Photo Credit: Peter Aiken-Imagn Images
The Challenge Cup is moving to a new date. The annual match between the National Women’s Soccer League Champion and Shield winner from the previous season will now take place in June, multiple sources have confirmed to The Equalizer. Additionally, the match is expected to be held at a neutral venue.
This year’s match pits NY/NJ Gotham FC against the Kansas City Current. It will be a rematch of their quarterfinal last fall when Gotham upset the Current in extra time on the way to winning the NWSL Championship.
The initial schedule footprint called for the Challenge Cup to be held Feb. 21 at the home stadium of the champion. Gotham balked, citing their trip to London later this month to participate in the inaugural FIFA Women’s Champions Cup. Their placement match is Feb. 1, which would have allowed three weeks to prepare for the Challenge Cup.
After some initial discussion about replacing Gotham in the game, the decision was made to switch the date.
This will be the third year the Challenge Cup will be played as a one-off between the trophy winners. Last year, the Washington Spirit were added because the Orlando Pride had won the double in 2024. The Challenge Cup began in 2020 when the league was unable to hold a season due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The teams went to a bubble environment in Utah for a month long tournament. It was then played as an all-inclusive preseason event in 2021 and 2022 and sprinkled into the season in 2023.
Without the Challenge Cup, the first meaningful NWSL matches will be Week 1 the weekend of March 13-15. The full schedule is expected to be announced soon.
