The National Women's Soccer League Playoffs (or NWSL Playoffs) are a single elimination tournament among six teams in 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 Federati ...

of the United States, deciding the winner of the NWSL Championship. Since playoff games cannot end in ties, those are broken by two straight 15-minute

extra time Overtime or extra time is an additional period of play specified under the rules of a sport to bring a game to a decision and avoid declaring the match a tie or draw where the scores are the same. In some sports, this extra period is played only ...

periods, followed by shootouts of best-of-five rounds plus extra rounds as required.

Format

The top six teams in the final standings at the end of the NWSL season qualify for the playoffs and are seeded in order of their record; the top two teams receive a first-round bye. Prior to 2021, only the top four teams qualified for the playoffs.

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. As of 2022, 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. 1. Goal differential 2. Most total wins (Regular Season only) 3. Most goals scored (Regular Season only) 4. Head-to-head results (total points accumulated) 5. Head-to-head most goals scored 6. Least Disciplinary Points Accumulated: a. Yellow card: 1 point b. Indirect red card (as a result of two (2) yellow cards): 3 points c. Direct red card: 4 points d. Yellow card and direct red card: 5 points i. Only one of the above point totals shall be applied to a Player in a single Game. 7. Coin Flip (2 teams)/Drawing of lots (3+ teams) NOTE: 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.

Playoff series history

2022 season

2021 season

2020 season

The NWSL canceled regular season and playoff in 2020 due to the coronavirus pandemic.

2019 season

2018 season

2017 season

2016 season

2015 season

2014 season

2013 season

Records and statistics

''Italics'' indicates a defunct team.

Playoff results

Playoff records

Appearances by team

References

External links

* {{National Women's Soccer League Recurring sporting events established in 2013

Playoffs The playoffs, play-offs, postseason or finals of a sports league are a competition played after the regular season by the top competitors to determine the league champion or a similar accolade. Depending on the league, the playoffs may be eit ...