NWSL contenders, dark horses, long shots: Orlando Pride repeat contender, long season ahead for San Diego Wave

The regular season of 2025 starts Friday on Friday, which indicates another exciting chapter in women’s football. All 14 clubs will be in action at the weekend and will show off their preparation outside of season, while rising stars are starting to form for the competitive landscape of the competition in year 13. While the season unfolds, the NWSL usually delivers skill and flare together with drama and chaos. Fans can watch selected NWSL -Regular seasonal competitions on CBS platforms, including CBS, CBS Sports Network, Paramount+and CBS Sports Golazo Network.

With new talent and strategic schedules, some teams have already emerged as leading kandi dates for a successful season. But which clubs are the forerunners and who has work to do?

Let’s see where teams divorced themselves to start the season:

Contenders

These are the top teams in the NWSL on the way to the 2025 season, those who have already established gaps between themselves and ten other clubs. They will not only compete against the competition for supremacy, they will shoot when it comes to titles on the line.

Orlando Pride: Reigning shield winners and NWSL champions, the pride is back, with most of their title -winning selection intact. In fact, they welcome key pieces back from injuries and Rafaelle adds another low to the backline of the Pride such as Barbra Banda, Marta and Ally Watt dealing with the attack.

Washington Spirit: Head coach Jonatan Giraldez and his team already grabbed the first title of the year with HE 2025 Challenge Cup and were able to prepare for more. Their internationals have a high potential to shake things up and if Trinity Rodman can stay healthy, she will have MVP -Chatter around her and the mind will be difficult to stop.

Kansas City Current: Armed with 2024 MVP and Golden Boot winner Temwa Chawinga, the current one in 2025 saw ready for another deep run. If head coach Vlatko Andonovski can get the team a better defensive start and manage the goalkeeper posts, they will re -compete with titles.

NJ / NY Gotham FC: The team missed a shot at the place in the 2024 championship, so they will be motivated. USWNT players Rose Lavelle, Tierna Davidson and Emily Sonnett are back and Midge purce returns for another season. New international signing sessions Gabi Portilho and Stella Nyamekey can be game changers if the coaching staff stays with their organized chaos and continues to use the entire schedule.

Dark horses

These are teams that will probably be in the play -off mix and can even break through. They could land everywhere from fifth to seventh place and even break a bracket in the play -offs if they touch their pass. But they may miss a certain piece or even experience to make a deeper run.

North Carolina Courage: The courage remains a dark horse until they can get beyond the quarterfinals, but new acquisitions can bring some necessary unpredictability in their most constant profit style through possession. The club made a huge step in the trade for Jaedyn Shaw, and if she develops fast chemistry with Ashley Sanchez, the duo could get the club further in the late season than the last two seasons.

Seattle Reign FC: De Reign missed the Play -offs for the first time since 2018 and made movements to make their return in 2025. The addition of USWNT Vooruit Lynn Biyendolo immediately increases the attack and as a second -year players Jordyn Bugg, Sam Meza, Madison Curry, and Emeri Adames can be returned in the Placout.

Bay FC: No team will stagger the will or they will not line more than Bay FC. The coaching staff is Currently investigated And the players are expected to compete with something outside of their control. They have cracked the play -offs from 2024 as a seventh seed, but how they are managed will play a role in where they will go in 2025.

Utah Royals FC: The team went on a solid second half of the second half last season and was the only Bottom half of the table team with a three -match wintreak in the last five weeks of the 2024 season. If they can wear that momentum in 2025, they will continue to have a candidate for dark horses, and if Mina Tanaka and Ally Sentnor have strong seasons.

Long shots

Congratulations with every team in this category as the club fighting to become the eighth best team in the competition. It is far from a glowing compliment, but it is never over until it is over, and for all these teams it has just begun. Having the eighth means that it is a change to participate in the late season, and everything can happen in Play -offs. Can’t you manage an eighth place in a 14 -team competition? Yikes.

Angel City FC: Much will depend on how interim coach Sam Laity can get young players out of the gate. Jun Endo is their most dynamic player and comes from an ACL injury, and Christian Press is back for another season. If Angel City can set himself up with a number of good early results, they can make things less difficult in the second half of the season.

Houston Dash: The club made many movements out of season to try to compete in 2025, but everything will have to come together. Adding Yazmeen Ryan, Delanie Sheehan and Messiah Bright were good steps in a competitive direction, but on which tactic head coach Fabrice Gautrat settles is the big question. Combine that with a club sales application, and what success the dashboard will also be brought this season by players who excel above a difficult environment.

Racing Louisville FC: No other team is a ninth place team more than Racing Lousiville. Where ninth place was just bad in the past seasons, last year’s extensive play -off -meant that they were just outside the Postseason image. The puzzle may not be less complicated in 2025, but Savannah Demelo, Taylor Flint, Bethany Balcer and Janine Sonis can change things.

Portland Thorns FC: Football is a team sport and nobody can cover everything that is, but No Sophia Wilson for 2025 Will be a change for the thorns. The USWNT striker recently announced its pregnancy and the team must also manage several seasonal injuries to Morgan Weaver, defender Nicole Payne and defender Marie Muller. The young midfielder Olivia Moultrie returns from an injury, and Sam Coffey and Hina Sugita will be charged with dictating the game if Portland wants to reach the play -offs.

Chicago Stars FC: They made the play -offs in 2024, but their competitive decline happened with a slip in that late season. Before 2025 she may or may not have Mallory Swanson To fight this year, so that they have to bank on the third -year player Ally Schlegel to have a large year and break out for Ludmilla after he came to the club at the end of the season last year. Add questions about healthy defenders and things don’t look great to start.

San Diego Wave FC: They have a new coach and a small schedule to start the year. There is no replacement Naomi Girma or Alex Morgan, but they will definitely try it. It can just be painful along the way. How their new international signing sessions adapt to the competition can help them to rearrange the season.