The National Women’s Soccer League NWSL is back for the 2023 season featuring the likes of players like Alex Morgan, Christine Sinclair, Megan Rapinoe, check out a brief season preview, schedule, how to watch live, and more
The Portland Thorns are the reigning champions of the NWSL after beating KCC 2-0 in the playoffs final, with the final strike coming from Sophia Smith, last year’s ‘Most Valuable Player’.
National Women’s Soccer League (NWSL) 2023 season schedule, start date, players, format, live stream telecast
Are you ready for it?#WePlayHere pic.twitter.com/q7IntES7l3
— National Women’s Soccer League (@NWSL) March 21, 2023
Catch the "2022 Goalkeeper of the Year" this Saturday night at 7:00 PM PT on CBS Sports Network 📺🌊#VamosWave #WePlayHere pic.twitter.com/9Ta2B3wH03
— National Women’s Soccer League (@NWSL) March 22, 2023
The previous season featured two expansion teams – the San Diego Wave and Angel City and San Diego impressed everyone. While Angel City finished around mid-table in eighth, San Diego, under the guidance of former Manchester United manager Casey Stoney finished third, and secured playoffs spot.
San Diego Wave joined the likes of OL Reign, Portland Thorns, Houston Dash, Kansas City Current, and the Chicago Red Stars in the playoffs. Meanwhile, the 2021 Champions, Washington Spirit, finished at a dismal 11th place finish.
As such, the NWSL have the makings of a truly exciting and unpredictable league.
NWSL 2023 season preview, teams and players to watch
Following an inaugural season success, San Diego Wave are obviously one of the teams to watch in the new season. Head coach Stoney guided the side to a playoff semi-final berth, and were only narrowly beaten by eventual champions Portland.
The teams has notable stars like Alex Morgan and Naomi Girma. In fact, Morgan hit the ground running with the new club and ended the season by winning the Golden Boot. The prolific forward scored 16 goals and three assist in a span of 19 games.
Meanwhile, Girma is the complete opposite of Morgan in both position and age. Last season was just her first season in full-time professional football after just graduating from Stanford. However, the 22-year-old showed no signs of being a newbie and instead played like a seasoned veteran. Girma ended up winning the 2022 Defender and Rookie of the Year.
Besides Sam Diego, Reigning NWSL winners Portland Thorns, are also a team worth watching. The team have previously won it back in 2013 and 2017. However, the team is currently facing a blow after Canadian gold medallist Janine Beckie got ruled out for the season after she tore her ACL.
Portland still have They 2022’s Most Valuable Player winner, Sophia Smith. The 22-year-old Smith scored 15 goals, and bagged three assists across 20 games. Besides her, some other notable stars include Christine Sinclair, Becky Sauerbrunn, and Crystal Dunn.
NWSL 2023 schedule
The NWSL will kick off its 2023 campaign on Saturday 25 March 2023 with the North Carolina Courage vs Kansas City match. The opening weekend will conclude on Sunday 26 March 2023, with a clash between Angel City and NJ/NY Gotham.
As of now, the organizers have not announced the schedule for the playoffs. However, fans can expect the league fixtures to conclude around October 2023.
NWSL 2023 How to watch live
Fans in USA can watch all the NWSL 2023 games live across both Paramount+ and CBSSN, throughout the entire season. Meanwhile, international fans can watch all the live action on the NWSL website.