trick in the Current's dominant 5-1 win over Bay FC. It is the Brazil international's second career hat trick and first with Kansas City. Similar to last week, the game looked finely poised at 1-1 at the half. Another second-half track meet followed. This time, it was Debinha who took matters into her own hands, netting a glorious second-half hat trick across just 15 minutes. She rises to fourth in the NWSL's all-time goal scorers list.
5. Washington Spirit
Previous ranking: 4
Next match: vs. Gotham FC, Oct. 17, 12:30 p.m. ET
It was not easy, but the Spirit emerged from Houston with a crucial 3-2 victory. They claimed their ninth road win of the year; the most in club history. The Spirit failed to hold the lead twice, and a disjointed second half nearly cost them as the Dash were very much the team on the ascendancy. However, with six minutes left of regular time, Trinity Rodman carved her way down the left flank and found Claudia Martínez; the teenager weaved a clever ball to Clara Luvanga, who hammered home the game-winning goal in just her second NWSL appearance.
6. Utah Royals
Previous ranking: 9
Next match: vs. Kansas City Current, Oct. 17, 6:30 p.m. ET
The Royals were seconds away from a surprise defeat at Louisville, only for second-half substitute Brecken Mozingo to hit a sweet half-volley from distance to salvage a 1-1 draw. Racing held Utah to just 0.90 xG, less than half of their 1.88 per game average this season. Utah has scored in all but three NWSL games this year; no team has scored more. This year's surprise packages remain firmly in contention for a a home playoff berth.
7. Portland Thorns
Previous ranking: 7
Next match: at Bay FC, Oct. 18, 5 p.m. ET (stream live on ESPN)
The Thorns' home woes continue after a chaotic 4-2 defeat to Boston. Sophia Wilson's dismissal thanks to an early red card for a hair pull did not help matters and Portland's poor box defending during open play proved costly again. The Thorns remain above the playoff line, but continue to drop vital points to the league's bottom feeders (Chicago, Houston and Boston) at home.
8. North Carolina Courage
Previous ranking: 11
Next match: vs. San Diego Wave, Oct. 17, 7 p.m. ET
The league's preeminent Jekyll and Hyde team had a good weekend. The Courage snapped a three-game losing skid by taking down Seattle on the road, for the first time in eight years, by a 1-0 scoreline. Gianna Paul's first professional goal proved to be the difference maker as MVP frontrunner Ashley Sanchez was held to just one shot on target, but the Courage continued their goal-scoring run. They have now scored in 13 consecutive games; their longest scoring streak since 2022.
9. Seattle Reign FC
Previous ranking: 5
Next match: at Chicago Stars, Oct. 18, 7 p.m. ET
Although they were on the front foot for most of the game against North Carolina, the Reign could not make it count. The 1-0 defeat snapped their 17-game scoring streak. Seattle did an admirable job marking Golden Boot leader Ashley Sanchez out of the game and the goal they conceded was unlucky as it caught a deflection to beat goalkeeper Claudia Dickey, but the result holds major implications as the loss sees the Courage edge them for the eighth and final playoff position.
10. Denver Summit FC
Previous ranking: 8
Next match: vs. Angel City, Oct. 17, 8:45 p.m. ET
The Summit bounced back from a damaging defeat at Kansas City last weekend, brushing aside a helpless Chicago team 3-0. Colorado natives Lindsey Heaps and Janine Sonis each got on the scoresheet, and Denver has not lost a game in which the pair have had a goal or assist. Heaps collected her fourth career NWSL brace and her first since 2018.
11. Boston Legacy FC
Previous ranking: 12
Next match: vs. Racing Louisville, Oct. 16, 8 p.m. ET
Despite being out of playoff contention, Filipa Patão's side continues to put up a spirited fight. The Legacy exacted revenge on Portland in yet another barnstorming game; Boston lost 4-3 at home the last time these two met, but this time, they earned a resounding 4-1 win on the road. Amanda Gutierres iced the game with a late brace. Boston may be down, but never seem out: They have now scored a league-leading 16 goals in the closing 15 minutes of games.
12. Houston Dash
Previous ranking: 13
Next match: vs. Orlando Pride, Oct. 18, 1 p.m. ET
The Dash put up a valiant fight against Washington but came up short, becoming the fifth team to be eliminated from playoff contention with a 3-2 loss. Houston fought back twice to draw level with the Spirit, with Miljana Ivanovic opened her NWSL goal-scoring account with a brace. The Dash needed a win to extend their playoff hopes for another week, and nearly had one when Clarissa Larisey's header thwacked off the crossbar in the 80th minute, but they got caught on the counterattack in the closing minutes and saw both their chances for a win (and a playoff spot) extinguished.
13. Orlando Pride
Previous ranking: 10
Next match: at Houston Dash, Oct. 18, 1 p.m. ET
It is the same old, same old for Orlando. They looked flat and one-dimensional in a 2-1 defeat against San Diego. Their over-reliance on Barbra Banda must be addressed this offseason. She converted a 52nd-minute penalty kick, but the Pride never seemed capable of truly mounting a comeback.
14. Racing Louisville FC
Previous ranking: 15
Next match: at Boston Legacy, Oct. 16, 8 p.m. ET
Bev Yanez's team lived up to their reputation of being unable to hold onto a late lead. Despite a gritty performance against Utah, Louisville shipped an equalizer in the sixth minute of second-half stoppage time to draw 1-1. Racing are already eliminated from playoff contention, and were painfully close to springing an upset against the Royals. No team in the NWSL has conceded more goals in the final 15 minutes. The good news? Savannah DeMelo made her first appearance in 384 days after a lengthy medical-related absence.
15. Bay FC
Previous ranking: 14
Next match: vs. Portland Thorns, Oct. 18, 5 p.m. ET (stream live on ESPN)
It's the hope that kills you. Bay FC struck first at CPKC Stadium against Kansas City with Karlie Lema's club-record eighth goal of the year. They conceded in the 24th minute but were very much still in the game, only to utterly unravel in the second half, failing to contain a rampaging Debinha, who scored a hat trick. Bay's frailties at center back were on full display in a 5-1 beatdown; tied for their heaviest defeat in club history.
16. Chicago Stars FC
Previous ranking: 16
Next match: vs. Seattle Reign, Oct. 18, 7 p.m. ET
What more is there to say about Chicago? The Stars conceded three goals for the third week in a row in a 3-0 thumping at home to Denver. This is their 10th consecutive week in last place. The Vlatko Andonovski era cannot arrive soon enough.