Arianna Cascone Sep 7, 2026, 10:59 AM ET It's Monday, and with another weekend of 2026 NWSL regular season in the books, it's time for ESPN's Power Rankings. Who's set for a climb up the table? Who's in danger of a free fall? Our writers studied the action across Matchday 20 to come up with this week's order of all 16 teams in the league. Let's dive in. 1.

Washington Spirit Previous ranking: 5 Next match: vs. Boston Legacy, Sunday, 1 p.m. ET (stream live on ESPN) The Spirit beat Portland 2-1 at Providence Park. Despite struggling for long stretches of this one -- and being held to just two shots and 0.10 expected goals (x G) in the first frame -- Washington managed to put the game away in the second half. A 59th-minute Tara Rudd penalty evened the score before Melissa Bethi's first ever goal off a perfect Trinity Rodman ball put the Spirit on top.

With this win and league leader Gotham's loss, they're quietly closing the gap at the top of the table. And thanks to every other team above them in the rankings losing this week, they're catapulted to top spot. 2. NJ/NY Gotham FC Previous ranking: 1 Next match: at Racing Louisville, Friday, 6:30 p.m. ET (NWSL+) Gotham fell 3-0 to Denver on the road.

They struggled to find their footing in this match, only managing 0.59 x G in the run of play and nine shots in this match. Their lack of offensive production is less surprising than the three-goal concession though, considering they headed into this match with an NWSL-low seven goals conceded in ten games on the road and 13 clean sheets. Despite being winless in three, this team still tops the standings, so they can't fall too far in the rankings this week. 3.

San Diego Wave FC Previous ranking: 2 Next match: vs. North Carolina Courage, Saturday, 6:30 p.m. ET (ION) The Wave fell to Seattle 1-0 on the road. Mimi van Zanten was sent off with a red card in the 13th minute, San Diego was forced to play with 10. Still, they put up an impressive fight, holding the Reign to only four shots on target and essentially steamrolled the home side in the second half but couldn't find the back of the net.

With their three-game unbeaten streak snapped, the Wave are now in fifth place, but tied on points with North Carolina and Utah. 4. Utah Royals Previous ranking: 3 Next match: at Houston Dash, Saturday, 8:45 p.m. ET (ION) The Royals fell 2-1 at home to Boston. Kiana Palacios' fourth goal of the season -- set up by Mandy Mc Glynn's second assist of the year -- pulled the Royals level after an early concession, but they couldn't close out the game.

Utah ultimately conceded in the closing minutes of the match to drop points. It's the eight straight game in which Utah have conceded, and the fourth straight time they've lost immediately following a win. With a table as tight as this season's, that kind of consistency is not exactly what teams should be going for. 5.

Seattle Reign FC Previous ranking: 6 Next match: vs. Bay FC, Saturday, 8 p.m. ET (NWSL+) Seattle beat San Diego by a 1-0 scoreline at home. Although the Reign captured all three points, they didn't exactly outplay the Wave, who played down a player for 80-plus minutes of the match. Case in point: Seattle only managed 0.04 x G on a single shot while taking one shot in the box in the second half of this game.

Good thing Maddie Mercado's eighth goal of the season -- which came in the first half -- was enough to secure Seattle all three points and land them just above the playoff line. 6. Portland Thorns Previous ranking: 4 Next match: vs. Chicago Stars, Sunday, 7 p.m. ET (Roku) The Thorns lost to Washington by a 2-1 scoreline. A Sophia Wilson penalty put Portland on the board for the second straight game, but two second-half concessions saw the hosts drop all three points.

The Thorns conceded the eventual game winner in the 80th minute, which is the 10th time they've been scored on in the last 15 minutes of the game this season. Portland's lackluster defending did them in ... again ... only this time it cost them the...