The second edition of World Sevens Football kicked off on Friday night at Beyond Bancard Field in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, and featured NWSL teams for the first time.
World Sevens Football is a seven-on-seven tournament with eight top women’s teams from around the world. The matches themselves look quite different than traditional football with some major rule changes like a 30-minute match, a pitch half the size of a normal pitch, no offsides, rolling substitutions and no draws.
The December edition
of the tournament featured two NWSL teams for the first time with the Kansas City Current and San Diego Wave FC.
The 2025 NWSL Shield-winning team had high expectations entering the tournament, but lost their first match to the Brazilian club, Flamengo, after taking a 2-0 lead in the first five minutes.
The Current’s first goal came from Alex Pfeiffer in the second minute when she slotted a left-footed shot from just outside the box. Ellie Wheeler slammed in the second goal in minute five for the Current after the ball rebounded to her on the far post .
Flamengo did not go down easy and managed to equalize the match just before the first half ended then put their Brazilian flair was on display in the 17th minute. Flamengo’s game-winner was scored by Glaucia who earned a brace when she tapped in a brilliant back heel flick by Christiane on the left wing following a throw-in.
Kansas City Current will play two more matches in the group stage on Saturday, December 6, against Liga MX Femenil powerhouse and 2025 Apertura champions, Tigres, at 12:30 p.m. EST. The Current then play later in the day against another top team in Northern Super League side, AFC Toronto, who topped the standings in 2025 at 4:30 p.m. EST.
San Diego Wave FC played against Colombian giant, Club Deportivo Cali, in their match on Friday night and had fun with their player entrances.
The Wave got on the board immediately after Delphine Cascarino made her patented strong run into the box before cutting in toward the center to shoot and make it 1-0 approximately 40 seconds into the match.
Deportivo Cali responded with an equalizer in minute 10 with a shot from outside the box against the run of play by Leidy Cobos. San Diego goalkeeper Didi Haračić came off her line and got big and just managed to get her hand to it, but the ball stayed on course into the back of the net.
The Wave took the lead back in the 12th minute when Jordan Fusco made a run during a counter attack drawing defenders near her leaving Makenzy Robbe open in the middle to make it 2-1 with a solid left-footed strike.
The rest of the match went well for the Wave on a defensive end holding back Cali’s pressure and even included a strong double save on the goal line by defender Quincy McMahon. Cali had a perfect ball sent into the box drawing Haračić off her line, McMahon ran to the line to stop the first shot and ran into the post. She used the post to stand back up and stopped the rebounded shot with her body to keep San Diego’s lead.
The Wave sealed their victory in the final minutes of the match with another goal by Robbe in a picturesque play with the Wave building a strong attack from the midfield. Kenza Dali made a run along the right side of the pitch and made a perfect pass while she was at the end line into the middle of the box for Robbe to slot the ball in with her right foot to make it the final score of 3-1.
The Wave play their next match on Saturday, at 2:30 p.m. EST against Club America in a rematch of the 2024 Concacaf W Champions Cup group stage when Club America beat the Wave on the road at Snapdragon Stadium. The Wave later play against the Uruguayan team, Club Nacional de Football at 6:30 p.m. EST for their final group stage match.
