It’s Tuesday, the 2026 NWSL regular season is well underway, which means it’s time for ESPN’s Power Rankings.
Who’s set for a climb up the table? Who’s in danger of a free fall? Our writers studied the action from across Matchday 2 to come up with this week’s order of all 16 teams in the league. Let’s dive in.
Previous ranking: 1
Next match: Wednesday at San Diego Wave, 10 p.m. ET
If doing it with 10 players isn’t hard enough, why not try it with nine? That seems to be the Thorns’ philosophy, and it worked just fine in a 2-0 win over Seattle. Cassandra Bogere got her marching orders in the ninth minute after a pair of yellows, but Portland still was able to go into the halftime break up by a pair of goals thanks to tallies from Pietra Tordin and Reilyn Turner. When Reyna Reyes was sent off in the 57th minute, meaning a half hour of defending in front of the crowd of 21,321. What will this team be able to do at full strength?
Previous ranking: 5
Next match: Friday vs. Houston Dash, 10 p.m. ET
SveindÃs Jónsdóttir won a one-on-one in the fourth minute, then scored in the second half to help Angel City to a convincing 3-1 victory over Bay FC. Gisele Thompson also got in on the goals, assisted by Jónsdóttir, to help the Southern California squad beat the Northern California side and go atop the table at this early stage of the season. It’s the first time in team history that ACFC have opened the season with a pair of wins.
Previous ranking: 3
Next match: Wednesday vs. Denver Summit, 7 p.m. ET
There were big stars on the field and off in Harrison, New Jersey as the 2025 champions made their home debut, but the Gotham players weren’t able to give the crowd a goal to cheer in a 0-0 draw with North Carolina. Rose Lavelle‘s back-post header just after the second-half kickoff was the only shot Gotham put on target with the Courage limiting the hosts’ ability to create dangerous chances. Getting Tierna Davidson, who played her first minutes since suffering an ACL tear last March, back will be a nice boost going forward.
Previous ranking: 10
Next match: Friday at Angel City, 10 p.m. ET
Jamaica international Kiki Van Zanten notched a double with Kat Rader adding a third as the Dash rolled past Boston 3-0 at Shell Energy Stadium. That offensive flurry came after an early penalty save from Legacy goalkeeper Casey Murphy, but Houston was able to keep its cool and continue a perfect start to the campaign. Next, it’s an early-season top-of-the-table clash with Angel City.
Previous ranking: 7
Next match: Saturday at Gotham FC, 6:30 p.m. ET
It was only her second match in North Carolina colors, but goalkeeper Kailen Sheridan ticked over 15,000 NWSL minutes and kept a clean sheet to boot in a 0-0 draw with Gotham on Saturday. Sheridan will rightly credit the team in front of her, though, having to make just one save as the Courage limited opportunities for the reigning champions. Now, it’s about making good on the promise of having a more productive attack this season — something that will be easier when Manaka Matsukubo returns from the Women’s Asian Cup.
Previous ranking: 4
Next match: Wednesday at Seattle Reign, 9 p.m. ET
Can they do it on a cold, windy afternoon in Evanston, Illinois? The answer for the Current turned out to be no, falling 2-1 to Chicago on Sunday. Haley Hopkins came into the game as a halftime substitute and cut the deficit in half in the 57th minute after a seeing-eye pass from Izzy Rodriguez, but the team lacked the cohesion it showed throughout all of 2025 and couldn’t recover from a lackluster first half.
Previous ranking: 2
Next match: Wednesday vs. Kansas City Current, 9 p.m. ET
While it was a mercifully shorter trip for Seattle to Portland than it was Week 1 to Orlando, the Reign still faced plenty of headaches. Things should’ve opened up when Portland went down to ten players in the first ten minutes and to nine in the second half. Yet, with a two-person advantage, Seattle managed just three shots on target and fell 2-0 to the rival Thorns. Portland goalkeeper Morgan Messner made four saves to deny the Reign, who will be ready for some home cooking and Wednesday’s home opener against Kansas City.
Previous ranking: 6
Next match: Saturday at North Carolina Courage, 7 p.m. ET
Bay FC found itself behind to Angel City early, conceded twice more and couldn’t rally, falling 3-1 Saturday at PayPal Park. Taylor Huff scored the goal but won’t be available for Bay against North Carolina after seeing a pair of yellow cards in the second half for heavy tackles. That game will be key for morale after last season saw Bay go into a drought from the summer on.
Previous ranking: 8
Next match: Friday at Racing Louisville, 8 p.m. ET
After going down 2-0, the Spirit battled back for a 2-2 draw with Louisville, their first point this season after an opening-weekend defeat against Portland. Sofia Cantore scored a long-distance goal to cut the deficit in half, with Leicy Santos finding the equalizer in the 74th minute. Trinity Rodman came out of the match with a head injury but is set to return Wednesday. That and the effort the Spirit put in to rally in the second half is good news for fans in the nation’s capital; less so are their issues with transition defending in the first half.
Previous ranking: 13
Next match: Saturday at Seattle Reign, 6:30 p.m. ET
Emma Sears set up Kayla Fischer for a goal from outside the area. Then, Fisher sprung Sears for a lovely goal on an individual breakaway as Racing rushed out to a 2-0 lead in the first half against Washington. But after that it was all Spirit, and Racing had to settle for a 2-2 draw in their home opener at Lynn Family Stadium rather than exacting revenge on last year’s playoff defeat.
Previous ranking: 14
Next match: Wednesday at Gotham FC, 7 p.m. ET
Is Melissa Kössler the first great Denver scorer? The Hoffenheim veteran opened the scoring for the Summit with a right-footed finish in the 24th minute of a 1-1 draw with Orlando. That goal, plus 10 saves from goalkeeper Abby Smith, helped the expansion side to its first-ever point. The building blocks look to be there, with a furious opening 25 minutes, for the team to be more than just an expansion squad ticking off firsts.
Previous ranking: 15
Next match: Wednesday vs. Portland Thorns, 10 p.m. ET
The Wave went to Utah and came away with a 2-1 win over the Royals on Sunday night. Dudinha‘s opener will go down as unassisted, but the pass came from a Royals defender, and she pounced on it and scored with her first touch. San Diego conceded but then found a winner from rookie Lia Godfrey, shortly after Royals defender Tatumn Milazzo saw her second yellow and one of NWSL’s many red cards this weekend.
Previous ranking: 16
Next match: Wednesday vs. Orlando Pride, 8 p.m. ET
After a brutal opener that saw the Stars fall 4-0, Martin Sjögren’s team bounced back with a 2-1 victory over Kansas City in their home opener on the Northwestern campus. Tessa Dellarose gave the Stars a deserved lead just before the half after a corner kick, and Jordyn Huitema doubled the advantage with a near-post header five minutes into the second half.
Previous ranking: 9
Next match: Wednesday at Chicago Stars, 8 p.m. ET
Another week, another goal for Barbra Banda, but it came in a 1-1 draw with Denver after the match opened with a flurry of opportunities for the visiting team. Orlando did well to stem the tide, and seeing Banda score on a cross from Lizbeth Ovalle will bring a smile to the face of manager Seb Hines, but the damage had been done and it’s one point from the first two matches of the season.
Previous ranking: 12
Next match: Wednesday at Washington Spirit, 7 p.m. ET
Lara Prasnikar scored her debut goal for the Royals, but it wasn’t enough in a 2-1 defeat to San Diego. Tatumn Milazzo scored last week but this week was sent off late in the contest, and the Wave were able to punish a Royals team down to 10 players with a late winner from Lia Godfrey. Utah now has a quick turnaround with a long trip to meet Washington in D.C. on Wednesday.
Previous ranking: 11
Next match: Saturday at Houston Dash, 4 p.m. ET
Legacy goalkeeper Casey Murphy saved a penalty in the first half but was unable to keep the momentum going, conceding a trio of goals in a 3-0 loss to Houston. The club’s first-ever road trip proved to be a challenge, with Boston putting only two shots on Jane Campbell‘s goal and finishing the game with an xG of 0.52.
