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 women's professional Association football, soccer league and the highest level of the United States soccer league system#Women's leagues, United States soccer league system (alongside the USL Supe ...

, 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. Since changes that started in the 1970's, the U.S. has beco ...

. 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 ...

(2009–2011) and the

Women's United Soccer Association The Women's United Soccer Association (WUSA) was the world's first women's soccer league in which all the players were paid as professionals. Founded in February 2000, the league began its first season in April 2001 with eight teams in the Uni ...

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

FIFA The Fédération Internationale de Football Association (), more commonly known by its acronym FIFA ( ), is the international self-regulatory governing body of association football, beach soccer, and futsal. It was founded on 21 May 1904 to o ...

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 Fútbol Club is an American professional soccer team based in San Diego, California, that competes in the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL). The team plays its home games at Snapdragon Stadium. Founded on June 8, 2021, the Wav ...

and

Angel City FC Angel City Football Club is an American professional Association football, soccer team based in Los Angeles, California, that competes in the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL). The formation of the team was announced on July 21, 2020; it beg ...

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

OL Reign Seattle Reign FC is an American professional Association football, soccer team based in Seattle, Washington, that competes in the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL). Founded in 2012, it is one of eight inaugural members of the NWSL. Since J ...

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 Portland Thorns FC is an American professional Association football, soccer team based in Portland, Oregon, that competes in the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL). Established in 2012, the team began play in 2013 in the then-eight-team NWSL ...

, who defeated the

Kansas City Current The Kansas City Current are an American professional Association football, soccer team based in Kansas City, Missouri, that competes in the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL). It was founded as an NWSL expansion, expansion team in 2021 NWSL ...

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 are an American professional Association football, soccer team based in Cary, North Carolina, that competes in the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL). It was founded on January 9, 2017, after Stephen Malik acqui ...

, who defeated the

Washington Spirit The Washington Spirit are an American professional Association football, soccer team based in Washington, D.C. that competes in the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL). It is a continuation of the D.C. United Women of the USL W-League (1995� ...

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 the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2. In January 2020, the disease spread worldwide, resulting in the COVID-19 pandemic. The symptoms of COVID‑19 can vary but often include fever ...

restrictions.

Personnel and sponsorship

Note: All teams use

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

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 the Buzzard Point neighborhood of Washington, D.C. It is the home of D.C. United, DC Power FC, and Washington Spirit soccer teams, and the DC Defenders American football team. The stadium seats 20,000 p ...

Washington, D.C. Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...

, with domestic broadcast on

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

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

First round

Semi-finals

Championship

Before the championship game, the NWSL recognized the 21 players who had been in the league for all 10 years of its existence. Championship Game MVP: Sophia Smith ( POR)

Challenge Cup

Championship

Individual awards

Annual awards

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 The year began with another wave in the COVID-19 pandemic, with SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant, Omicron spreading rapidly and becoming the dominant variant of the SARS-CoV-2 virus worldwide. Tracking a decrease in cases and deaths, 2022 saw ...

National Women's Soccer League season