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, deciding the winner of 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; the runner-up hosts the seventh; the third hosts the sixth; and the fourth hosts the fifth in the quarterfinals. The semifinals sees the lowest-seeded winner playing the highest-seeded and the next-lowest the next-highest; the higher-seeded team hosts each match until the championship,[1] which was also hosted by the higher seed in the 2013 and 2014 seasons but has been hosted at a predetermined site since.[2] Prior to the 2021 season, only the top four teams qualified for the playoffs. From 2021 to 2023, six.
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 zero points 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 | ||||
| Western New York Flash | 2013 | |||
| NJ/NY Gotham FC | 2023 | |||
| 2014, 2015, 2023 | ||||
| 2019, 2021 | ||||
| 2022 | ||||
| Team | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 13 | 7 | 6 | 2023 | 2022 | ||
| 11 | 4 | 7 | 2023 | – | ||
| 10 | 3 | 7 | 2022 | – | ||
| 7 | 5 | 2 | 2021 | 2019 | ||
| 7 | 4 | 3 | 2021 | 2021 | ||
| FC Kansas City | 5 | 4 | 1 | 2015 | 2015 | |
| Western New York Flash | 4 | 3 | 1 | 2016 | 2016 | |
| 4 | 3 | 1 | 2023 | 2023 | ||
| 3 | 2 | 1 | 2022 | – | ||
| 3 | 1 | 2 | 2023 | – | ||
| 1 | 0 | 1 | 2022 | – | ||
| 1 | 0 | 1 | 2017 | – | ||
| 1 | 0 | 1 | 2023 | – |
| Team | ||
|---|---|---|
| 9 | 2023 | |
| 7 | 2022 | |
| 7 | 2023 | |
| 4 | 2021 | |
| 4 | 2021 | |
| FC Kansas City | 3 | 2015 |
| 3 | 2023 | |
| Western New York Flash | 2 | 2016 |
| 2 | 2023 | |
| 1 | 2022 | |
| 1 | 2022 | |
| 1 | 2017 | |
| 1 | 2023 | |
| Boston Breakers | No playoff appearances | |
| Racing Louisville FC | ||
| Utah Royals | ||