The National Women's Soccer League is in full swing with both the regular season and Challenge Cup play. Ahead of week six, teams are now competing for the cup along with positioning on the league table, testing depth like never before. Some teams have been able to handle it, while others have had trouble. But who is stepping up after five weeks? Here are our power rankings.
And remember, fns can watch the Challenge Cup and NWSL regular season across CBS Sports platforms including Paramount+ and CBS Sports Golazo Network.
Let's take a look at where teams land after five weeks:
NWSL 2023 regular season power rankings
| Rank | Team | Change | Analysis |
|---|---|---|---|
1. | Portland Thorns FC | – | Portland look like the most in-form and deepest team in the league after going five weeks undefeated. They keep first place thanks to an outrageous stoppage time goal by goalkeeper Bella Bixby. |
2. | OL Reign | +1 | The Seattle squad have the bench to compete with the Thorns as the deepest team in the league. They jump the standings because of that and solid play by Bethany Balcer who has two goals and one assist through five games. |
3. | San Diego Wave FC | –1 | They slip in the standings after a streaky start to the season. The Wave have enough talent in the spine of their roster – goalkeeper Kailen Sheridan, defender Naomi Girma, and defensive midfielder Danielle Colaprico – to keep climbing the standings and our rankings. |
4. | Washington Spirit | – | The Spirit are the only unbeaten team alongside Portland through five weeks. No movement in the power rankings since they weren't able to match adjustments on the road against Chicago. |
5. | NJ/NY Gotham FC | +1 | The east coast side is making strides despite a recent loss to the Kansas City Current. The defensive shape is a major improvement and goalkeeper Abby Smith is proving week to week she was an underrated signing in free agency. |
6. | Kansas City Current | +3 | No one player can make or break a team, but for Kansas City Current, it's Debinha. who has the biggest influence.The Current have two consecutive regular season wins and Debinha has scored in their past three matches. |
7. | Houston Dash | -2 | They'll feel hard done by the abandoned weather game, but just because you can predict the weather doesn't mean you can't prepare the tactics for the game. Good attacking pieces but the identity of the team isn't entirely clear after just one win in the previous five weeks. |
8. | Angel City FC | – | Julie Ertz has elevated the play rather quickly. Going toe to toe against the league's best team at Portland should be a motivating factor, but their inability to close out a game is still an element that haunts them from last season. |
9. | Racing Louisville FC | -2 | Even with some new faces on the team, head coach Kim Björkegren is getting similar results as last season. The group is still on the hunt for a win after five weeks despite elevated play from second-year player Savanna DeMelo. |
10. | Chicago Red Stars | – | Chicago showed they were able to make adjustments against the Spirit and were not as reliant on their three at the back. They still need some answers in the midfield and there's no movement in ranking till then. |
11. | North Carolina Courage | – | The Courage are finding the back of the net, but they'll need to do that consistently. More creativity is needed, especially individually. |
12. | Orlando Pride | – | The group picked up their first win of the season and will need to show they can string together good performances in consecutive games. |
