The 2024 NWSL Challenge Cup, known as the 2024 UKG NWSL Challenge Cup for sponsorship reasons, was the fifth edition of the

NWSL Challenge Cup The NWSL Challenge Cup, currently known as the UKG NWSL Challenge Cup for sponsorship reasons, is an annual tournament organized by the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL), the top-tier women's league in the United States soccer league system. Th ...

, a women's soccer competition organized by 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 match was the first Challenge Cup to be played in the

super cup A super cup is a competition, usually but not exclusively in association football, which often forms the 'curtain raiser' to a season, and typically involves only two teams who have qualified through success in other competitions during the prev ...

format as a one-off game, contested by the winners of the previous season's NWSL Championship and

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 ...

. It featured

NJ/NY Gotham FC NJ/NY Gotham FC is a professional women's soccer team based in Harrison, New Jersey. Founded in 2006 as Jersey Sky Blue, the team was known as Sky Blue FC from 2008 until 2020. A founding member of the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL) in 2013 ...

, champions of the 2023 National Women's Soccer League, and

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 ...

, winners of the 2023 NWSL Shield. The match was played on March 15, 2024, and was hosted by Gotham FC at the Red Bull Arena in Harrison, New Jersey. The match was acted as an curtain raiser to the 2024 season, and was broadcast on

Amazon Prime Video Amazon Prime Video, also known simply as Prime Video, is an American Video on demand#Subscription models, subscription video on-demand Over-the-top media service, over-the-top Streaming media, streaming and Renting, rental service of Amazon (c ...

, marking the start of the platform's coverage of the NWSL. The San Diego Wave defeated Gotham 1–0, with an Alex Morgan goal in the 88th minute.

Background

The

was created as a league cup tournament in

2020 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global Social impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, social and Economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of events, COVID- ...

as a return to competition after the 2020 NWSL regular season was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The competition was successful enough to be brought back in

2021 File:2021 collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: the James Webb Space Telescope was launched in 2021; Protesters in Yangon, Myanmar following the 2021 Myanmar coup d'état, coup d'état; A civil demonstration against the October–November 2021 ...

, though played prior to the start of the NWSL's regular season. This format continued in

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 ...

, but was changed in

2023 Events Predicted and scheduled events * January 1 ** In the United States, books, films, and other works published in 1927 will enter the public domain, assuming there are no changes made to copyright law. ** Croatia will adopt the eu ...

to take place during the league's regular season. However, with more regular season matches taking place due to the league being expanded from 12 to 14 teams in

2024 Predicted and scheduled events * January 1 ** In the United States, books, films, and other works published in 1928 will enter the public domain, assuming there are no changes made to copyright law. ***''Steamboat Willie'', Walt Disney's fi ...

, the NWSL decided to scrap the league cup format. Instead, the competition was reformatted to be a one-off

match, to be contested by the winners of the NWSL Championship and

from the previous season. Should the same team win the NWSL Shield and Championship, the fixture will be a rematch of the previous NWSL Championship. The game will act as an opener to the league season, played the day prior to the first regular season matches. The competition will continue to be sponsored by UKG. The company will award $3,500 in prize money to each player of the winning team, while each player of the losing team will receive $2,200. The

most valuable player In team sports, a most valuable player award, abbreviated 'MVP award', is an honor typically bestowed upon an individual (or individuals, in the instance of a tie) whose individual performance is the greatest in an entire league, for a particu ...

will be awarded an additional $2,000.

Teams

Match

Details

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Nwsl Challenge Cup 2024

2024 in American women's soccer March 2024 sports events in the United States Soccer competitions in New Jersey Sports in Harrison, New Jersey 2024 in sports in New Jersey NJ/NY Gotham FC matches San Diego Wave FC matches