The National Women's Soccer League playoffs (or NWSL playoffs) are a single-elimination tournament among eight teams in the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL) of the United States. The final round of the playoffs is the NWSL Championship.
Since playoff games cannot end in draws, they are broken by two consecutive 15-minute extra time periods, followed by penalty shoot-outs of best-of-five rounds with additional rounds as required.
Since the 2024 season, the top eight teams in the final standings at the end of the regular season qualify for the playoffs and are seeded in order of their record. The top-seed hosts the eighth seed and the fourth hosts the fifth in one arm of the quarterfinals bracket, and the runner-up hosts the seventh seed and the third hosts the sixth in the other arm. In the semifinals, teams are not reseeded and the winners within each quarterfinals arm play each other.[1]
From 2021 to 2023, the top 6 teams qualified for a three-round playoff, and the top two seeds had a first-round bye.[2] From 2013 to 2019, the top 4 teams qualified for a two-round playoff.
In 2013 and 2014, the higher seeded team to reach the championship hosted the match. Since 2015, the championship has been hosted at a predetermined site.[3]
| Qualifiers | Rounds | Championship host | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Determination | Stadium | City | |||
| 2013 | Top 4 | 2 | Higher seed | Sahlen's Stadium | Rochester, New York |
| 2014 | Starfire Sports Stadium | Tukwila, Washington | |||
| 2015 | Predetermined site | Providence Park | Portland, Oregon | ||
| 2016 | BBVA Compass Stadium | Houston, Texas | |||
| 2017 | Orlando City Stadium | Orlando, Florida | |||
| 2018 | Providence Park | Portland, Oregon | |||
| 2019 | Sahlen's Stadium at WakeMed Soccer Park | Cary, North Carolina | |||
| 2020 | No NWSL season or playoffs; 2020 NWSL Challenge Cup and 2020 NWSL Fall Series | ||||
| 2021 | Top 6 | 3 (bye for top 2 seeds) | Predetermined site | Lynn Family Stadium | Louisville, Kentucky |
| 2022 | Audi Field | Washington, D.C. | |||
| 2023 | Snapdragon Stadium | San Diego, California | |||
| 2024 | Top 8 | 3 | CPKC Stadium | Kansas City, Missouri | |
The initial determining factor for a team's position in the standings is most points earned, with three points earned for a win, one point for a draw, and none for a loss. Since the 2022 season, if at least two teams tie in point total, when determining rank and playoff qualification and seeding, the NWSL uses the following tiebreaker rules, going down the list until all teams are ranked.
If two clubs remain tied after another club with the same number of points advances during any step, the tie breaker reverts to step 1 of the two-club format.
Prior to the 2022 season, the first tiebreaker was head-to-head record.
The NWSL canceled its regular season and playoffs in 2020 due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on sports.
Italics indicates a defunct team.
| Club | Won | Runner-up | Years won | Years runner-up |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2018 | ||||
| 2017 | ||||
| FC Kansas City | ||||
| 2016, 2024 | ||||
| Western New York Flash | 2013 | |||
| NJ/NY Gotham FC | 2023 | |||
| Orlando Pride | 2024 | |||
| 2014, 2015, 2023 | ||||
| 2019, 2021 | ||||
| 2022 | ||||
| Team | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 13 | 7 | 6 | 2023 | 2022 | |
| 11 | 4 | 7 | 2023 | – | |
| 10 | 6 | 4 | 2024 | 2021 | |
| 10 | 3 | 7 | 2022 | – | |
| 7 | 5 | 2 | 2021 | 2019 | |
| FC Kansas City | 5 | 4 | 1 | 2015 | 2015 |
| Western New York Flash | 4 | 3 | 1 | 2016 | 2016 |
| 4 | 3 | 1 | 2023 | 2023 | |
| 4 | 3 | 1 | 2024 | 2024 | |
| 3 | 2 | 1 | 2022 | – | |
| 3 | 1 | 2 | 2023 | – | |
| 1 | 0 | 1 | 2022 | – | |
| 1 | 0 | 1 | 2023 | – | |
| Team | ||
|---|---|---|
| 9 | 2023 | |
| 7 | 2022 | |
| 7 | 2023 | |
| 4 | 2021 | |
| 5 | 2024 | |
| FC Kansas City | 3 | 2015 |
| 3 | 2023 | |
| Western New York Flash | 2 | 2016 |
| 2 | 2023 | |
| 1 | 2022 | |
| 1 | 2022 | |
| 2 | 2024 | |
| 1 | 2023 | |
| Boston Breakers | No playoff appearances | |
| Racing Louisville FC | ||
| Bay FC | ||
| Utah Royals | ||