Tom Schmitt

The National Women’s Soccer League is preparing for the start of its 2026 season as it continues to grow.

In its 14th season, the league will have 16 teams, with two expansion teams — the Boston Legacy and Denver Summit. All teams will be playing a 30 regular-season game schedule. Gotham FC comes in as the defending champ.

Opening day is scheduled for March 13 and will now go to Nov. 1. Playoffs will then run from Nov. 6-21.

As the league’s popularity grows, NWSL Commissioner Jessica Berman said one day the league could rival the NFL’s 32-team field. Teams now run from the West Coast across the entire nation to the East Coast. Seven of the league teams will be bringing on new coaches. The Legacy will be coached by Filipa Patao, and the Summit will have Nick Cushing at the helm.

One of the league’s top stars, Trinity Rodman of the U.S. Women’s National team, is returning to play after suffering a lingering back injury.

“I’m just really happy to be back; I missed doing what I love,” said Rodman, who recently signed a three-year record extension with the Washington Spirit that will pay her more than $2 million per year. “That was the hardest thing I had to go through with this injury.”

Chelsea F.C.’s outstanding defender Naomi German was the first to garner a $1 million contract. The women’s league still only matches 1% of the spending done by the men’s league.

The salary cap for teams was bumped to $3.3 million for a 22-26 player roster supplemented by a new revenue sharing mechanism. The league is looking to increase player compensation with unrestricted free agency.

World Cup

The 2026 Men’s World Cup is preparing to undertake some firsts.

It will be co-hosted by Canada, USA and Mexico. It has expanded the field to 48 teams with the opening match June 11 and the final played on July 19. Argentina is looking to defend the Cup.

The USA is in Group D with Paraguay, Australia and another team to be determined. There will be 12 total groups with four teams in each.

Games in America will be played in Atlanta, Boston, Dallas, Houston, Kansas City, Los Angeles, Miami, New York-New Jersey, Philadelphia, San Francisco and Seattle.

Elsewhere:

n Local FC 814’s Ava Frye and Meghan Andersen just returned from the National ODP tryouts with the top 64 field players in the country in hopes of becoming one of the 16 field players chosen from this pool of the nation’s top players

The tryouts ran from Jan. 22-26 in Orlando, Fla., where teams from the North, South, East and West squared off against each other. Following evaluations from the four days, players will be notified by email of final results.

n Summit Athletic Club soccer director Mike Alianiello just completed his FC 814 Classic Tournament for scholastic teams.

In high school girls, Altoona Maroon took the championship over Bishop Guilfoyle, while Bishop Guilfoyle nabbed the junior high title defeating Hollidaysburg. In high school boys action, Hollidaysburg defeated Bedford in the D1 bracket, while Ligonier Valley downed Hollidaysburg in D2 play. Hollidaysburg defeated McConnellsburg in junior high play.

n Fall indoor league play also just came to a conclusion on Jan. 4. Winter league play is just underway. Indoor playing season also began at the Northern Blair County Recreation Center on Jan. 25, running until mid-to-late March.

Tom Schmitt writes a monthly soccer column for the Mirror.