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Jeff Kassouf
The NWSL announced on Wednesday that it will not play games next June for the start of the 2026 men’s World Cup, which will be predominantly played in the United States.
“With seven of the league’s 16 markets hosting World Cup programming, the NWSL is proactively adjusting its scheduling framework to accommodate expected stadium demands,” the league said in a statement.
“The league remains focused on preserving competitive integrity and delivering a successful season while continuing to explore innovative scheduling and operational solutions to navigate the unique challenges of this landmark global event.”
NWSL commissioner Jessica Berman previously told ESPN that the league would not shut down for the entire men’s World Cup.
There are three weeks of potential overlap in July between the NWSL schedule and the men’s World Cup.
“Part of the challenge we have is to figure out the literal logistics of how we run our business with the backdrop of the men’s World Cup in so many of our markets, and that’s the process we are going through right now,” Berman told ESPN in April.
The United States will also serve as the primary host of the 2031 women’s World Cup.
Historically, the NWSL has played during women’s World Cups despite many teams missing players due to international duty, but that trend is changing.
The NWSL took a month-long break for last year’s Olympics and five-week break this summer to coincide with several continental competitions.
The NWSL will kick off the next year’s slate of competition on Feb. 20, 2026, with the Challenge Cup, a meeting between the NWSL Shield winner and the NWSL Championship.
It will mark the NWSL’s earliest launch in a calendar year and its first competitive match in February since the league began playing in 2013.
The regular season will begin on March 13, 2026.
The league will expand to 16 teams with the addition of expansion teams in Boston and Denver.
Each team will play a balanced 30-match schedule. Next year’s NWSL Championship will be played on Nov. 21, 2026.
That game will be played just three days before the start of a FIFA international window, which will include a single-elimination Concacaf W Championship tournament that doubles as 2027 World Cup and 2028 Olympic qualifying.
Four Concacaf teams will qualify directly for the 2027 World Cup at that tournament.
The majority of the U.S. women’s national team roster plays in the NWSL. Los Angeles is hosting the 2028 Olympics, meaning the U.S. automatically qualifies for the Games as host.