We also present Part 1 of our annual Ninja A-League preview for the 2025/26 season, looking at news from the six teams who qualified for the playoffs last season—though the franchise for one team has been suspended by the league ahead of this season. Finally, we look at the results of the ten team group stage for the CONCACAF W Champions Cup, with the semifinals to be held next May.
Samya Hassani of Hera United in the Netherlands and Morocco interview
Last week, TribalFootball.com talked exclusively with Samya Hassani (25), who is a youth and senior international forward with Morocco. She was born and raised in Amsterdam and is currently with Hera United, the only club in the Vrouwen Eredivisie (top tier women’s league in Netherlands) without an affiliated men’s side (see our column from last month: The Week in Women's Football: Bermuda win Island Games; Champions League review; Hera make history). Samya Hassani discussed the transition from being part of Telstar’s men’s and women’s organization—in Greater Amersterdam, near Haarlem—to joining Hera United, with the latter first raising the idea of taking over just Telstar’s women’s team to play in Amsterdam, during the preseason of the 2024-25 season.
Telstar United had announced that they wanted to catapult/ditch/sell (pick your favorite descriptor) the women’s side, after only three seasons, as Samya Hassani explained: “Hera United had a talk with the players (to present) their plans for the future, because Telstar wants to quit women’s football, and to keep us at the highest level of the Netherlands. They would take over after last season (2024-25). There was a lot of chaos last season before we were Hera United, but they (Hera United management) kept us in the loop on everything that was going on.”
Telstar originally had a women’s team from 2011 through the 2016-17 campaign, after which the women’s side moved to Alkmaar to become VVV Alkmar. Hassani said that, after Telstar’s team returned three years ago (when she first joined the team): “Everyone’s hopes were up and then we heard they want to quit again and everyone was just confused, ‘wow, why?’… In the end, this was a better solution as Hera United.”
Telstar’s reasons for discontinuing their women’s program again just three years after restarting it have not been publicly given and requests for comment by Telstar executives have not been answered by press time. The team finished second from bottom all three seasons but saying that it was due to on-the-field results is too easy of a dodge and goes against every fiber of a long-term plan in building a new team. Even with Hera United’s plan, they had to wait for the green light from the Dutch federation to allow them to play without a men’s team, which has been a FIFA edict for some time in order for national associations to receive funding for their women’s programs. The best example of this working well has been in Mexico, where the league (Liga MX Femenil) has thrived since 2017-18, after most top tier Liga MX men’s teams folded in women’s franchises.
Prior to that, the Mexican Women’s League was so far off-the-radar that it was on life support, with teams having to play in parks at times, with very little fan support and virtually no media coverage. A counter-argument is that independent clubs are not subject to the whims of men’s teams funding (relegation, etc.), which has been a problem in England for decades and even this summer.
We understand that this FIFA rule has helped the game grow globally but there needs to be more flexibility to encourage more independent clubs. Hassani remembered that during that period: “There were a lot of insecurities. But the Technical Director of Hera United kept us updated and kept good communication with the staff and players. (It was) Quite a chaotic last half year but finally, (during) the week of the start of the competition, we got our green light in September (from the Federation) so we could start being Hera United.”
The KNVB’s acceptance process took way too long (10 months) and the club received approval “in the nick of time” as singer Bonnie Raitt once sang. It wasn’t right to put so much stress on the players, coaches and Hera United’s directors, who were doing the right thing in helping to stabilize a women’s team in their market.
Hassani said that, since everything has been resolved and that the season has started: “Everyone is more relieved in the group; the chaos from last season is not the same anymore—it’s way better in the team. Everyone is more comfortable. Everything is fixed now. So, we have our own base. We know when we train. We don’t need to share a dressing room with the men’s team (at Telstar) or be early on the pitch because the men’s team is training. That sort of thing helped us to be more secure with Hera United—the basic things.”
These facility issues and training schedule conflicts are two compelling reasons why independent women’s teams should be encouraged around the world—it is another model besides aligning with the men, which works in some cases but not in every situation. Hera United also plans to hold some games at the historic Amsterdam Olympic Stadium (from the 1928 Summer Olympics), which is innovative and should create a special event atmosphere.
Hassani has played outside of the Netherlands with Gent in neighboring Belgium in 2021-22 and for a few months in 2024 with Fenerbahce in Turkey. She has no plans to go abroad in the immediate future as she is finishing school—studying to be a youth football coordinator (Development Director)—and wants to complete her coaching degrees, starting with a UEFA C license. She is also fully focused on her playing career with Hera United, keeping the club in the (top tier) competition. After five games in their first season, Hera United is above the relegation zone in tenth place, with two points (0-2-3 W-D-L record) in the 12-team top league.
With Morocco, she was with the team in the 2022 Africa Cup of Nations at home when the host nation finished second, which was the event that galvanized the country and the continent with close to 50,000 fans at the final (see: The Week on Women's Football: Africa Cup of Nations Finals review - Tribal Football). That CAF tournament doubled as the 2023 WWC qualifiers and spurred Morocco’s historic first WWC Finals run to the Round of 16 and another runner-up finish at the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations this past summer, again in Morocco. She explained that, in talking with her teammates at the WAFCON, it was clear that: “The game is going to grow even more.
Five years ago, there was nothing here (in Morocco). Now people see us, people know us. It’s a really great thing to see happen. If Morocco keeps playing like they are at the Cup of Nations and World Cup, I think it will develop, it’s going to blow up even more. More young footballers will play for Morocco and Netherlands. Women’s football is getting explosive now.” She has not been back with the WNT of late and hopes that: “If I play good at Hera United, maybe I will get the call up (to the Moroccan women’s national team again), maybe not. We will see, I hope so. to be honest… I would love that.”
As a playing representative for Hera United’s grand trailblazing adventure as the first independent women’s football in Netherland’s professional football (in their top two leagues), the club has a strong representative of the game in Samya Hassani, who is a full international with Morocco and committed to continuing her work in the game during and after her playing career. We plan on following the development of this important team in future columns and are arranging an interview with one of the club’s executive directors in the coming weeks.
2025/26 Ninja A-League Women Season Preview—Part 1
This week, we preview the 2025/26 Ninja A-League Women regular season. In part 1, we look at last year’s playoff sides—Melbourne City, Melbourne Victory, Adelaide United, Central Coast Mariners, Canberra United and Western United—though the latter’s news is bad as the team will not be playing this season, while their return for 2026/27 is questionable as well, as they are dealing with severe financial problems at the franchise level, including the men’s side.
The teams below are shown in order of their 2024/25 regular season finish, with some references to our early September look at the 2025/26 Ninja A-League season when we looked at some news on each side: The Week in Women's Football: Ava Piazza exclusive; A-League teams & Matildas focus - TribalFootball.com.
This season, with the AFC Women’s Asian Cup being held in Australia, the league will take a two week break from late February to mid-March. As the league explained in a media release, League games will resume on March 13: “during the knock-out stages of the continental tournament to maximise continuity for the majority of players and to avoid fixture congestion.
Working closely with Football Australia and the local organising committee for the AFC Womenʼs Asian Cup, the APL has ensured that all Ninja A-League Women matches played during the knock-out stages will be played at a different time, in a different market, to avoid any clash with Asian Cup fixtures and maximise cross-promotional opportunities.”
Melbourne City (16-7-0 W-D-L, 55 points—First)
Melbourne City won their second consecutive Premiership (regular season title) and fourth overall in 2024/25. City finished the regular season undefeated for the third time in their history, along with the 2015/16 (12 games) and 2019/20 (12 games) seasons, while they were also runners-up in the 2024/25 AFC Women’s Champions League. Their unbeaten run of 23 regular season games is a league record that they hope to continue in 2025/26.
See our September column (link above) with more about City trading Mexican international defender Lourdes Bosch (24) to the 2026 NWSL expansion side Denver Summit. Venezuelan international striker Mariana Speckmaier (27) was also shipped to English club Durham FC in WSL2 for a transfer fee. We also had news about City (and Melbourne Victory) adding NSL-Victoria State League women’s sides beginning in 2026.
Melbourne City had a major signing for 2025/26—both for the A-League and the Asian Women’s Champions League campaign—in Nigerian international forward Chinaza Uchendu (27), who has moved from Nantes in France. She has 10 senior caps for Nigeria and played at the 2018 Women’s Africa Cup of Nations as well as the 2019 FIFA Women’s World Cup. She has also played for clubs in Portugal, Sweden, South Korea, Nigeria and Turkey—where she won the Women’s Super League title with Galatasaray.
Another new signing with international experience is New Zealand international forward Deven Jackson (27), who played last season with the Newcastle Jets and the year before at Canberra United. She scored six goals in 18 appearances last season for the Jets to tie Australian forward Sheridan Gallagher (23)—who also plays for the Newcastle Knights of the National Rugby League Women’s Premiership and for the Junior Matildas (U-17s) in the past—as the top scorers on the team.
Melbourne City also brought in Australian Under-23 international winger Aideen Keane (23). Keane arrives following a standout ASEAN Women’s Championship MSIG Serenity Cup campaign with Australia, where the Ninja A-League-led side claimed the title for the first time in 17 years, defeating Myanmar 1-0 on August 19 in Haiphong, Vietnam. The ASEAN Football Federation consists of the following Southeast Asian nations: Australia, Brunei, Cambodia, East Timor, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam.
Keane scored in the semi-final before setting up Holly Furphy’s (23) match-winning strike in the decider against Myanmar. Furphy is joining Melbourne Victory after playing three seasons at Santa Clara University in Northern California. Keane also has international club experience while playing in the 2023 AFC Women’s Club Championship with Syndey FC, where she won the Ninja A-League Championship.
Holly McNamara (22) scored 15 goals in 17 matches to win the Golden Boot award and returns to the club, as does Australian midfielder Leticia McKenna (22), who had five goals in 23 matches last term.
Tyla-Jay Vjajnic, an Australian-born Serbian international, played in 27 matches last season and leaves the team with 100 A-Leagues appearance, 82 with City in two stints, and she won five titles with the club. As of press-time, she had not yet signed with another club.
Melbourne Victory (16-5-2, 53 points, Second)
Melbourne Victory brought on midfielder Rhianna Pollicina (28) for the upcoming A-League season; she moves over from Melbourne City, where she played four seasons and won two A-League Premierships. In 100 A-League games she has 45 goals and 17 assists. She played for Australia at the U-17 level.
Two new Americans joining MV this season include:
Goalkeeper Payton Woodward (25), who played in the NPL Victoria Women’s League with Brunswick Juventus FC earlier this year, after playing in Iceland in 2024 with HK Kópavogur. Originally from Fayetteville, Arkansas, she played at Villanova University in Tennessee and the University of Portland in Oregon.
Striker Kennedy White (25) joins from Hungarian First Division side Győr ETO FC, where she scored 32 goals and 17 assists in the 2024-25 campaign and won the Hungarian Cup. She played at Bowling Green State University in Northwestern Ohio and Mississippi State University. She said that she was very happy to join Melbourne Victory: “As a player, it’s always a privilege to be joining big clubs with a passionate following and I know Victory is arguably the biggest and best club in the league both, on and off the pitch.”
Midfielder Taylor Ray (24), who has been capped by the Matildas at the senior level, joins Victory this season after winning a league title with Central Coast Mariners, her fourth league crown after three championships with Sydney FC. In seven A-League seasons, she has played in over 80 games since joining Sydney in the 2017-18 season at the age of 16.
Ninja A-League icon and CommBank Matildas legend Lydia Williams (37) has retired from professional club football, having won four A-Leagues Championships (three with Melbourne City and one with Canberra in 2011/12), four Premierships (regular season titles) and four Goalkeeper of the Year Awards in 131 appearances, after making her debut in the league’s first season in 2008/09. Williams retired from international football in 2024 with 104 caps and played in five Women’s World Cup Finals and two Olympic Games Finals. For Melbourne Victory, she played 11 matches for Victory since joining the team for the 2023/24 campaign. However, Williams will continue to work with the Victory: “as she moves into community and coaching roles, contributing to the ongoing growth of female footballers and goalkeepers.”
Williams played in the U.S., including on the Chicago Red Stars roster in their inaugural year in the WPS under now USWNT head coach Emma Hayes. I interviewed her years ago when she was playing in the U.S.—her mother was American and from the Illinois area—and she also played with the Western New York Flash, Houston Dash and OL Reign in the NWSL. In Europe, she spent time with Pitea of Sweden, at Arsenal and Brighton and Hove Albion in the Women’s Super League and French powerhouse Paris Saint-Germain.
Forward Nicki Flannery scored five goals in 26 games in her first season with MV and returns, after playing this summer for Apollon Limassol in the UEFA Women’s Champions League.
Adelaide United (14-3-6, 45 points, Third)
Adelaide United made the playoffs in 2024/25 for only the third time in their 17 seasons in the A-League. Returning to the team this season are four key members from last season, including English native Fiona Worts (who finished fourth in the league in scoring with 11 goals), Chelsea Dawber (eight goals and four assists), while American forward Erin Healy (24) from Gonzaga University had seven goals in 19 regular season matches—plus one in the playoffs. Healy previously played in 2023-24 with Clube de Albergaria in Portugal.
Through a grandparent, she qualified to play for the Republic of Ireland and was capped in May for a 2024-25 UEFA Nations League match but did not play—a month later she played 16 minutes in a 4-0 loss to the U.S. WNT. South Australian native midfielder Emily Condon (26)—in her twelfth season with Adelaide—had six goals and four assists from 21 regular season matches.
New Reds signings from within the A-League include forward Emilia Makris (20) (formerly Murray) on a three-year deal, after winning the Premiership title last season at Melbourne City. She started with Adelaide in 2021-22, having arrived via the Football SA (South Australia) elite pathway. Makris said: “I’m really excited to be back home. This is the club that gave me an opportunity as a youngster and I’m looking to repay that over the next few seasons.”
In addition, defender Holly Murray (21) joins from Canberra United on a one-year contract, with an option for year two. In the off-season, she joined Box Hill in midseason during the transfer window and helped the team to a NPLW Victory Grand Final triumph against Heidelberg 2-1 on September 16. In addition, forward Lara Gooch (20) comes from the Newcastle Jets on a two year contract. She played for Australia at the U-20 WWC last year in Colombia.
Central Coast Mariners (9-7-7, 34 points, Fourth)
The 2024/25 Ninja A-League champions return for season three (since their return to the league in 2023/24) after disbanding the women’s side following the first two years of the league. Australian U-23 international Annalise Rasmussen (20) scored six goals in 22 games last season. U-17 Australian youth international forward Tiana Fuller (17) also finished with six goals in 19 games and had six goals in eight games this summer with Sydney Olympic in the NPLW. Both are back for 2025/26.
English import Jade Pennock (32) added five goals in 23 matches last season in Gosford on loan from English Championship (division two) side Birmingham City. She moved during the off-season to join expansion side Jacksonville in the USL Super League.
At one point during the off-season, it appeared that Isabel Gomez, one of the revelations of 2024/25, particularly in the playoffs in helping the Mariners to their first A-League Championship title, was bound for a club abroad (Western Europe or North America). However, she is back for the 2025/26 season, which is good news for Central Coast in their attempt to win a second consecutive title. She helped the club start the season undefeated and was called into a Matildas camp, but suffered an injury and was out for three months. She finished the regular season with five goals in 11 regular season games.
She added two goals in the playoffs, with a late game winner against Melbourne City in the second leg in overtime as she broke out of midfield and lobbed a shot over the goalkeeper. The following week, in Melbourne in the Grand Final against the Victory, Gomez scored the first goal early in the second half and scored in the penalty shoot-out. Gomez was named Grand Final Player of the Match, the Shark Fans Player of the Year for the A-League Women and was named in the Professional Footballers Association Team of the Season. She received another invite to the Matildas this past summer against Argentina in Canberra, substituting in during their 4-1 win on June 2. New head coach Kory Babington (see more below) said about her: “She is a tenacious defender, she attacks space well with the ball, makes great forward runs, provides killer passes and scores key goals.” TribalFootball.com is arranging an interview with Isabel Gomez through the Mariners, which we hope to present in the weeks to come.
Central Coast Mariners appointed Kory Babington as the new Ninja A-League head coach for the 2025-26 season; he has over 20 years of experience in Australian football. Babington is currently the director of football at Westfields Sports High School, where he has assisted 20 athletes to transition to professional contracts in the last three years. He has been an assistant coach with the Young Matildas since 2023. On the club side, he has served as assistant coach with Western Sydney Wanderers NYL and Macarthur Bulls NPL. Former head coach Emily Husband is now with the Matildas as an assistant coach, joining Joe Montemurro’s staff in June.
Canberra United (9-6-8, 33 points, Tied for Fifth)
This proud and independent franchise—in the Capital city which has never had a men’s A-League club in the city—has won two league titles and three Premierships in their history; they made the playoffs for the first time in four seasons after a late push in 2024/25.
Canberra United central defender and New Zealand international Elizabeth Anton (26) departed Canberra in March for Kolbotn in the Norwegian Toppserien.
New signings this season include forward Kiara De Domizio (23), who spent two seasons with Western United, scoring the goal to secure victory in their first home Elimination Final in the 2023/2024 A-League season. She had re-signed with Western but all the players were released due to their recent financial problems (see below). Last season, in the opening match with reigning champions Sydney FC, as a substitute she scored a stoppage-time winner with her very first touch of the match. In limited minutes, she recorded three goals and two assists. She should see considerably more time with the always attacking Canberra side. She also played for State League sides APIA Leichhardt and Sydney Olympic.
Canberra United brought on former Adelaide United midfielder and Japanese native Nanako Sasaki. After high school, Sasaki moved to Australia in 2017 to improve her English in order to become a flight attendant. She played in the National Premier League for Adelaide City and Adelaide Comets before signing for Adelaide United in 2021 season and made 67 appearances with four goals. Head Canberra Coach Antoni Jagarinec commented: “She is a very technical player who has experience of playing in the competition, which is an added bonus, and will fit in well with the profile of player that we currently have at the club… I am looking forward to working with Nanako this season.”
Canberra United signed American midfielder Josie Aulicino, who played this past state league season in the NLPW Victoria with Box Hill United, who won the NPLW Victoria Grand Final in 2025. She played at Northwestern University, starting every game (87) and scored 25 goals with 31 assists, with the latter a school record.
Another new American is forward Emma Hawkins, who previously played for FHL in the Icelandic Lengjudeild league and in Portugal for SF Damaniense, after time in college at the University of Central Arkansas Bears and the University of Oklahoma Sooners. She scored 24 goals in 34 games at Central Arkansas and then scored 14 goals in 38 matches at Oklahoma.
Canberra United have re-signed their two goalkeepers in Sally James and Coco Majstorovic, along with midfielder Mary Stanic-Floody and defender Hayley Taylor-Young. James played 24 matches, being in goal for all but 10 minutes of the Ninja A-League season, with Majstorovic filling in once. Stanic-Floody played in 23 games, scoring four times, including a brace against Perth. Taylor-Young played in defense in all 24 matches last season.
Western United (9-6-8, 32 points, Tied for Fifth)
Devastatingly, the club’s men’s and women’s sides licenses were suspended on September 5, with the result that the players had to scramble to find a team for the 2025/26 season. It was sad to see for a team that, in their three seasons, made the playoffs every year and the Grand Final in 2022/23. The week before, the WMG Football Club Limited, the owner and operator of Western United Football Club, was placed into liquidation by order of the Federal Court of Australia. Australian Professional Leagues, consulting with the club, the FA (Australian Football Federation), the PFA (player’s association) and Wyndham City Council, declared the club in hibernation for 2025/26, in order to give everyone involved time—particularly the players to find new clubs—the league for scheduling purposes and club to try to rebuild its financial and operational base in order to re-enter the leagues again for 2026/27 or beyond.
Their men’s side—who won the A-League title in 2021-22—was also suspended from the league. The question is, will the women’s team (or the men’s) return, given the severe financial straits the club are in, which makes it hard to acquire new funds from investors and sponsors, who will look for safer and more reliable waters? The Isuzu A-League for men will now have 12 teams this year while the Ninja A-League (women) has dropped to 11 teams. Western United does intend to continue to run its academy this year.
Stephen Conroy, APL Executive Chairman, said: “The club needs time to work through these legal and regulatory proceedings and re-establish their financial and operating position, but with the timing and outcome for both up in the air, we need to progress with our plans for season 25/26 without Western United. We see great value in the potential of Western United, and the opportunity of having an A-League club in the west of Melbourne, the fastest growing corridor in Australia.
"The club has had great success on the pitch and their academies are an important pathway for emerging young talent in the Victorian football community, but we need to do what is best for the league, our partners and our other clubs at this time. This is the best path forward for the league, and gives Western United the best opportunity to rejoin the A-Leagues and continue their work in the community. We will continue to support the club and ownership group as they work through these next steps and build towards re-entering the A-Leagues from season 2026/27, if they are successful in their winding-up appeal, meet certain obligations with the APL and satisfy FA Club Licensing Regulations.”
Conroy did have some good news: “Additionally the league has moved from a significant financial loss, to a profit in FY25, which allows us to reinvest more into our leagues and provides a platform for sustained growth over the coming seasons.” We don’t have more details at this time, but though it is a real positive, it still feels like “Fetching good out of evil” given the situation with WU.
A few days later, one of their stars—midfielder Chloe (Logarzo) Berryhill (30)—signed for Como in Italy’s Serie A Femminile, the independent franchise that we have recently profiled as their ownership group—with Melbourne Victory’s Spanish World Cup winning star Juan Mata—recently purchased Bristol City’s women’s side. She played all three seasons with Western United and also in the NWSL with the Kansas City Current, Washington Spirit, in England with Bristol City, in Norway with Avaldsnes and in Sweden at Eskilstuna United. She has eight goals in 59 caps with the Matildas and played at the 2019 WWC in France and at the 2016 Rio and 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games Finals.
2025-26 CONCACAF W Champions Cup Group Stage Results
In the second year of the CONCACAF W Champions Cup regional women’s club championship, two of the four semifinalists from last year have repeated in qualifying for the last four in May of 2026: reigning champions Gotham FC and fourth place Club America of Mexico. Again, two NWSL sides and two Liga MX Femenil sides advanced from the 10 team group stage.
In Group A, the two Mexican sides advanced as Club America (10 points) and 2024-25 Clausura (Closing tournament) champions Pachuca (7 points) advanced over the NWSL’s Orlando Pride (also with seven points), Alajuelense of Costa Rica with four points and Chorrillo of Panama with 0 points; they scored no goals and allowed 21 goals.
Orlando hosted Pachuca in the final group game but needed a win to advance, as the Pride trailed on goal difference (+10 vs. +6). Brazilian midfielder Marta scored in the 25th minute but Nigerian international Chinwendu Ihezuo (see below) tied the match for Pachuca in the 54th minute. Seb Hinds, the coach of the 2024 regular season and playoff champions Orlando, told the media after the game: “Obviously, I’m disappointed we didn’t come away with this win tonight. I felt we did enough and created enough chances. They had a few opportunities in the first half, and I think we took away those moments in the second half. We’re obviously disappointed with the goal they scored.
But it’s a good reminder for us when it’s a game like this, a must-win situation, it should lead into playoff football as well. Of course, we are disappointed to be out of this competition because it was something that we set out to qualify for at the start of the year. But it wasn't meant to be.” It probably didn’t help that the Pride played the game in front of only 1,801 fans at their 17,000 capacity Inter&Co stadium for essentially a playoff for a spot the next round, with everything at stake. Low attendance figures have been typical for this competition this year with some very low gates in the NWSL cities, including 1,710 seeing Orlando defeat Alajuelense 2-0, in Group B, 1,405 to see the Washington Spirit defeat Vancouver Rise Academy and only 858 to see Gotham defeat Monterrey 2-1 at Icahn Stadium (replacing Downing Stadium in 2005 and where Pele first played with the Cosmos in 1975) on Randalls Island in New York City, not one of the world’s most accessible or desirable spots to watch a game. Other markets had very tiny crowds, as seen in televised/video-streamed games, with few figures announced publicly outside of the U.S.
Note: Pachuca won the Campeion de Campeonas (Champions of Women’s Champions) on July 16, defeating 2024-25 Apertura (Opening tournament) champion Monterrey (1-0) in a neutral site venue at Toyota Field in San Antonio, Texas, in front of a sparse crowd that was “below expectations” according to Mexican media outlet: www.contramuro.com. Watching the game online, there seemed to be less than 1,200 fans to see two of the best women’s professional teams in North America—we still have work to do in growing the sport in America, even though it was for two Liga MX Femenil teams. On the men’s side earlier this month, over 50,000 fans saw Club America play Guadalajara Chivas in an exhibition match at State Farm Stadium (1-1), despite real fears by the Latin American community about attending public events where they could be captured in the ever more frequent Immigration Enforcement Raids by U.S. officials and ultimately face being deported. American-born Argentinian international midfielder Nina Nicosia (22) scored the only goal of the game in the 53rd minute while Pachuca’s veteran Mexican international forward Charlyn Corral (34) led the attack all game.
In Group B, the NWSL pair of Washington Spirit (who won the 2025 Challenge Cup over Orlando on penalties to open the season but qualified as runner-up for the NWSL Shield, the regular season title, in 2024) and NJ/NY Gotham FC (third in the NWSL Shield race in 2024) advanced with 10 points. D.C. won the group with a better goal differential (+15 vs. +6) as the Spirit did not allow a goal in their four matches.
Monterrey Rayadas were third on six points, Vancouver Rise (NSL) Academy was fourth with three points and Alianza of El Salvador was fifth with 0 points, as they scored no goals and allowed 25. D.C. and Gotham crucially defeated Monterrey (4-0 and 2-1, with both matches in the U.S.) to secure the NWSL teams each a semifinals berth. D.C. won the game against Monterrey (4-0) on October 15 but lost star U.S. international forward Trinity Rodman, who tangled with Monterrey and Mexican international defender Daniela Monroy (23—in her second season with Rayadas after many years with Cruz Azul in her native Mexico City), to a leg injury in the 37th minute and left the field in tears. She had just been called back in the U.S. WNT by head coach Emma Hayes for two October friendlies versus Portugal and one against New Zealand. She had missed nine NWSL games this year recovering from a back injury.
Rodman is expected to miss some NWSL playoff games but could return if D.C. makes a deep run in the postseason. The top two teams in Group B teams tied 0-0 on October 1 in Chester, Pennsylvania in front of only 1,257 people, across the river from Southern New Jersey. The NWSL sides in particular used subs liberally in some of these matches; Orlando in Group A chose to use record signing Jacqueline Ovalle of Mexico for 28 minutes as a second half sub in the crucial match against Pachuca. The Pride did not even take her on the long road trip to Panama to face Chorrillo (a 5-0 win for the Pride) on September 16.
In the group stage, the two top scorers were both from Africa, as Nigerian international Chinwendu Ihezuo (28) of Pachuca had five goals and Ivory Coast international Rosemonde Kouassi (23) of D.C. had four. Ihezuo played previously at home, in Kazakhstan and China, while Kouassi played in Israel and France. Next with three goals are four players across three teams: Spanish international Irene Guerrero (28) is in her second season with Club America after one season with Manchester United and she won the 2023 WWC with Spain in Australia/New Zealand.
Also with CA of Mexico City is American-born Mexican international Kiana Palacios. She played in the U.S. and in Spain with Real Sociedad before joining America for the 2021-22 season. Alice Soto (19) joined Monterrey this season from Pachuca and has scored four goals in 13 2024-25 Apertura matches; she has played for Mexico at youth and the senior level. Summer Yates (25) of the Orlando Pride has played for the U.S. at multiple youth international levels; she joined the Pride in 2023 after a career at the University of Washington.
The semifinals, third place match and championship final will be held at a yet to be determined central location, likely in the U.S. as it was held in Monterrey last year. If D.C. were selected to host the finals, they would likely have 20,000 for the games at Audi Field, home also of D.C. United of MLS. The champions will qualify for the 2027 FIFA Women’s Champions Cup and 2028 FIFA Women’s Club World Cup. The match-ups have been determined as follows:
Semifinal 1: Club America Femenil (MEX) vs NJ/NY Gotham FC (USA)
Semifinal 2: Washington Spirit (USA) vs CF Pachuca Femenil (MEX)
TribalFootball.com will keep readers updated next year for the second year of this important regional tournament, as we did last year.
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