NWSL Power Rankings: San Diego Wave make a splash; Orlando Pride still the favorites
The 2025 NWSL regular season is officially ringing in the quarter mark of the campaign. Six weeks have gone by, and that means my power rankings might need some resets. There's been plenty of chatter around club rivalries and their emphasis on a regional basis, but week six offered reminders that sometimes rivalry is born out of chaos.
Top teams chasing the shield reintroduced themselves to each other, there were multi-goal games with unexpected results, and lower-seeded teams stole points off each other with no real answers for the long run. The performances were notable, and at this point of the season, wins don't always mean an automatic bump in my rankings, but if you're keeping score, NWSL week five rankings had a similar vibe.
Gotham FC and Portland Thorns had two matches squeezed into week six, one midweek against each other and one across the weekend. They both had mixed results, but still impressive enough to make jumps among other teams. For the first time this season, 13 out of 14 clubs had movement across the power rankings, and it's a testament to just how unpredictable this is every week.
Week seven will be here in flash, so don't miss any action. Fans can watch select NWSL regular season matches across CBS, CBS Sports Network, Paramount+, and CBS Sports Golazo Network.
Now, time for our rankings:
2025 NWSL Power Rankings| Rank | Team | Change | Analysis |
|---|---|---|---|
1. | Orlando Pride | +2 | Last week I said they needed to be more clinical in front of goal and Barbra Banda and Marta responded by getting on the scoresheet. That's great for the Pride and bad news for everyone else in the league. |
2. | Kansas City Current | -1 | Got pranked on the road against the only winless team in the league. Still elite, but now the Midwest club has to manage a lingering injury for Temwa Chawinga, alongside Michelle Cooper, moving forward. |
3. | Gotham FC | +1 | Sometimes it's not about how you start, it's about how you finish. Other times, you have Esther Gonzalez on your team, and she's scoring at a rate where the circumstances don't matter because she's a goal-producing machine right now. |
4. | Washington Spirit | -2 | The Spirit got humbled quickly when they conceded in the third minute. Wheels may have kept falling off, but the silver lining is that Croix Bethune made her 2025 return from a meniscus injury. |
5. | San Diego Wave FC | +2 | San Diego has built itself up for an extended run this season thanks to its international signings. Each week, Cascarino, Dali, and Corely are challenging the opposition, and the Wave stay climbing the rankings because of it. |
6. | Seattle Reign FC | -1 | This group is doing enough to get results, but not quite producing performances that are blowing away the league. It'll keep them in playoff contention, but when it comes to power? Not quite. |
7. | Bay FC | +1 | Rachael Kundinanji finally scored this season, and it was a key moment at home. The Bay Area side have done a good job of making PayPal Park a difficult place to play, now they need to sustain being a difficult opponent to face. |
8. | Portland Thorns FC | +3 | A massive week for the Thorns with different kinds of statements in their two games out of week six. They'll keep relying on first-year Thorns, and Caiya Hanks has entered the chat for big rookie performances. |
9. | Angel City FC | -3 | The pendulum of power has taken a massive swing in the opposite direction for Angel City. The young squad has looked lost in major momentum shifts during games against heavyweight contenders, and the coaching staff needs to help solve that. |
10. | North Carolina Courage | -- | Is it really smash and grab if it's on home turf? Not in my opinion. North Carolina won a substitution battle, and it was enough to deliver a massive upset, and not drop them in my rankings. Need to see more to move up. |
11. | Houston Dash | -3 | The biggest winner on the Dash this week is Delanie Sheehan. We're at the point of the season where if you're a lower-seeded team getting a skin-off-your-teeth win against another struggling club, is that really powerful? |
12. | Racing Louisville FC | +2 | Showing signs of life, but will it be enough? Getting Savannah DeMelo producing in front of the goal again could be the catalyst they needed. |
13. | Utah Royals | -1 | Treading deep waters and might stay there. Had most of the momentum to steal a game on the road in Houston, but just couldn't score when it counted. |
14. | Chicago Stars FC | -1 | Jameese Joseph remains a bright spot, but Chicago got drowned by the Wave at home this week and are firmly back in the bad times camp. |
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