It's Monday and the 2026 NWSL regular season is well underway, which means 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 from across Matchday 7 to come up with this week's order of all 16 teams in the league. Let's dive in.
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1. San Diego Wave FC
Previous ranking: 3
Next match: vs. Washington Spirit, May 15, 10 p.m. ET
The Wave beat their SoCal rivals Angel City 2-1, but it's hard to say who had the best performance on the Wave after this match. On one side of the pitch, goalkeeper DiDi Haracic came up huge time and time again to keep her team in the match. On the other hand, Brazilian star Dudinha generated in the attack consistently. She notched a goal and contributed a perfectly weighted cross into the head of Mimi Van Zanten for the go-ahead goal. San Diego has officially righted the ship after two straight losses.
Watch the Game Highlights from Angel City FC vs. San Diego Wave FC, 05/10/2026
2. Washington Spirit
Previous ranking: 2
Next match: at San Diego Wave, May 15, 10 p.m. ET
The Spirit defeated the Seattle Reign at Lumen Field 1-0 in the last match of the weekend. Despite coming out of this match with all three points, the Spirit weren't exactly the better side. Washington struggled with Seattle's press and as a result, barely managed to generate much in the attack. The Spirit conceded the majority of the attacking momentum to Seattle until roughly the final 10 minutes, when Claudia Martínez slotted the go-ahead goal past Reign goalkeeper Claudia Dickey. The Spirit now hold the longest winning streak of all teams with five matches and have not lost since their season opener.
3. Portland Thorns
Previous ranking: 1
Next match: vs. Angel City FC, May 17, 6 p.m. ET on ESPN2
Portland lost its second match of the season, 3-1 to Racing Louisville on the road. Though the Thorns got on the board first thanks to a Sophia Wilson goal off of an Olivia Moultrie assist, their defense did them in. The Thorns were disorganized and -- at times -- downright awful in their defensive third. While Portland is likely to have no trouble in the goal-scoring department this season, considering it is leading the league in goals already, it'll want to shore up its backline to be consistent competitors.
4. NJ/NY Gotham FC
Previous ranking: 4
Next match: at Seattle Reign, May 15, 10 p.m. ET
Gotham drew the Boston Legacy at home 1-1, thanks to a Jaedyn Shaw goal that was her second in as many matches. NJ/NY went with a defend-in-possession game plan that Boston had few answers for, as Gotham notched 60% of the possession in this match. This approach has clearly been working, because Gotham had held their opponents scoreless in six of their nine games to open the year. Despite conceding a goal to Boston, they still limited the Legacy to only 21 passes in the final third and two passes into their 18-yard box.
Watch the Game Highlights from NJ/NY Gotham FC vs. Boston Legacy FC, 05/10/2026
5. Utah Royals
Previous ranking: 5
Next match: vs. Racing Louisville, May 17, 8 p.m. ET
The Royals extended their unbeaten streak to seven after a scoreless draw with Bay FC. This is the very first time Utah has been kept off the board so far this year, and that's because Bay FC's goalkeeping was outstanding. The Royals managed breakaway after breakaway, and even clocked 61 passes into the final third in this match. Still, they had nothing to show for it. Sometimes soccer is cruel.
6. Seattle Reign FC
Previous ranking: 7
Next match: vs. NJ/NY Gotham FC, May 15, 10 p.m. ET
Seattle dropped all three points against the Spirit after losing 1-0 at home, yet still bumped up a spot in the rankings. This was a true heartbreaker of a result for the Reign, who were the better side for more than 80 minutes of this match. That is the fifth time Seattle has been held scoreless and the fourth straight match that it failed to get on the board this season. Is it time to start questioning what the attacking game plan is in Seattle?
7. Bay FC
Previous ranking: 8
Next match: vs. Boston Legacy, May 15, 10 p.m. ET
Bay FC recorded the first 0-0 draw in their history after their Sunday night match with the Utah Royals. Similar to last week, goalkeeper Jordan Silkowitz was the hero in this game. Silkowitz's performance was undoubtedly the difference in this match, because the Bay midfield could not handle Utah on the counterattack nor in transition.
8. Denver Summit FC
Previous ranking: 13
Next match: vs. Orlando Pride, May 16, 8:45 p.m. ET
Denver snapped its four-game winless streak after an emphatic 4-1 win against the Dash in Houston. As the scoreline suggests, Denver was dominant. Its press was organized and difficult for Houston to break down, and Houston had no answers for the Summit's attacking game plan. Case in point: Denver strung together the longest passing sequence to a goal so far this season on the way to Delanie Sheehan's score, according to Opta. This was the Summit's third-straight multi-goal match, too, which is helping them up the rankings in Week 7.
9. Angel City FC
Previous ranking: 9
Next match: at Portland Thorns, May 17, 6 p.m. ET on ESPN2
Angel City registered their fourth-straight loss over the weekend, falling to the Wave 2-1. The scoreline doesn't quite capture the whole story in this match, though. It was a true back-and-forth affair, with Emily Sams' first goal as an Angel coming just five minutes after the Wave struck to pull her side level. Plus, Wave goalkeeper Haracic, did so well to keep Angel City from scoring more. To make this sting even more, this was the first time Angel City had lost to San Diego in their last eight matchups (four wins and four draws).
10. Orlando Pride
Previous ranking: 10
Next match: at Boston Legacy FC, May 12, 7 p.m. ET
The Pride eked out a 1-0 win against the North Carolina Courage thanks to Barbra Banda's heroics. She scored in the 87th minute after a brilliant individual effort, cutting in from the flank, beating her defender, and then slotting the ball past North Carolina's goalkeeper Kailen Sheridan. That's Banda's league-leading eighth goal of the season. She's also scored Orlando's last five goals. To put it simply, Banda is inevitable. Plus, a shutout is a welcome sight for Orlando after conceding seven goals in its previous two outings.
11. Kansas City Current
Previous ranking: 12
Next match: vs. Houston Dash, May 15, 8 p.m. ET
KC is continuing their upward trajectory thanks to a 3-0 win against the Chicago Stars. The Current's Temwa Chawinga notched all three goals in this one, registering the first hat trick in team history and doing so in under 30 minutes. While this is no doubt an impressive result, it's worth mentioning that Chicago has not been the most formidable opponent. Can the Current contend with the league's heavy hitters, too? Time will tell.
Watch the Game Highlights from Kansas City Current vs. Chicago Stars, 05/10/2026
12. Houston Dash
Previous ranking: 6
Next match: at Kansas City Current, May 15, 8 p.m. ET
The Dash are having a bit of a rough go as of late. They lost 4-1 to newcomers Summit at home, extending their winless streak to four and losing back-to-back games. The one goal they've scored in that four-game stretch -- which came just before the break against Denver -- was from the spot. Plus, the Dash only managed a measly 0.15 expected goals in open play against the Summit. Is it time to worry about Houston's offense?
13. Racing Louisville FC
Previous ranking: 15
Next match: at Utah Royals, May 17, 8 p.m. ET
Racing bumped up a spot in the rankings this week after a 3-1 victory at home against the Thorns, who were sitting at the top of the rankings heading into this match. Louisville's Katie O'Kane was undoubtedly the MVP, nailing a free kick into the side netting in the 71st for her second goal of the night and the eventual match-winner. The wild thing about this win was that after dominating the Thorns in the middle of the park for the first hour of the match, Racing deployed midfielder Emma Sears off the bench. And then Sears scored in stoppage time to seal the deal for Louisville.
14. Boston Legacy FC
Previous ranking: 14
Next match: vs. Orlando Pride, May 12, 7 p.m. ET
Coming off their first win in team history, the Legacy extended their unbeaten streak to three after drawing Gotham 1-1. Their incessant pressing was the storyline in this match: Bárbara Olivieri's equalizer was the result of Boston winning the ball back in Gotham's defensive third just three minutes after conceding the opening goal of the match. Though Boston is in last place in the standings, it is underperforming their expected goal difference by a large margin. That means the Legacy's underlying numbers suggest they may be a bit better than their record lets on. Plus, they're now unbeaten in their last three matches.
15. North Carolina Courage
Previous ranking: 11
Next match: vs. Chicago Stars, May 16, 6:30 p.m. ET
The Courage fell 1-0 to the Pride after conceding a goal late in the game. It may have been worse if not for goalkeeper Sheridan's performance. This was another game where North Carolina won the possession battle and left points on the table. The Courage did have more of the attacking momentum in the second half, though, before they conceded to Orlando just before the 90th-minute mark, that is. The Courage are now winless in their last three, which contributes to their slide down the rankings this week.
16. Chicago Stars FC
Previous ranking: 16
Next match: at North Carolina Courage, May 16, 6:30 p.m. ET
Chicago finds itself in the cellar of this week's rankings -- again -- after a 3-0 trampling at the hands of Kansas City on the road. This is the Stars' third-straight loss, bringing their record to 2-0-7. To make matters worse, all seven of those losses have been shutouts and this team has only managed to find the back of the net four times this season. They also have the worst goal differential in the league by a landslide. How can a team win matches if they never score goals?