The National Women's Soccer League Playoffs (or NWSL Playoffs) are a single-elimination tournament among six teams in the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL) of the United States, deciding the winner of the NWSL Championship.
Since playoff games cannot end in draws, they are broken by two consecutive 15-minute extra time periods, followed by penalty shoot-outs of best-of-five rounds with additional rounds as required.
Format
Since the 2021 season, the top six teams in the final standings at the end of the regular season qualify for the playoffs and are seeded in order of their record. The teams with the best season record (the NWSL Shield winner) and the second-best record receive a first-round bye, and the better-seeded team hosts each match until the championship, which was also hosted by the higher seed in the 2013 and 2014 seasons but has been hosted at a predetermined site since. Prior to the 2021 season, only the top four teams qualified for the playoffs.
Tiebreakers
The initial determining factor for a team's position in the standings is most points earned, with three points earned for a win, one point for a draw, and zero points for a loss. Since the 2022 season, if at least two teams tie in point total, when determining rank and playoff qualification and seeding, the NWSL uses the following tiebreaker rules, going down the list until all teams are ranked.
Overall goal difference
Most total wins (regular season only) Most goals scored (regular season only) Head-to-head results (total points accumulated) Head-to-head most goals scored Fewest disciplinary points accumulated: First yellow card: -1 point Indirect red card (second yellow card): -3 points Direct red card: -4 points Yellow card and direct red card: -5 points Only one of the above point totals shall be applied to a player in a single game. Coin flip (2 teams)/Drawing of lots (3+ teams)
If two clubs remain tied after another club with the same number of points advances during any step, the tie breaker reverts to step 1 of the two-club format.
Prior to the 2022 season, the first tiebreaker was head-to-head record.
Playoff series history
2013 season
2014 season
2015 season
2016 season
2017 season
2018 season
2019 season
2020 season
The NWSL canceled its regular season and playoffs in 2020 due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on sports.
2021 season
2022 season
2023 season
Records and statistics
Italics indicates a defunct team.