NWSL Top 25: The best players of 2026, ranked
Roughly one-quarter of the 2026 NWSL season is full, and the celebrities of the brand new marketing campaign are starting to shine.
The pattern dimension is giant sufficient now that we are able to declare with confidence which players have risen above the remaining to be the best of their positions, or, throughout all positions within the league.
So, who’s the best participant within the NWSL proper now? And which different players have pulled away from the pack to place in elite campaigns up to now? Introducing the primary version of ESPN’s NWSL Top 25, a rating of the best players primarily based on their type to date this season.
How we rank NWSL players, and what to anticipate
Firstly, this isn’t an general rating of the best players within the NWSL primarily based on historic performances or the talent we all know a participant would possibly possess. This rating places apart title recognition and previous seasons to focus solely on what players have produced within the six to eight video games that each group has performed to date.
The solely factor that issues is what they’ve achieved for his or her golf equipment because the NWSL season started on March 13. This implies that there are masses of big-name players who missed the minimize — for now.
If you adopted ESPN’s NWSL protection in earlier seasons, you may bear in mind our MVP Tracker. Consider this Top 25 an expanded, refreshed model of that train, one which acknowledges the next quantity of high performers. We will revisit the Top 25 all through the season.
Second, this record combines copious quantities of movie evaluation — I’m watching each weekend (and Wednesdays!) such as you — with superior knowledge. This will not be purely a numbers-driven record, neither is it baseless opinion. It is analysis pushed. (Note: All knowledge is supplied by ESPN Global Research.)
Finally, and to the purpose about knowledge: I’ve made a acutely aware effort to at the very least have consciousness of positional steadiness whereas compiling this record. That doesn’t imply there shall be two full beginning XIs, however it’s to say that this isn’t only a record of players who’ve scored probably the most targets. This lengthy record began with over 50 players.
Enough with the suspense-building. Onto the record!
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25. Sam Meza, defensive midfielder, Seattle Reign
25. Meza is second within the NWSL in defensive interventions, a metric that mixes seven main defensive measurements together with duels and tackles. Her well-rounded recreation was on show in an assertive efficiency within the Reign’s early-season win over the Kansas City Current.
Who cares that she is a rookie? Dudley has instantly tailored to the skilled recreation to play the supplier function for a surging Gotham group. She glides by defenses on the wing and punishes groups from the end-line with sensible crosses.
Angel City’s No. 9 began the season on hearth, with three targets and two assists in her first three video games. She is with out a purpose contribution in three video games since, nonetheless. The Icelandic worldwide stays an attacking menace for one of the shock groups to date.
22. Haley McCutcheon, attacking midfielder, Orlando Pride
22. “McClutcheon,” as I referred to as her in final 12 months’s playoffs and can completely take credit score for, is as soon as once more an image of consistency for Orlando, this time in a barely greater space of the sector with 40-year-old Marta surprisingly relegated to the bench.
21. Jane Campbell, goalkeeper, Houston Dash
21. Campbell leads the league in targets prevented (5.87), no shock for anybody who watched her single-handedly protect a 1-0 season-opening win over the San Diego Wave. Campbell and the Dash have solely conceded eight targets in six video games this season this season, and the vibes are higher than ever in Houston.
Denver goalkeeper Abby Smith (second within the NWSL in targets prevented) has been higher contributing at sparking her group’s assault, and Bay FC‘s Jordan Silkowitz has saved extra pictures, however Campbell is the early league chief between the posts.
20. Esme Morgan, centerback, Washington Spirit
20. Morgan has been the steadier central defender to date this season for the Spirit. She ranks barely behind Utah’s Kate Del Fava in defensive interventions amongst centerbacks, however Morgan is much less liable to errors on the ball and will get the early-season nod within the positional battle.
19. Ryan Williams, fullback, North Carolina Courage
19. Williams’ attacking talents from the fullback place aren’t new, however her manufacturing from the comparatively deep place stays unimaginable. She is tied for sixth within the NWSL in probabilities created and tied for the league lead with three assists.
18. Lia Godfrey, attacking midfielder, San Diego Wave
18. Godfrey’s first three targets as knowledgeable have been game-winners throughout 4 video games. She added a fourth purpose not too long ago from the vital No. 10 function with the Wave. This tempo shall be exhausting to maintain, however her manufacturing to date is spectacular for anybody, rookie or not.
Van Zanten’s 4 targets have are available two-goal batches, however she continues to generate probabilities (T-9 in NWSL) for a Houston group that’s rooted in a high-pressure, high-energy identification.
Kössler is one of the shock players of the 12 months to date within the NWSL with 4 targets. The German ahead has a commanding presence on the sector and a nostril for purpose. Did you see her first contact within the buildup to Denver’s second purpose towards San Diego (which was a pseudo help for Kössler)? It was pristine.
15. Manaka Matsukubo, attacking midfielder, North Carolina Courage
Last 12 months’s NWSL-midfielder-of-the-year-who-really-played-forward is again to the artwork of distorting conventional positions. She’s a mix of a No. 9 and No. 10 relying on the day, and he or she stays one of probably the most thrilling players within the league. Manaka has three targets and an help in solely 5 video games after coming back from Japan‘s Asia Cup triumph.
14. Claire Hutton, defensive midfielder, Bay FC
14. Hutton’s stunning offseason transfer from Kansas City to Bay FC added further strain to the 20-year-old, however she is as assured as ever (together with for the USWNT). Hutton has masterfully dribbled out of tight areas with the ball, and he or she is in every single place on the sector defensively.
13. Jessie Fleming, defensive midfielder, Portland Thorns
13. Fleming is shouldering the extra weight left by former captain Sam Coffey‘s offseason departure and he or she’s doing it nicely. Fleming doesn’t have the flashy function on this profitable Thorns midfield, however she is the muse of why they’ve discovered such disciplined defensive construction below new head coach Robert Vilahamn. Fleming is tied for fifth within the NWSL in defensive interventions.
12. Trinity Rodman, winger, Washington Spirit
Rodman’s 12 months began out quiet for her requirements, particularly after signing a world-record contract in January, however she was nonetheless creating alternatives. Then all of it clicked. Rodman has been on hearth over the previous three video games, logging three targets and three assists to assist the Spirit surge as much as second place.
11. Kennedy Wesley, centerback, San Diego Wave
Wesley has efficiently picked up the torch left in San Diego by longtime buddy and teammate Naomi Girma as an distinctive two-way centerback. Wesley leads the NWSL by a large margin in accomplished passes and touches, because of San Diego’s possession-heavy fashion. In a league that has typically had a dearth of high international centerbacks, Wesley appears like a star within the making.
10. Pietra Tordin, ahead, Portland Thorns
Sophia Wilson is again to 90 minutes match and starting to take some of the scoring load, however Tordin has carried that weight early with three targets and three assists for the Thorns. The 22-year-old Tordin has performed her means into wider conversations, just like the longer-term USWNT image.
Utah’s wonderful begin to the season cannot be attributed to only one participant, however Lacasse has been the standout for the Royals to date. She has terrorized defenses on the left flank in transition. Lacasse has three targets and two assists to date, together with targets in three straight video games for the second-place (!) Royals.
8. Leicy Santos, attacking midfielder, Washington Spirit
Santos pulls the strings within the Spirit midfield. She has the liberty to enterprise ahead and create because of the defensive cowl that defensive midfielder Hal Hershfelt supplies. Santos is nice at making late runs into the field to get on the top of service, as she did for each of her targets towards Kansas City, with three targets and an help general to date this season.
7. Ashley Sanchez, winger, North Carolina Courage
It’s all coming collectively for Sanchez in 2026. She scored 5 targets in her first seven video games whereas taking part in a wider function. That vast function is a shocking twist for a participant who has lengthy been at her best as a No. 10 with freedom, however the shift has remoted her towards defenders to let her 1-v-1 expertise shine.
Sanchez has scored off the dribble, in transition, along with her head, and even by way of a cheeky scoop shot as she drifts in from the left aspect.
6. Barbra Banda, ahead, Orlando Pride
Banda retains reminding the remaining of the league that they have been spared half a season of defending her after she received injured final August. She is again with a vengeance, nonetheless, and scoring unimaginable targets from tight areas like the 2 she notched final weekend towards Washington.
Banda’s seven targets this season have set the early tempo for the Golden Boot.
5. Rose Lavelle, attacking midfielder, Gotham FC
5. Peak, wholesome Rose Lavelle has returned after a robust 2025 marketing campaign that was capped by her NWSL Championship-winning purpose. Lavelle continues to be the artistic magician within the center of the park for Gotham this season. She can play the ultimate ball and progressive move that begins a chance.
4. Kenza Dali, defensive midfielder, San Diego Wave
Any impartial soccer purist can sit back and be entertained by Dali, who at practically 35 years previous nonetheless makes the whole lot look straightforward. The veteran French midfielder has beautiful imaginative and prescient, incomparable passing precision, and serves as the guts of the Wave. A radar chart of Dali in possession appears like a bullseye, as a result of she’s that good. Just like final 12 months, there isn’t any higher regista within the NWSL.
Kouassi ranks second within the NWSL in probabilities created behind Dali, and he or she does the exhausting work off the ball to get the Spirit cooking in transition. Kouassi served up an help on a platter for Rodman final weekend in a 4-2 win over Orlando, inserting it so completely that Rodman simply kind of bumped into it for the tap-in.
Kouassi provides the Spirit steadiness on the opposite wing and likes to run at defenders to get to the endline. She has not but scored this season, which is the one blemish on her particular person document, however Kouassi has three assists and has performed supplier for Rodman and Sofia Cantore.
2. Dudinha, winger, San Diego Wave
Dudinha brings Brazilian aptitude to enhance her two targets and three assists to date. The 20-year-old Dudinha makes use of her agility to place opponents below strain as they attempt to construct out of the again, a tactic which led on to a purpose towards Utah early within the season.
Then, when she will get on the ball, Dudinha runs at defenders with confidence and often will get to the endline to show her opponents and put them in compromising positions. One Wave purpose that will not present on Dudinha’s stat sheet is the game-winner to finish a 3-2 comeback towards Denver. It was an personal purpose created by Dudinha beating her defender on the left sideline, rounding the nook, and crossing the ball into the goalmouth. She leads the NWSL in 1-v-1 take-ons.
1. Olivia Moultrie, attacking midfielder, Portland Thorns
Moultrie is the early contender for the NWSL MVP award with 4 targets, three assists and 17 probabilities created for the league-leading Portland Thorns. She is the mixture of artwork and science, a participant obsessive about outcomes and decided to search out artistic, audacious options.
Moultrie sees the sport in a different way. I dare you to observe her help from Sunday and never be astounded at how Moultrie noticed and executed that move. She invitations strain from defenders and thrives as house closes.
She is 20 years previous and in her sixth skilled season, which continues to be exhausting to understand. Moultrie was one huge half of the explanation the Thorns over-performed final 12 months. With Coffey not in Portland, Moultrie is now the primary attraction in midfield. When she is on the ball, it’s must-watch leisure. Other golf equipment world wide are absolutely taking notes.