We also review the eight team group stage of the 2026 OFC Qualifiers for the 2027 Women’s World Cup playoffs that concluded earlier this month. We conclude by looking at the inaugural South Asian Football Federation Women’s Club Championship, held in December in Nepal.
2026 NWSL 2026 Regular Season Preview
Racing Louisville
Racing Louisville FC has signed midfielder Maddie Pokorny (29) to a new contract for the 2026 season and she joined the Tampa Bay Sun FC of the USL Gainbridge Super League on loan through June. Pokorny is returning from a hip labrum injury that required surgery, which kept her out of the entire 2025 season. A Racing Louisville player since 2023, when she joined the team as a National Team Replacement Player, Pokorny appeared in 33 games for the club across all competitions, including one regular-season start. She played collegiately at Saint Louis University.
Racing Louisville FC goalkeeper Cristina Roque (24) will join Sporting Club Jacksonville of the USL Gainbridge Super League on loan. The deal will last through the remainder of the Super League season, which ends in May. Roque joined Racing in June 2025 in a trade from the Utah Royals. She has not appeared in a competitive game for Louisville.
A third-round selection in the 2024 NWSL Draft by the Utah Royals as the 33rd overall pick, Roque has made one NWSL regular season appearance in her career, a 1-0 win with Utah against Racing Louisville in September 2024. In college at Florida State, Roque was a two-time national champion and an All-American with the Seminoles. She ended her college career as Florida State's all-time record holder in both wins and shutouts in the NCAA Tournament. A native of Winter Garden, Fla., Roque represents Puerto Rico internationally.
Racing Louisville FC has signed rookie forward Taylor White to a two-year contract through the 2027 season. She played at West Virginia University for four seasons, where she led the team with 10 goals (with four game winners) and 10 assists last season. White scored 26 goals and tallied 17 assists in 80 appearances at WVU. The United Soccer Coaches Association named White a third-team All-American in 2025. Her older sister, Morgan, plays soccer professionally in France for Stade de Reims after a collegiate career at Arkansas and Marshall.
Racing Louisville FC also signed United States Youth National Team forward Audrey McKeen (17) to her first professional contract through the 2028 season. She comes from the Virginia Development Academy (VDA), a youth club that competes in the Elite Club National League (ECNL). She becomes the youngest ever player to sign with Racing Louisville and their first ever player under the age of 18. Racing’s recruitment of McKeen has spanned the better part of a year.
She joined Louisville as a non-roster invitee in February 2025 for a preseason trip to Florida and saw action for Racing in exhibitions against the Washington Spirit and the Kansas City Current. In July, Racing head coach Bev Yanez traveled to California to scout McKeen in the ECNL National Playoffs. Last August, McKeen verbally committed to the Florida State Seminoles—the five time NCAA champions—but decided to turn professional instead. McKeen also spent part of last season training with the Washington Spirit.
Racing Louisville FC has signed forward Rachel Hill (31) to a two-year contract through the 2027 season—she played the last two seasons with Bay FC. A professional since 2017, Racing will be her fifth NWSL club, with 2026 set to be her 10th season in the league. She's made 160 NWSL regular season appearances, scoring 18 goals and adding five assists. Hill has also played in the Australian W-League and the Swedish Damallsvenskan.
The Portland Thorns selected Hill in the second round of the 2017 NWSL College Draft with the 14th overall pick, but immediately traded her to the Orlando Pride. In three seasons in Orlando from 2017 to 2019, Hill made 59 regular season appearances, scoring 11 goals and registering three assists. In 2020, the Chicago Red Stars acquired Hill in a draft-day trade. She played with Chicago in the 2020 Challenge Cup, then moved on loan to Sweden's Linköping FC in August, where she scored twice in eight appearances. Hill returned to Chicago in 2021 for two more seasons, scoring four goals in 43 regular season appearances including 30 starts. Bay FC selected Hill with the fifth overall pick in the 2024 NWSL Expansion Draft. She made 41 appearances for Bay FC, including 16 starts,
In college with the University of Connecticut Huskies, Hill was a two-time semifinalist for the Hermann Trophy, college soccer's most prestigious award. She was a two-time All-American, earning first-team honors in 2015 and for the second team in 2016 from the NSCAA. She finished second all-time on the UConn scoring list, with 61 goals in 89 appearances. Hill represented the United States as a youth international, at both the U-20 and U-23 levels.
She played in the FIFA U-20 Women's World Cup in 2014 in Canada, appearing in a victory over Brazil, and helped the side qualify for the tournament by scoring once and adding a team high five assists during the 2014 CONCACAF Women’s U-20 Championship in the Cayman Islands, when the U.S. won the title with a 4-0 victory over Mexico. A native of Rollinsford, New Hampshire, Hill finished her prep career at Somersworth High School as New Hampshire’s all-time leading scorer with 151 goals.
Brazilian international forward Ary Borges (26) became a free agent after three seasons in Louisville and signed a three year deal with Angel City FC in the off-season. She scored three goals in 53 regular season matches with Racing. As of last summer, she has scored 10 goals in 30 appearances with Brazil’s senior side.
Racing Louisville FC and New Zealand international forward Milly Clegg (20) agreed to a mutual contract termination so she could pursue other playing opportunities. Clegg was set to enter the final year of a three-year contract with Racing that she signed in January 2024. She made one appearance for the club, playing 19 minutes off the bench in the 2024 season finale against the San Diego Wave.
She spent the entire 2025 season on loan with Halifax Tides FC of the Northern Super League, making 20 appearances with one goal for the struggling side. Clegg played in the Paris Olympics and FIFA U-20 World Cup for New Zealand, earning 20 caps in total for the Football Ferns. She is now with Vittsjo of Sweden.
North Carolina Courage
The North Carolina Courage signed Nigerian national team forward Chioma Okafor to a three-year, guaranteed contract through the 2028 NWSL season, with a club option for 2029, in December 2025. Okafor won the 2024 Women’s African Cup of Nations with Nigeria, the country’s record 10th title. She signed her first professional contract with the Courage after finishing her collegiate career at the University of Connecticut, where she scored 30 goals and added five assists in 57 appearances across four years.
Born in Blantyre, Malawi, Okafor was also eligible to play for Nigeria through her father and chose to represent Nigeria. Okafor moved to the United States in 2019, playing for and attending the Berkshire School in Massachusetts before heading to the University of Connecticut. She was a 2024 MAC Hermann Trophy semifinalist and named to the 2025 preseason watch list.
Just ahead of the season opener in mid-March, the Courage signed defender Uno Shiragaki (20) of Japan on a permanent transfer from Cerezo Osaka Yanmar Ladies of the WE-League in Japan. She signed a three year contract through the 2028 season. She has two senior caps. She helped Japan finish second at the 2024 U-20 WWC in Colombia (losing to Korea DPR 1-0 in the Final) along with new Courage teammates Manaka Matsukubo and Shinomi Koyama. Matsukubo is currently in Australia with Japan’s senior WNT at the AFC Women’s Asian Cup. At Cerezo Osaka, she played for three WE-League seasons and made 37 appearances.
The North Carolina Courage have acquired defender Cameron Brooks (25) via permanent transfer from Italian club Napoli for an agreed-upon fee and signed the Texas native to a two-year guaranteed contract through the 2027 NWSL season. She started her professional career with the Gainbridge Super League’s Fort Lauderdale United ahead of the league’s inaugural season in 2024 and moved to the Italian Serie A Femminile club Napoli in July 2025 following the Super League’s first season. The defender has played every minute of the 2025-2026 season for Napoli, leading the team to a 4-2-4 (W-D-L) record through 10 games. In Ft. Lauderdale, she played 19 games and, in five seasons at the University of Texas, she made 72 appearances with 44 starts.
Canadian National Team goalkeeper Kailen Sheridan (30) has signed a two-year, fully guaranteed contract through the 2027 NWSL season. She has played in the league for nine seasons with 166 regular season appearances and posted 42 shutouts. Sheridan was named to the NWSL Best XI First Team in 2021 and 2022 and Second Team in 2023; she won the league’s Goalkeeper of the Year honors in 2022.
Internationally, Sheridan has 63 caps for the Canadian National Team, keeping a clean sheet in 31 games. She won an Olympic Gold Medal with Canada at the 2020 Finals. Since taking over Canada’s starting role in 2022, Sheridan has won the Golden Glove and Best XI honors at the 2022 CONCACAF W Championship. In total, Sheridan has represented Canada at two World Cups and two Olympic Games.
Sheridan was selected by NJ/NY Gotham FC 23rd overall in the 2017 NWSL draft after a standout career at Clemson. The Canadian international spent her first five seasons with Gotham before being traded to San Diego ahead of the club’s inaugural season in 2022. She played collegiately at Clemson, with 76 appearances and ranks second in program history for shutouts with 28. She is from Pickering, Ontario, between Toronto and Oshawa.
Another new goalkeeper joining North Carolina is Madison White (24), as a free agent. She said: “This is a club that values its players so much, and I have heard nothing but great things about North Carolina.” She played 85 games at Texas Tech University and played 25 games on loan last season with the Dallas Trinity of the Gainbridge Super League; she led the USL with nine clean sheets (tied with Spokane Zephyr’s Hope Hisey) while ranking third in the league in saves.
On December 8, the North Carolina Courage signed English youth international forward Lauryn Thompson (18) to a guaranteed contract through the 2029 NWSL season. A Wake Forest, North Carolina, native, Thompson played for both the NC Courage and Indy Eleven academies, as well as the latter’s W-League side. Internationally, Thompson is currently with England’s U-19 national team and, during the October window, started two of the three matches and scored two goals as a substitute against Estonia.
Previously, Thompson played at the 2024 U-17 World Cup in Dominican Republic, scoring one goal as England finished fourth at the tournament. At the club level, she played last summer in the summer semi-professional W League with Indy Eleven.
The Courage also signed defender Ivy Younce (née Garner) to a short-term contract through June. Younce (22), a North Carolina native and former NC Courage Academy player, made 81 appearances across a four-year career with the Liberty University Flames, scoring 34 goals and adding 23 assists. Younce led the Courage U-23 team to back-to-back USL W League Finals, assisting the game-winning goal in 2024, and played with the club’s TST (The Soccer Tournament) 7-v-7 team in 2025. The defender was named to the 2024 USL W League Team of the Year. She played for Puerto Rico’s U-20 international team in 2022.
On January 31, the North Carolina Courage acquired Canadian international midfielder Carly Wickenheiser (28) via a permanent transfer from Swedish club BK Häcken for an agreed-upon fee; the Courage signed the midfielder to a guaranteed contract through the 2027 NWSL season. She was born in St. Louis. Wickenheiser debuted for Canada’s senior national team in the 2025 Pinatar Cup, earning three caps as Canada won the tournament.
She has spent her entire professional career in Sweden, capping off the seven-year stint in the country by leading BK Häcken to the Damallsvenskan title in 2025. She played 83 games, with four goals, at Texas Tech University and then began her professional career in the Swedish second division with Morön BK. After two seasons in the second tier, the midfielder made the move to the Damallsvenskan in 2021. Across stints with KIF Örebro DFF, Kristianstads DFF, and BK Häcken, Wickenheiser made 145 appearances and scored 11 goals. Wickenheiser is the daughter of former National Hockey League player Doug Wickenheiser and the cousin of Hockey Hall of Famer and former Canadian national team Olympic captain Hayley Wickenheiser.
Also coming from Sweden, the Courage have acquired Swedish international forward Evelyn Ijeh (24) via a permanent transfer from Italian club AC Milan for an agreed-upon fee and signed her to a guaranteed contract through the 2029 NWSL season. Ijeh has been one of the top attacking players in Italy since joining Milan in January 2024, finishing third in the Golden Boot race in the 2024-25 season with 12 goals and 6 assists in 26 games. So far in the 2025-26 season, Ilej has four goals and one assist in nine games. Ijeh has scored one goal (in a 2-2 Nations League tie versus France in December of 2025) in five caps for the Swedish national team after the early March FIFA window—and also qualified to play for Nigeria’s WNT.
Ijeh began her professional career in 2017 with IFK Göteborg, which became the women’s team for BK Häcken in 2021, staying with the club into the 2021 season before ending the year with Lidköpings. With Växjö DFF, she scored 32 goals in 42 appearances across two seasons. Ijeh then moved to Liga MX Femenil club Tigres UANL in the 2023 Clausura, playing in seven matches, before being loaned to AC Milan in January 2024.
Following a strong end to the 2023-24 season in Serie A, where she scored four goals in 15 total appearances, the move to the Milan was made permanent. Ijeh’s father, Peter Ijeh, played for the Nigerian national team and had a lengthy professional career in Sweden, including a two-year stint with IFK Göteborg, where Evelyn began her professional career. I saw Peter play a few times with IFK while on business trips to the city during the 2004 and 2005 seasons.
In keeping with the Sweden theme, on January 24, the North Carolina Courage hired Mak Lind (37) as the third head coach in club history, a move which had been mentioned and expected by media in Sweden and the U.S. since the end of the 2025 NWSL season.
Lind joins the Courage from Swedish side BK Häcken Women, who he most recently guided to the 2025 Damallsvenskan title, finishing atop the table with a 21-1-4 (W-D-L) record and a +68 goal differential, finishing four points ahead of Hammarby, the 2023 champions who finished tied on points with Hacken that season but Hammarby won the title with a +44 goal difference to +43 for the Gothenburg side. He joined Häcken in July 2023, leading the club to a second-place league finish in 2024. Lind led Häcken to the 2023–24 UEFA Women’s Champions League quarterfinals, where the club fell to Paris Saint-Germain.
Lind explained: “I am extremely excited and humbled by the opportunity to serve as the next head coach of the North Carolina Courage. This is a club with an incredible history and a clear expectation to compete for trophies. I’m very aligned with the system and style of play already in place and look forward to continuing to evolve it alongside the players and staff. I can’t wait to get started and for my family and me to fully immerse ourselves in this community,”
Lind brings nearly a decade of experience as a head coach and manager in Sweden, having led professional clubs since 2016. Prior to joining BK Häcken Women, he spent the majority of his coaching career in the men’s game, earning a reputation for tactical clarity and player development.
A former center back, Lind began his professional playing career at age 15 and totaled 256 senior appearances. He spent the majority of his playing career with BK Häcken, where he eventually served as club captain. Internationally, Lind earned 10 caps with the Lebanese men’s national team between 2013 and 2015 and was named to the IFFHS All-Time Lebanon Men’s Dream Team in 2022. Born in Lebanon, Lind later moved to Sweden and holds Swedish citizenship.
Lind will have four full-time assistants on his coaching staff. Assistant coach Emma Thomson and goalkeeper coach Katelyn Rowland return to the side, joined by new assistant coaches David Maddren and Jessica Silva. Thomson joined the Courage in 2020 and was promoted to a full-time role with the first team in 2022.
Now in her sixth season in Cary, she brings extensive experience as both a former professional player and a coach across collegiate, academy, youth national team, and professional environments. A four-year starter and two-year captain for Penn State University, she was named Defender of the Year and helped the Nittany Lions win four consecutive Big Ten regular-season championships and earn four NCAA Tournament appearances. She went on to play professionally with the Boston Breakers and Doncaster Rovers Belles in England before transitioning into coaching.
Rowland joined the staff as an assistant goalkeeper coach in 2025 after retiring following eight NWSL seasons, including six with the Courage; she claimed nine NWSL trophies as a player. She won four NWSL Championships in five years between 2015 and 2019, capturing the Shield in the lone season without a championship in 2017.
Maddren joins the first team staff after a lengthy stint with the NC Courage Academy, where he served as assistant director from 2017 through 2022 before a promotion to academy director. He played collegiately at the University of Mobile before a professional playing career in the United States, England, and New Zealand. He began his coaching career in 2011 at Mississippi College before transitioning to youth and academy leadership roles over the past decade.
Silva brings both domestic and international experience to the Courage staff. She was appointed as the first-ever head coach of Brooklyn FC in the Gainbridge USL Super League for 2024-25, leading the team to the top of the table at the winter break and an overall record of 8-5-8 (W-D-L) record during her tenure.
Born in Montreal with Portuguese and Italian heritage, Silva also has extensive coaching experience in both Canada and France, most notably as head coach of French women’s club FC Metz. Silva is a very good coach who was let go much too early by Brooklyn’s front office, as they panicked as they slid down the table and out of the playoffs in the second half of the season, amid player unrest at the club and difficulties in acquiring a permanent stadium home.
The North Carolina Courage have completed the transfer of Brazilian forward Aline Gomes (20) to Pachuca of the Liga MX Femenil for an agreed-upon fee. Gomes joined the Courage in July 2024 following a transfer from Brazilian club Ferroaviária, where she played as a youth and with the professional side. She made 21 NWSL regular-season appearances during her time with the Courage, scoring two goals.
The North Carolina Courage transferred midfielder Denise O’Sullivan to Liverpool FC of the Barclays Women’s Super League for an agreed-upon fee. O’Sullivan departs North Carolina as the club’s all-time leader in appearances (186 across all competitions in nine seasons). She won three NWSL Shields, two Championships, and two Challenge Cups with the Courage.
O’Sullivan, an icon to the Courage franchise for so long, said: “It’s hard to put into words what this club has truly meant to me. North Carolina will always be my home, and I’m forever grateful to the club, my teammates, and the incredible fans who supported and believed in me every step of the way. I’m on to a new challenge now, but I’ll always be a part of Courage Country. From the bottom of my heart, thank you for everything.”
O’Sullivan joined the Courage early in the club’s inaugural season, joining the club off the waiver wire on July 28, 2017, after starting the year in Houston. Prior to the 2023 season, O’Sullivan was named the second captain in the club’s history. The Cork, Ireland native helped the Irish to their first-ever FIFA Women’s World Cup Finals appearance in 2023. As of February 2026, she had 22 goals in 129 appearances since her senior debut in 2011 with Ireland’s WNT.
Off the field, Marc Lasry has made a $40 million investment in the club, which is valued at US$155 million, but reportedly does not include a path to control the club. Lasry owns the Avenue Sports Fund and, less than two years ago, Lasry had signed a letter of intent to buy a controlling stake in the team from current owner Steve Malik, at a $108 million valuation, as reported by Sportico, the sports business site.
The NWSL nixed the deal as they did not want a private equity firm to be a controlling owner in a league team but that did not prevent Avenue’s current investment in the club. Lasry has previously been interested in buying the Seattle Reign and Angel City. The Reign was sold in 2024 for $58 million to a group including the Seattle Sounders of Major League Soccer and investment firm Carlyle Group. Later that year, Willow Bay, Dean of the USC Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism, and Bob Iger, CEO of the Walt Disney Company, paid $250 million for control of Angel City.
Angel City paid only $2 million to enter the league in 2022. In November of last year, Atlanta paid $165 million for an expansion franchise to start in 2028. In 2023, Lasry sold a 25% stake in the NBA Milwaukee Bucks at a $3.2 billion valuation and, since then, the Avenue Sports Fund has invested in a number of sports teams, including baseball’s Baltimore Orioles, English football club Ipswich Town FC and golf clubs and tournaments.
Orlando Pride
The Orlando Pride signed forward Seven Castain, goalkeeper Cara Martin and defender Nicole Payne to one-year contracts through the 2026 season in mid-January. Castain joins the Pride after playing the last four seasons collegiately at Texas Christian University. Castain, a senior forward from Draper, Utah, earned 2025 United Soccer Coaches All-America first-team honors and was a MAC Hermann Trophy semifinalist after tying the program’s single-season goals record with 17 in her senior season. She also posted 38 points (goals + assists), second-most in school history, and tallied six multi-goal games, including two hat tricks. She won the W-League title last summer with Utah United: (see: The Week in Women's Football: Ovalle explains joining Orlando Pride; WPSL, W-League and UWS review - TribalFootball.com).
Martin signed with the Pride out of Georgetown University where she was named the Big East Goalkeeper of the Year in consecutive seasons her junior and senior years, while also earning All-American Third Team honors in her senior season. As a senior, Martin started all 23 games of the season and recorded eight shutouts to go along with 59 saves.
Payne comes to the Pride as a free agent after previously playing with the Portland Thorns and Paris Saint-Germain in France. In Portland, Payne appeared in 19 regular season matches after a permanent transfer in June of 2024, following an initial loan from PSG in February of 2024. While with PSG, Payne appeared in two matches after joining the team in July of 2023.
Before making the jump overseas, Payne played collegiately for the University of Southern California, where she scored three goals in 16 matches. She previously spent three years at West Virginia University where she recorded four goals and three assists in 53 matches, while making two NCAA Tournament appearances. She was a U.S. international at the youth level but has ten caps for Nigeria at the senior level since 2021. She played at the 2024 Olympic Games Finals in Paris for Nigeria.
In early January, the Orlando Pride and midfielder Grace Chanda (28) mutually agreed to part ways. Chanda joined the Pride midway through the 2024 season and made seven appearances for Orlando across all competitions. Chanda signed with the Orlando Pride in May 2024 ahead of her participation in the 2024 Paris Olympics with Zambia, but her NWSL debut was delayed due to an injury suffered during the Olympic Finals, with Orlando filing a complaint to FIFA that Zambia continued to play her after she her ruptured quadriceps tendon in her right leg.
Chanda would go on and make her Pride debut as a second-half substitute on March 19 against the Washington Spirit during the 2025 NWSL season. Almost immediately after her release, she signed with Querétaro in Liga MX Femenil, her fourth country since 2022 when she started in Kazakhstan with BIIK and then moved to Madrid CFF before crossing the Atlantic to join Orlando in May of 2024.
Also in January, the Orlando Pride signed forward Solai Washington (20) through the 2027 season, with a mutual option for the 2028 season. Washington recorded 35 appearances, eight goals and four assists over her two seasons with Florida State University. She won the 2025 National Championship with the Seminoles, playing in 18 games, nine as starts, and tallying two goals—both game-winners—and two assists. At just 17 years old, Washington represented Jamaica in the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup, making three appearances in the tournament. She made her World Cup debut after coming on in the 70th minute to help the Reggae Girlz close out the final 27 minutes and secure a point in a 0-0 draw with France.
Portland Thorns
Norwegian youth international midfielder Cassandra Bogere (20) spent the last two seasons with Brann—including the 2023 on loan from Roa. In November 2024, she signed a three year deal with Brann, who won the Toppserien title in 2025, but then was transferred and signed a new deal with Portland, through 2028 with an option for 2029. She can also play for Uganda, through her father, Patrick Bogere, who was a boxer. At Brann, she scored three goals in 38 games.
For players leaving the club, the Thorns loaned Brazilian international defender Daiane Limeira (28) to C.F. Monterrey of Liga MX Femenil through July 16, 2026. She joined Portland for the 2025 season from Flamengo of Rio de Janeiro. She played in seven matches (with one start).
U.S. international midfielder Sam Coffee (27) moved to Manchester City of the WSL1, a move which took almost a year to complete. She explained that she was sorry to leave Portland but she had dreamed about playing in Europe since she was little. Coffey, who played 42 times for the U.S. and was a regular with the nats throughout 2025, had two years remaining on her contract at Portland, where she has spent the entirety of her professional career.
Coffey, as team captain in 2025, made 29 appearances as Portland finished third in the regulation NWSL season and reached the play-off semi-final stage, losing to Washington Spirit. Portland also finished third in last year’s CONCACAF W Champions Cup, defeating Club America in the third-place play-off after their semi-final loss to Tigres UANL. Coffey is a dynamic midfielder, who wins the ball and can distribute it well; she does not score a lot of goals but always keeps the ball moving. After 16 games, Manchester City has an eight point lead atop of WSL1 with 42 points (14-0-2 W-D-L) over second place Manchester United with 34 points, with reigning champions Chelsea third on 33 points. Coffee played collegiately at Eastern Seaboard powerhouse Penn State University.
Nine days before their 2026 opener, the Portland Thorns named Swedish native Robert Vilahamn (43) as their new head coach. he most recently served as the head coach at Tottenham (2023-25), leading Spurs to their first Women’s FA Cup Final in his first season. Previously, Vilahamn was a member of both men’s and women’s sides at BK Häcken in Gothenburg, Sweden. He joined as an assistant coach for the men’s side in 2020 and helped the team qualify for the inaugural UEFA Conference League as well as an appearance in the 2021 Swedish Cup final.
He would make the jump to the women’s team in 2021 to serve as their head coach and led them until July 2023. Under his direction, BK Häcken clinched UEFA Women’s Champions League qualification each season and made consecutive Swedish Cup finals in 2022 and 2023.
Vilahamn was a former striker who began his footballing career at age 17 in the Swedish top-flight. It was with his final club, Ytterby IS, that Vilahamn took his first steps into the managerial world by assuming the role of player-coach, helping the team secure back-to-back league promotions in 2008 and 2009. His efforts led to roles as the U-19 Head Coach at Örgryte IS and Qviding FIF, leading the latter to consecutive league promotions in 2018 and 2019.
The Thorns were one of the NWSL's founding clubs in 2013 and they’ve made the playoffs in all but one of their 13 seasons. Portland won NWSL titles in 2013, 2017 and 2022. Vilahamn said: “I’m very excited and thankful to be the new head coach of the Portland Thorns. The club has everything I look for, with a clear ambition to win, an incredible fan base and a strong environment for developing talented players. The NWSL is the most competitive league in the world, and coming to the U.S. to be part of it is a major step in my career. I’m really looking forward to starting this next chapter in Portland.”
Off the field, Vilahamn has a track record of using football and education as positive vehicles for change. He has his own soccer academy in Uganda that promotes education and development opportunities and was part-owner of Gignation, a digital platform founded to improve hiring and work conditions for substitute teachers in Sweden.
Vilahamn replaces Rob Gale—he was born in Zambia, played in England and Canada and coached men and women in Canada before joining the Thorns—who was dismissed after the Thorns finished 11-8-7 (W-D-L) overall last season and lost to the Washington Spirit (2-0) in the semifinals of the NWSL playoffs.
2027 OFC WWC Qualifiers
In Group A, on February 27, New Zealand blasted Samoa 8-0 in front of 200 people at the National Stadium in Honiara, Salomon Island. Kelli Brown of Newcastle United in the Ninja A-League scored three first half goals, with the winner coming in the first minute. American Samoa shocked Solomon Islands 2-0 in front of 300 people, with the winner coming from Ali Fuamatu-Ma’afala in the 56th minute—the Hawaii native played collegiately at the University of Nevada-Las Vegas and Sacramento State University. Fuamatu-Ma’afala was one of 30 players called into camp with American Samoa back in September with other United States based players, then made the cut after a second camp featuring local/on-island hopefuls.
On March 2, American Samoa defeated Samoa 1-0 with the only goal scored by Morgan Patea at the end of the first half; she grew up in California and played at Cal State-Los Angeles. In the other match, New Zealand blasted Solomon Islands 8-0. Amy Blake (25), who played at the University of Michigan and is currently with Durham of the WSL2 in England, scored a hat-trick. Milly Clegg (20) had two goals; she was released recently by Racing Louisville (see above) after spending the 2025 season on loan with Halifax Tides of Canada’s Northern Super League. She has recently moved to Swedish village side Vittsjo GIK for 2026, where she has scored one goal in her first game with the club.
On March 5, in the final group games, New Zealand defeated American Samoa 3-0 to finish top of the group with nine points, but American Samoa finished second on six points and both teams advanced to the semifinals in Auckland on April 12, with American Samoa’s advancement being a huge upset as this was the first time that they had entered qualifying since the OFC Women’s Championship in 1998.
Former U.S. international Amanda Cromwell—who won a Gold Medal at the Atlanta Olympics in 1996 and played three seasons in the now defunct WUSA (2001-2003)—joined American Samoa last year as head coach. She was head coach at the University of Central Florida for 13 seasons and nine years at UCLA, winning a national title in 2013. She then joined the Orlando Pride for the 2022 season but only made it through about three months before being dismissed—along with one of her assistant coaches—for retaliation against her team. American Samoa is her first national team coaching position and she, to date, has led the team to four wins and two defeats in six matches.
In the battle between two winless sides, Samoa defeated Solomon Islands 2-1 in front of 400 fans at the National Stadium in Honiara, double that which saw the first game of the day. Samoa finished with three points with a -8 goal differential while Solomon Islands had no points and scored once while allowing 11 goals.
In Group B, on February 27, Papua New Guinea and Fiji both won their first matches by 5-0 scorelines, over Vanuatu and New Caledonia, respectively. The first game at Govind Park in Ba had 100 people, with 50 more coming for the afternoon game involving home side Fiji. For PNG, Nenny Elipas scored two goals while for Fiji, American diaspora forward Trina Davis (24) scored the winner in the 11th minute and Sofi Diyalowai (32) of Labasa FC add a first half brace.
On March 2, New Caledonia defeated Vanuatu 2-1 with two goals in the first half ,with Vanuatu scoring in the last seven minutes by team captain Leimata Simon (25). In the crucial second game between undefeated Fiji and PNG, the game was postponed due to lightning and heavy rainfall. Originally it was rescheduled for the next day but was then switched to March 8, after the conclusion of the third set of matches.
On March 5, Papua New Guinea scored three goals after the 90th minute to boost their goal differential in a 4-0 win over New Caledonia. Fiji squeaked past Vanuatu 1-0 in front of 150 fans at Govind Park in Ba, with Diyalowai again scoring, this time in the 20th minute.
Before the rescheduled match between PNG and Fiji on March 8, both sides had qualified for the semifinals, to be held in April in Auckland. This game was vital to both sides as a Fiji win would send them to the semifinals as Group champions, where they would face American Samoa, who they defeated in a pre-tournament friendly (see: The Week in Women's Football: Nicola Demaine exclusive; OFC World Cup qualifiers; NSWL preview - TribalFootball.com). A PNG win or tie (they entered the match with a +3 goal differential) would see PNG face American Samoa, with Fiji facing the very formidable Football Ferns at home. The Final winner takes the OFC’s automatic berth to the 2027 WWC, with the second place side qualifying for the intercontinental playoffs, which PNG Bilums qualified for in early 2023 in New Zealand.
PNG won the crucial match on March 8 (1-0) with an 86th minute goal by forward Meagen Gunemba (30), who plays with Lae in PNG. New Caledonia finished in third in Group B with three points, scoring twice while allowing ten goals while Vanuatu was fourth with zero points and a -7 goal differential, with one goal for and eight allowed.
East Bengal wins the first South Asian Football Federation Women’s Club Championship
In December 2025, the South Asian Football Federation held its first Women’s Club Championship in Katmandu, Nepal, with five teams:
East Bengal of India
APF of Nepal
Nasrin of Bangladesh
Transport United of Bhutan
Karachi City of Pakistan
Other SAFF member nations Maldives and Sri Lanka did not send teams.
The tournament, sponsored by Vatsalya, a fertility clinic in Kathmandu, was officially known as the Vatsalya SAFF Women’s Club Championship
On December 20, East Bengal defeated APF 3-0 in front of 8,253 fans in Kathmandu, a solid crowd for women’s football in the nation. Fazila Ikwaput (25) scored two goals in the final. She has played for BIIK Kazygurt in Kazakhstan and Gokulam Kerala in India before joining East Bengal for the 2025-26 season, for whom she has scored 18 goals in 13 matches. She has 10 goals for Uganda’s WNT in 15 matches. She was the first player to appear in the UEFA WCL in 2018 with BIIK and also played with Omonia Women FC in Cyprus.
Tim Grainey is a contributor to Tribal Football. His latest book Beyond Bend it Like Beckham on the global game of women’s football. Get your copy today. Follow Tim on X: @TimGrainey