da roleta： San Diego Wave, Portland Thorns, North Carolina Courage, OL Reign, Angel City and Gotham are all in the post-season. Which team will come out on top?

da mrbet： How crazy is the NWSL? Well, with just two games left of the regular season in the top flight of women's soccer in the United States, all but one of the league’s 12 teams were still in the running for one of the six play-off places. The team eliminated from contention? Last year’s regular season champions. So, yes, it’s pretty crazy.

After Sunday saw the regular season come to its conclusion, the six teams that will compete in the post-season have now been confirmed, with the San Diego Wave, Portland Thorns, North Carolina Courage, OL Reign, Angel City and Gotham FC all ready to battle it out for the Championship title. The action doesn’t hesitate to get underway, either, with the first round taking place this weekend.

The Wave – the NWSL Shield winners – and the Thorns won't be in action just yet. The top two in the standings claimed byes which mean they skip the first round of the play-offs and go straight to the semi-finals.

The remaining four, meanwhile, will battle it out for the last two spots at that stage. The winners of the semi-finals then go to the NWSL Championship game for the chance to play for the big prize. But let’s not get ahead of ourselves. First up, there are four very good teams looking to secure passage to the semi-finals, and two very good teams waiting for them.

So, whether you’ve followed every kick of the season so far or whether you’re jumping on the bandwagon at the perfect time, our friends at Indivisa have compiled a guide of everything you need to know about the NWSL play-offs and those in contention to become the 2023 champions.

GettySan Diego Wave

Last year, the San Diego Wave became the first team ever to reach the NWSL play-offs in its inaugural season. In 2023, it backed that up with a dramatic NWSL Shield triumph, claiming its first silverware in just its second ever season.

Once again, success has been built on a sturdy defence, of which USWNT centre-back Naomi Girma is the star. But there have been big positives in attack, too, with only the Thorns out-scoring the Wave in the regular season. Jaedyn Shaw, its teenage phenom, has built on her breakthrough 2022 and continued to be a livewire, while Alex Morgan’s ability to bring others into play has been just as important as her finding the back of the net.

It does feel like there is more potential to be unlocked on the offense, though, with the pieces that are there. That could be the key to the Wave bettering its 2023 showing, which ended in a semi-final elimination.

One to watch: No goalkeeper has kept more clean sheets in the NWSL this year than Kailen Sheridan and she will be keen to keep that great record up in the play-offs. On her day, there are not many in the world better than the Canada international, with her shot-stopping and commanding presence complemented by ever-improving distribution.

AdvertisementGettyPortland Thorns

No team has won more Championship titles than the Portland Thorns' three and this year it could not only extend that record – it could also win back-to-back titles for the first time in franchise history.

The Thorns might’ve suffered a shock loss to Angel City on the final weekend of the regular season, thus losing the NWSL Shield that it had one strong hand on, but the team does still get the benefit of that first round bye. That means extra time for Golden Boot winner Sophia Smith to get ready for the postseason, the USWNT star having returned from a knee injury earlier this month. Named MVP of the 2022 season and its Championship game, she comes back into the fold at the perfect time as the Thorns eye up another triumph.

But it’s at the other end of the pitch that the reigning champion could do with some improvement as it has conceded the most goals of any team in this year’s play-offs. Yes, the Thorns can often make up for that in attack but shoring up in defence wouldn’t hurt either.

One to watch: Despite naturally occupying deeper midfield positions, Sam Coffey leads the league in assists in 2023 with eight – just two short of the all-time season record. The 24-year-old didn’t get many opportunities under former USWNT head coach Vlatko Andonovski but that’s expected to change moving forward. Her focus will remain on delivering another Championship for the Thorns, though, and that the team has a great chance of doing so is in no small part down to the consistency of its No.17.

GettyNorth Carolina Courage

Winners of this year's Challenge Cup, the North Carolina Courage has the chance to do a double in 2023 as it aims to win its third NWSL Championship.

It’s been a strange season in parts for the Courage. After losing three games in a row in April, the second month of the campaign, the team was defeated in just one of its next 10 matches. But then it went into the final week of the season on a seven-game winless streak, one ended in timely fashion with a narrow victory over the Washington Spirit.

Will this be the start of another positive run of form? The 2018 and 2019 champion will certainly hope so as there is the talent in this squad to compete with anyone in the play-offs.

One to watch: After Kerolin, the Courage’s leading scorer, was worryingly substituted on Sunday with an injury, there is concern about where the team’s goals could come from if she isn't fit for the play-offs. Someone who has stepped up several times, though, is Tyler Lussi, who has been granted 13 starts on the opposite wing this season and scored six goals. Quite incredibly, five of those have given the Courage 1-0 victories. Lussi saw what it takes to be an NWSL champion in her five years with the Thorns but after being a fringe player in the Pacific Northwest, can she be a key player in something special for the Courage?

GettyOL Reign

Megan Rapinoe's career continues. The USWNT icon will retire at the end of this season but there is one thing still missing from her trophy cabinet and that is the NWSL Championship. Fortunately, she has helped the Reign qualify for the play-offs to not only prolong her playing days by at least one more game but to give the club another shot at claiming a title that has long eluded it.

This team has been one of the best in the league for its entire existence, winning the NWSL Shield on three occasions and twice reaching the Championship game. But the play-offs are crazy and that chaos has rarely worked out in the Reign’s favour. Could that all change this year?

One to watch: Alongside Rapinoe for all of her time with the Reign has been Jess Fishlock, an adopted citizen in the Pacific Northwest for her service to this club, her contributions in huge moments and her engagement in the massive rivalry with the Portland Thorns. The consistency and longevity of the Wales international at the highest level is certainly admirable and she has shown that in spades this season, too. There’s arguably been no more impressive performer for the Reign in 2023 than Fishlock and she will hope that it can be 11th time lucky for her, Rapinoe and Lu Barnes, the trio that have been working together to try to help this club win a Championship title for over a decade.