Here we go. The drama starts now. The 2026 National Women’s Soccer League playoffs are here. After a 30-match regular season concluded last week, 16 teams have been whittled down to eight.

Despite expansion this season, there are no changes to the playoff format. It will be single-elimination quarterfinals, semifinals and the final. Historically, upsets are common. Only twice in the last six years has a No. 1 seed lifted the shield trophy and then gone on to win the championship trophy as well (North Carolina Courage in 2019 and Orlando Pride in 2024).

And who could forget that in both 2023 and 2025, the lowest-seeded team, Gotham FC on both occasions, went on to win the championship despite the odds being stacked against them. Perhaps Gotham midfielder Jaedyn Shaw put it best last year when she said: “Underdog, my a--.”

Even though as the reigning champions Gotham FC topped the standings and could be primed to repeat, there are plenty of reasons to glean that these could be the most open NWSL playoffs since 2023. From the tightly contested standings to the tournament bracket to form and injury issues, there’s a lot to unpack.

Here are your NWSL power rankings ahead of the 2026 playoffs.

1. San Diego Wave (18-8-4, No. 2 Seed)

The San Diego Wave missed out on the regular season title by just three points. However, they lost the shield because they took early hits in the regular season, like losing star winger Dudinha to an ACL injury in June. Over the last few months, they have been up there with the best teams in the NWSL. They went 8-1-1 through the final 10 matches of the season and have been boosted since sophomore striker Trinity Byars exploded into life after the summer break.

On their path to a championship, they arguably face the easiest quarterfinal matchup, hosting a fatigued, well-traveled Utah Royals team. Should they win their quarterfinal, they will also get two extra days of rest and not have to travel in the semifinals. The most consistent on-ball team in the NWSL is dialed in and laser-focused. It feels like if anyone is out in front, it’s the Wave.

2. Gotham FC (18-5-7, No. 1 Seed)

In terms of experience, it’s hard to look past the gritty and determined Gotham. Under manager Juan Carlos Amóros, this team knows how to win when it counts. There is a reason they currently are the reigning champions of all three domestic trophies in the NWSL: the shield, the Challenge Cup and the championship.

By no means should anyone count out Gotham. They should be expected to go to the final. And yet, when you look at the personal losses they have suffered in recent weeks—losing Jordyn Dudley to a foot injury and Bruninha to an ACL injury, combined with midseason transfers of Lilly Reale and Sarah Schupansky (both to the Boston Legacy)—there’s a reason to believe this isn’t the same Gotham from the majority of the season. If Jaelin Howell, who left their final regular-season game after 20 minutes due to an ankle issue, isn’t ready to go, then the doubts will only grow.

3. KC Current (16-9-5, No. 4 Seed)

Often, the formula for winning an NWSL championship is just getting hot at the right time. The Kansas City Current are very much peaking at the right time, with all their stars looking available as 2026 reaches its climax. This season, it has been hard for the Current to have Temwa Chawinga, Croix Bethune, Michelle Cooper and Debinha all ready to start at the same time. Last year’s wound of Chawinga looking on from the sidelines as they were knocked out in the quarterfinals is still fresh, but they can put it right this fall.

The Current are the best home team in the NWSL with a record of 11-0-4, and are the only team in the league yet to lose at home. Incredibly, they have become back from behind to earn at least a point 10 times this season at CPKC Stadium. The question will be, can they do it on the road? Should they beat Angel City, the Current will have to travel unless the Seattle Reign do them a favor and knock out Gotham.

4. Washington Spirit (18-9-4, No. 3 Seed)

The good news for the Washington Spirit is that, for the first time since 2021, they have a fit and firing Trinity Rodman heading into the postseason. Rodman has had unequivocally the best season of her career, playing in every single match and notching her best goals and assist totals (12 and eight). Playoff Rodman should put fear into the hearts of every team in the country.

The bad news for the Spirit is that, like Gotham, they have had to face a lot of lineup changes, injury issues and departing players. Leicy Santos is back in the starting XI now after a sizeable spell on the sidelines, but Hal Hershfelt’s ACL tear two weeks ago is a heartbreaker. The Spirit are famous for their intimidating home crowd at Audi Field, but with five defeats in the final eight games there, maybe the spell has been broken.

5. Angel City (15-8-7, No. 5 Seed)

Like their local Southern California rivals in the Wave, Angel City are coming into the playoffs in red-hot form and could be considered the most dangerous prospect on this list. ACFC are on the longest active undefeated streak of any team (10 matches) and have lost just twice in 19 matches since firing manager Alex Straus. No one will want to play the Angels right now.

The flip side is that they face the most daunting route to the final. First, they have to travel to the best home team in the NWSL in the Current. Due to unfortunate television schedules, that game will be played at 9:30 a.m. PT. Even if ACFC wins that, they will then likely have to cross the country and head to Gotham, a team they have beaten just once in 10 meetings since joining the league in 2022.

Momentum is a powerful thing. Time and time again, we see it come up big in the postseason. There’s a reason this aggressive and fearless transitional team is the highest-scoring in the NWSL with 54 goals. But at the same time, when playoffs come around, aren’t the teams that stay cool under pressure and cancel out errors the ones that win it all?

6. Portland Thorns (14-8-8, No. 6 Seed)

Like the Spirit, the Portland Thorns are welcoming back a superstar and former NWSL MVP who they missed in last year’s playoffs: Sophia Wilson. In her first season back since becoming a mother, Wilson has been electric, scoring 15 goals while adding five assists.

A major knee injury to Olivia Moultrie in August certainly rocked this team’s chances, but it feels like Portland has taken the blow with enough time to reset before the playoffs. The biggest thing holding back the Thorns is the daunting double of having to go to Audi Field in the quarterfinals and then possibly to San Diego in the semifinals. The Thorns were eliminated in the playoffs on the road to the Spirit last season, so these playoffs are dripping with revenge for Portland.

7. Seattle Reign (14-11-5, No. 8 Seed)

The lowest-scoring team to make the playoffs with 37 goals (1.23 per game), the Seattle Reign will be relying on defensive solidity and veteran emotion if they are to go the distance. After 14 seasons, Reign and NWSL legend Jess Fishlock is hanging up her boots at the end of the playoffs. With the team adamant that this run is for Fishlock, there is something sneaky and scary about a team giving it all for someone they have shared a locker room with for their entire time with a club.

But we can’t get too carried away with the intangibles in the Power Rankings. Seattle should still be seen as an underdog. They lost both meetings with Gotham in 2026, and Gotham only lost once at home this season. It’s a tall task in the quarterfinals, and even if they cause the second-ever No.1 seed vs. No. 8 seed upset, there’s a trip to KC or Los Angeles waiting for them.

8. Utah Royals (14-11-5, No. 7 Seed)

If there’s any team that would be a significant surprise to go deep into the playoffs, let alone win the whole thing, it would be the Utah Royals. Briefly top of the standings near the halfway mark, the Royals sank all the way to seventh as form and injury issues took hold. The fitness status of Mina Tanaka, Cece Delzer and Narumi Miura is up in the air heading into the quarterfinals. They are also winless in four, and won just one of their final six games.

A lack of experience could be a factor, too. The Royals are embarking on their first-ever postseason in team history. There’s also the fact that Jimmy Coenraets’s team hasn’t beaten a side that finished in the top five all season. In fact, Utah is 0-7-1 in matches against the NWSL’s top four (Gotham, Wave, Spirit and Current). Prove us wrong, Utah, prove us wrong.

This article was originally published on www.si.com as NWSL Playoffs Power Rankings: Who Are the Favorites in a Wide-Open Championship? .