Six consecutive WSL titles. Then a 5-1 thrashing by Manchester City in February, a sporting director fired, and a summer that looks nothing like the ones that came before. Chelsea's era of dominance didn't fade — it collapsed.
Manchester City are the new WSL champions. Chelsea finished third, which means they're not even guaranteed a Champions League spot next season. Millie Bright retired. Sam Kerr played her final match. Guro Reiten left for Gotham. Catarina Macario was sold to San Diego. The squad that ruled English women's football for half a decade has been dismantled faster than anyone anticipated.
Lauren James, Alyssa Thompson, and Veerle Buurman give Chelsea something to build on — but this summer requires serious investment and serious clarity about who's running things after Paul Green's departure. Without it, third place starts to look less like a stumble and more like a trend.
Three players knocking on Emma Hayes' door
While Chelsea sorts itself out, the USWNT picture is shifting too. Injuries to Olivia Moultrie, Naomi Girma, Rose Lavelle, and now Sam Coffey — who underwent minor knee surgery and will miss the Brazil trip entirely — have opened the door for players who've been waiting on the outside.
Ashley Sanchez is the most compelling case. The North Carolina Courage midfielder is second in the NWSL Golden Boot race with six goals in nine matches, and she added a goal and an assist in a 4-0 win over Chicago on the weekend. She hasn't been called up since October 2024. At this rate, it gets harder to justify leaving her out.
Croix Bethune is finding her footing too. Back in her natural role as an attack-minded tempo-setter for Kansas City Current, she has two goals and two assists despite the Current's rocky start. And Gotham FC rookie Jordynn Dudley — 21 years old, one goal, two assists — is doing the unglamorous stuff that makes a championship team tick. Hayes has shown she values that.
- Ashley Sanchez (NC Courage): 6 goals, 9 matches — second in Golden Boot race, last capped October 2024
- Croix Bethune (KC Current): 2 goals, 2 assists, thriving back in her natural midfield role
- Jordynn Dudley (Gotham FC): Regular for the reigning NWSL champions, established in the U-23s, ready for the next step
Catarina Macario remains a wildcard. Still rehabbing at San Diego Wave, still uncapped in this cycle, still holding the kind of profile that makes her Brazil return — playing against Brazil, in Brazil — almost too cinematic to ignore. Hayes will have to decide whether she's fit enough to make the trip worth it.
Swanson is back, and Chicago needs every goal she can give
Mallory Swanson returned for the Chicago Stars on Saturday, coming off the bench for the final 20 minutes of a loss to North Carolina. She last played in November 2024. The Stars are bottom of the table — six points from ten games, four goals scored, twenty-two conceded.
She is one of 28 mothers currently on active NWSL rosters, which is a statistic worth sitting with. The league has changed. The culture has changed. And now the Stars just need her to score, because no one else is doing it.
Elsewhere: Gotham FC are in talks to move into NYCFC's new Etihad Park in Queens from 2028, trading suburban New Jersey for subway access. Smart move for a club that has won back-to-back NWSL titles but still can't fill its current ground consistently. And in Germany, Alexandra Popp ended her 14-year Wolfsburg career by cracking open a cold beer on the sideline seconds after being substituted off. Three Champions League titles, seven Frauen-Bundesliga crowns. She has earned the drink.
