The 2022 National Women's Soccer League season was the tenth season of the

National Women's Soccer League The National Women's Soccer League (NWSL) is a professional women's soccer league at the top of the United States league system. It is owned by the teams and, until 2020, was under a management contract with the United States Soccer Federatio ...

, the top division of

women's soccer in the United States Women's soccer in the United States has developed quite differently from men's soccer. Until the 1970s, organized women's soccer matches in the U.S. existed only on a limited basis. The U.S. is now regarded as one of the top countries in the wor ...

. Including the NWSL's two professional predecessors,

Women's Professional Soccer Women's Professional Soccer (WPS) was the top-level professional women's soccer league in the United States. It began play on March 29, 2009. The league was composed of seven teams for its first two seasons and fielded six teams for the 2011 sea ...

(2009–2011) and the

Women's United Soccer Association The Women's United Soccer Association (WUSA) was the world's first Women's association football, women's soccer league in which all the players were paid as professionals. Founded in February 2000 in sports, 2000, the league began its first se ...

(2001–2003), it was the 16th overall season of

FIFA FIFA (; stands for ''Fédération Internationale de Football Association'' ( French), meaning International Association Football Federation ) is the international governing body of association football, beach football and futsal. It was found ...

and USSF-sanctioned top division women's soccer in the United States. Twelve teams competed in the league, including two expansion teams,

San Diego Wave FC San Diego Wave FC is a National Women's Soccer League expansion team that began play in 2022. The team is based in San Diego, San Diego, California. The team is owned by Ron Burkle. The team is the San Diego area's first women's professional soc ...

and

Angel City FC Angel City Football Club is a National Women's Soccer League expansion team that began play in 2022. The team is based in Los Angeles, California, and was announced on July 21, 2020. The team has many high-profile owners, including Becky G, Natal ...

. The NWSL regular season, comprising 22 games for each team, began on April 29 and ended on October 2, 2022.

OL Reign OL Reign is an American professional Women's association football, women's soccer team based in Seattle, Washington. Founded by Bill and Teresa Predmore in 2012 as Seattle Reign FC, it was one of eight inaugural members of the National Women's S ...

topped the standing with 40 points and thus won the

NWSL Shield The NWSL Shield is an annual award given to the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL) team with the best regular season record as determined by the NWSL points system. The NWSL Shield has been awarded annually since 2013 and is recognized as a ...

. The championship playoffs were held from October 16-29 and were won by

Portland Thorns FC The Portland Thorns FC is an American professional women's soccer team based in Portland, Oregon. Established in 2012, the team began play in 2013 in the then-eight-team National Women's Soccer League (NWSL), which receives support from the Uni ...

, who defeated the

Kansas City Current Kansas City Current is an American professional women's soccer team based in Kansas City, Kansas. It began play as an expansion team in the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL) in 2021. History Establishment Kansas City last had an NWSL t ...

2-0 in the final and thus became the NWSL champions. The year also included the 2022 NWSL Challenge Cup, which was played from March 18 to May 7 and overlapped with the start of the regular season. It was won by the

North Carolina Courage The North Carolina Courage is a professional women's soccer team based in Cary, North Carolina. It was founded on January 9, 2017, after Stephen Malik acquired National Women's Soccer League (NWSL) franchise rights from the Western New York F ...

, who defeated the

Washington Spirit The Washington Spirit is an American professional soccer club based in the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area that participates in the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL). It is a continuation of the D.C. United Women of the W-League and cont ...

2-1 in the final. This season was the first in which the total attendance exceeded one million.

Teams, stadiums, and personnel

Team names

On October 21, 2020, the Los Angeles expansion team announced its name as

. On October 30, 2021, the NWSL franchise in Kansas City announced its new name as

. On November 9, 2021, the San Diego expansion team announced its name as

Stadiums and locations

Capacities listed here are full capacities, and do not reflect

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was COVID-19 pandemic in Hubei, identified in Wuhan, China, in December ...

restrictions.

Personnel and sponsorship

Note: All teams use

Nike Nike often refers to: * Nike (mythology), a Greek goddess who personifies victory * Nike, Inc., a major American producer of athletic shoes, apparel, and sports equipment Nike may also refer to: People * Nike (name), a surname and feminine give ...

as their kit manufacturer as part of a league-wide sponsorship agreement renewed in November 2021.

Coaching changes

Regular season

Standings

Tiebreakers

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. If two or more teams tie in total points total when determining rank, playoff qualification, and seeding, the NWSL uses the following tiebreaker criteria, going down the list until all teams are ranked. # Greater goal difference across the entire regular season (against all teams, not just tied teams). # Most total wins across the entire regular season (against all teams, not just tied teams). # Most goals scored across the entire regular season (against all teams, not just tied teams). # Head-to-head results (total points) between the tied teams. # Head-to-head most goals scored between the tied teams. # Least disciplinary points accumulated across the entire regular season (against all teams, not just tied teams). # Coin flip (if two teams are tied) or drawing of lots (if three or more teams are tied).

Results

Positions by week

''Considering each week to end when the NWSL releases their weekly standing tweet'' Legend: Gold = first place; green = playoff position; Red = last place.

Attendance

Average home attendances

''Ranked from highest to lowest average attendance.'' Regular season Updated through October 2, 2022

Highest attendances

Regular season Updated through October 2, 2022.

Statistical leaders

Top scorers

Top assists

Clean sheets

Hat-tricks

⁴ Player scored 4 goals

Playoffs

The top six teams from the regular season qualified for the NWSL Championship playoffs, with the top two teams receiving a first-round bye. On August 23, 2022, the league announced that the championship match would be held on October 29, 2022, at

Audi Field Audi Field is a soccer-specific stadium in Buzzard Point in Washington, D.C. It is the home stadium for both of Washington, DC’s professional soccer teams, D.C. United in Major League Soccer and Washington Spirit in the National Women’s So ...

Washington, D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...

, with domestic broadcast on

CBS CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS, the abbreviation of its former legal name Columbia Broadcasting System, is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainmen ...

and a prime-time kickoff at 8 p.m. EDT.

First round

Semi-finals

Championship

Championship Game MVP: Sophia Smith ( POR)

Challenge Cup

Championship

Individual awards

Annual awards

2022 NWSL Championship 57 - Sophia Smith (cropped)

Teams of the Year

Announced October 25, 2022 Best XI Second XI

Monthly Awards

Player of the Month

Rookie of the Month

Team of the Month

Weekly awards

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:National Women's Soccer League 2022

2022 File:2022 collage V1.png, Clockwise, from top left: Road junction at Yamato-Saidaiji Station several hours after the assassination of Shinzo Abe; 2022 Sri Lankan protests, Anti-government protest in Sri Lanka in front of the Presidential Secretari ...

National Women's Soccer League season