The National Women's Soccer League (NWSL) stands as the premier professional women's soccer league within the United States league system. With its headquarters based in New York City, the league is collectively owned by its teams. Until the year 2020, it operated under a management contract with the United States Soccer Federation.
The pinnacle of the NWSL season is the NWSL Championship, the culminating match of the NWSL Playoffs, ultimately determining the season's NWSL champion. The victorious team not only lifts the championship trophy but also earns the privilege of adding a star to the crest on its jersey, symbolizing its accomplishment. The playoffs, following a single-elimination knockout tournament format, are meticulously organized by the league, drawing parallels to the structures seen in other North American professional sports leagues.
Traditionally, the top six teams in the standings after the regular season secure a coveted berth in the playoffs; however, this format evolved, and before 2021, only the top four teams qualified. The league also acknowledges outstanding regular-season performance by awarding the NWSL Shield to the team with the best record (most points) at the season's end. Much like the playoff championship, the NWSL Shield is esteemed as a major trophy within the league.
ALSO READ| [Updated] List of Ballon d'Or Winners from 1956 - 2023
List of NWSL Championship Winners till 2023
The inaugural NWSL Championship took place on September 1, 2013. Up until October 2022, five teams have secured the coveted title of NWSL Champions, with the following distribution: Portland Thorns FC (3 championships), FC Kansas City (2 championships), North Carolina Courage (2 championships), Washington Spirit (1 championship), and Western New York Flash (1 championship).
Furthermore, the NWSL Shield, awarded to the team with the best regular-season record, has been claimed by four distinct teams: North Carolina Courage (3 Shields), OL Reign (3 Shields), Portland Thorns FC (2 Shields), and Western New York Flash (1 Shield). Here is the complete list:
| Season | NWSL champions Playoff winners | NWSL Shield Regular-season winners | Championship location | Championship Attendance |
| 2013 | Portland Thorns FC | Western New York Flash | Sahlen's Stadium, Rochester, New York | 9,129 |
| 2014 | FC Kansas City | Seattle Reign FC | Starfire Sports Complex, Tukwila, Washington | 4,252 |
| 2015 | FC Kansas City (2) | Seattle Reign FC (2) | Providence Park, Portland, Oregon | 13,264 |
| 2016 | Western New York Flash | Portland Thorns FC | BBVA Compass Stadium, Houston, Texas | 8,255 |
| 2017 | Portland Thorns FC (2) | North Carolina Courage | Orlando City Stadium, Orlando, Florida | 8,124 |
| 2018 | North Carolina Courage | North Carolina Courage (2) | Providence Park, Portland, Oregon | 21,144 |
| 2019 | North Carolina Courage (2) | North Carolina Courage (3) | Sahlen's Stadium, Cary, North Carolina | 10,227 |
| 2020 | Cancelled | - | - | - |
| 2021 | Washington Spirit | Portland Thorns FC (2) | Lynn Family Stadium, Louisville, Kentucky | 10,360 |
| 2022 | Portland Thorns FC (3) | OL Reign (3) | Audi Field, Washington, D.C. | 17,624 |
| 2023 | NJ/NY Gotham FC | San Diego Wave FC | Snapdragon Stadium, San Diego, California | 25,011 |
Noteworthy achievements include the Reign being the first team to secure back-to-back Shield victories in 2014 and 2015, while FC Kansas City achieved the distinction of winning consecutive championships in the same year, overcoming the Reign both times. In 2018, the North Carolina Courage scripted history by becoming the first team to clinch both the NWSL Shield and the NWSL Championship in the same season, a feat they repeated in 2019.
ALSO READ|
