The NWSL playoffs begin this weekend with four quarterfinal matchups: San Diego Wave vs. Utah Royals (Friday, Nov. 6), Kansas City Current vs. Angel City FC (Saturday, Nov. 7), Gotham FC vs. Seattle Reign (Sunday, Nov. 8) and Washington Spirit vs. Portland Thorns (Sunday, Nov. 8).
Former U.S. women's national team star Sam Mewis, who hosts “The Women’s Game” podcast for the Men In Blazers network, said there’s one particular match she has circled on her calendar.
“Kansas City versus Angel City, I had that circled the second that seeding got finalized,” Mewis told USA TODAY Sports in an interview on Nov. 5. “I feel that both teams are actually in really great form coming into playoffs. Among the top teams, I wouldn't want to play against either
team. A few of us were saying it's kind of a bummer that this is a first-round game because it feels like a really big one.”
Fourth-seeded Kansas City will host the quarterfinal at CPKC Stadium, where the Current have a 32-match regular-season unbeaten streak dating back to July 6, 2024. The magic might not extend to the playoffs, though; the Current lost at home in the 2025 quarterfinals to eventual champion Gotham.
Fifth-seeded Angel City, meanwhile, has been on a tear since firing head coach Alexander Straus in June. Days after the coaching change, Angel City also made a mid-season trade with Kansas City to acquire attacker Ally Sentnor, who will face off against her former club in the quarterfinal. Under interim coach Leif Gunnar Smerud, Angel City went undefeated in its final 10 regular-season matches.
“There's that expression, the 'new manager bump,’” Mewis said. “Things that were stagnant or not working, players suddenly feel the freedom to do things a little bit differently or respond in a way that they maybe weren't supposed to before. But I think what we're seeing with Angel City is actually really unique, and it feels like everything has come together recently.”
Mewis, a three-time NWSL champion with the Western New York Flash and North Carolina Courage, said momentum is an important factor in the postseason. That could be results-based momentum, like San Diego going undefeated in its last seven games and locking up the No. 2 seed. Or it could be emotional momentum, like Seattle playing in honor of captain Jess Fishlock, who plans to retire at the end of the season.
As volatile as the playoffs can be, Mewis is predicting that the top two seeded teams will reach the NWSL title game: defending champions and 2026 NWSL Shield winners Gotham FC — whose roster includes Mewis’ sister-in-law Sam Kerr and several USWNT players — and the San Diego Wave.
But who will prevail?
“It’s hard not to say Gotham,” Mewis said. “I think their roster, their experience, their staff experience at being under pressure — not just this year with a target on their back, but in previous years to have to be an underdog and perform. I think they have a lot of diversity and variety in the way they've been able to find success, and so I feel like that hopefully is gonna lend itself to them continuing down that path.”
NWSL MVP race
The NWSL playoffs will not include the frontrunner for the league's Most Valuable Player Award: Golden Boot winner Ashley Sanchez of the North Carolina Courage.
Sanchez tied an NWSL record by scoring 20 goals in the regular season in 30 games. It’s also the most regular-season goals ever scored by an American player. But despite Sanchez’s impressive output, North Carolina lost five of its final seven games and fell out of playoff contention, finishing the regular season two points below the cutoff line.
Orlando Pride forward Barbra Banda, whose 17 goals this season ranked second behind Sanchez, also will not be in the playoffs after Orlando finished 11th in the standings.
Which brings up a question that Mewis deemed “the talk of the town.” Should Most Valuable Player go to a player whose team does not make the playoffs?
Mewis argued that Sanchez is a deserving MVP.
“If there was a clear, obvious other choice, I could also imagine it going to somebody who had a bigger impact on their team making playoffs and having an overall successful year. I just think the 20 goals is a rare feat and a rare accomplishment,” Mewis said. “I think this is like a once-in-a-lifetime type season for an American to be scoring like this, so I'm excited for her. But of course, there are other MVP candidates. Just to me, it doesn't feel obvious who the next one would be. And so for me, it still would still go to Sanchez.”
Other potential MVP candidates include Washington Spirit forward Trinity Rodman, Portland Thorns forward Sophia Wilson and Utah Royals forward Cloé Lacasse.
NWSL Awards winners will be announced Nov. 18 at 6:30 p.m. ET live on ESPN2.
Why NWSL playoffs could impact USWNT World Cup roster selections
There’s perhaps even more at stake in the NWSL playoffs for a select group of American players hoping to make the roster for the 2027 Women’s World Cup in Brazil.
USWNT bubble players like Gotham’s Jaelin Howell and Portland’s Pietra Tordin can use the NWSL playoffs as an audition to show national team coach Emma Hayes that they can deliver in big moments.
“Especially in my younger years, I felt like NWSL playoffs is a chance to prove that with something on the line in a game, in a knockout game, you can be the one to step up under pressure,” Mewis said. “So I absolutely think for players who are fighting to make that World Cup roster — I think about Jaelin Howell on Gotham, I think about Croix Bethune on Kansas City — this is such a huge opportunity to show Emma Hayes, ‘Watch me play in a game that is do or die.’”
Among the players expected to make the U.S. World Cup roster are Wilson and Mal Swanson, who both returned to the NWSL this season after becoming first-time mothers.
Mewis covers athlete pregnancy on "The Women’s Game” in a new three-part women’s health series, with the first episode dropping Nov. 11. The episodes, created in partnership with CVS Health, include interviews with soccer players and medical experts about the menstrual cycle, family planning and returning to play after giving birth.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Sam Mewis makes her picks for 2026 NWSL champion, MVP
