We’re down to a week remaining in the 2021 National Women’s Soccer League regular season and the playoff picture is still taking shape with only six games left on the calendar. Four teams have punched tickets to the postseason: Portland Thorns, OL Reign, Chicago Red Stars, and Washington Spirit. There are two remaining playoff spots on the line with three teams left in contention, which means one of those three will be watching postseason games from home. Three clubs have already been eliminated: Kansas City, Racing Louisville and Orlando Pride.
This is the first year for the NWSL’s expanded playoff format, with six teams qualifying instead of only four in years prior where the the top four teams at season’s end would clinch a spot in the semifinals.
This time around, once the regular season concludes on Oct. 31, six teams will compete in single-elimination playoffs with the top two seeds earning a bye straight to the semifinals. The first round of the playoffs will begin the weekend of Nov. 6 with No. 3 vs. No. 6 and No. 4 vs. No. 5 seeds facing off for a spot in the semifinal round. The NWSL semifinals will take place Nov. 13-14, concluding with the NWSL Championship final on CBS, which was originally scheduled to take place at Providence Park in Portland, Oregon, has been moved to Lynn Family Stadium in Louisville, Kentucky, home of Racing Louisville FC.
Let’s take a look at the current playoff picture if the regular season concludes today, this will be updated as the remaining days progress:
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Current NWSL standings
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Portland Thorns: 43 points — clinched playoff spot
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OL Reign: 39 points — clinched playoff spot
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Chicago Red Stars: 38 points — clinched playoff spot
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Washington Spirit: 36 points
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NJ/NY Gotham FC: 34 points
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Houston Dash: 32 points
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North Carolina Courage: 32 points
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Orlando Pride: 28 points — eliminated
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Racing Louisville FC: 20 points — eliminated
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Kansas City NWSL: 16 points — eliminated
Playoff picture
If the season ended today …
First-round byes into semifinals:
- 1. Portland Thorns FC (43 points, +16 GD)
- 2. OL Reign (39 points, +10 GD)
First-round matchups:
- 3. Chicago Red Stars (38 points, 0 GD) vs. 6. Houston Dash (32 points, +1 GD)
- 4. Washington Spirit (36 points, +2 GD) vs. 5. NJ/NY Gotham FC (34 points, +8 GD)
Outside looking in:
- 7. North Carolina Courage (32 points, +5 GD)
Scenarios
Houston Dash: They are currently in sixth but level on points with North Carolina, though they hold the tiebreaker edge. If they can notch the same amount of points or more than North Carolina, they are in — which means even a Houston loss to Washington and a North Carolina loss to Portland would give the Dash the ever-slightest of edges over the Courage.
North Carolina Courage: They are currently in seventh place and have taken a stumble out of playoff position. The easiest scenario is to score more points than the Houston Dash on the final week of the season in order to make the dance. Houston, currently in sixth and level on points, has the tiebreaker edge over North Carolina. A Courage tie to Portland and a Dash loss to Washington would be just enough. A Courage win, plus a Dash loss or tie would do the trick, too.
NJ/NY Gotham FC: Unable to clinch a spot after settling for a 1-1 draw against Kansas City NWSL on Friday, Gotham FC will get two more chances as they have one more makeup game to play before the regular-season finale. They can clinch with a win on Thursday on the road or at home on Halloween against an already eliminated Racing Louisville side. Although the focus may be on clinching a spot, Gotham could jump to as high as the No. 2 seed and earn a bye if they win both games and have other results go their way, specifically an OL Reign loss to Kansas City, a Washington Spirit loss to Houston.
Teams that have clinched
The first-place Portland Thorns, second-place OL Reign, third-place Chicago Red Stars, and fourth-place Washington Spirit have booked their tickets to the 2021 NWSL playoffs as league play continues.
The Thorns also clinched the the 2021 NWSL shield and will host their semifinal match, though with the bye they will have to wait and see who they will face at the conclusion of the first round of the playoffs. This is the third silverware for the Thorns in 2021 as the club has already earned the 2021 Challenge Cup and 2021 Women’s International Champions Cup.
This comes off their first place finish in the 2020 NWSL Fall Series victory where the team earned a the inaugural Community Shield, which awarded $25,000 to the local business or nonprofit of the teams’ choice.
Chicago is the latest team to book their playoff ticket to the playoffs. With their playoff clinch, they will make their sixth consecutive playoff appearance.
Teams that have been eliminated
Racing Louisville FC and Kansas City sit in ninth and 10th place, respectively, and are mathematically eliminated from playoff contention. Orlando Pride are currently in eighth place and have been eliminated from playoff contention after their loss to Louisville.
