May 2025 – Women's Soccer Express

NWSL: 2025 USA TV/Streaming Schedule — Week 9, with Referee Assignments

Week Nine of the National Women’s Super League’s 2025 season was to have four matches on Friday night and three on Saturday, but due to severe weather concerns in the Louisville, Kentucky, area, the match between #9 Racing Louisville and the #8 Seattle Reign has been rescheduled for sometime on Saturday.

Still scheduled to kick-off shortly after high noon, Auckland time, is one of the most anticipated matches of the opening half of the 2025 season: At 8:00 p.m. EDT, the defending NWSL champions, Orlando Pride, hosts the current #1 team, the Kansas City Current.

Also kicking off on Friday are two matches featuring the NWSL’s representatives in next week’s Concacaf W Champions Cup semifinals. At 7:30 p.m. EDT, #7 Gotham FC takes on the #4 San Diego Wave. Then, at 8:00 p.m. EDT, the #6 Portland Thorns are the guests of the #10 Houston Dash. Both of those matches can be streamed for free on NWSL+. (The semifinals of the Concacaf W Champions Cup will be played on Wednesday, May 21, at 7:30 p.m. EDT and 10:00 p.m. EDT. Both matches can be streamed live via Paramount+.)

On Saturday, the #11 North Carolina Courage welcome the last-place Chicago Stars at 5:00 p.m. EDT (NWSL+).

Saturday night’s ION doubleheader begins with the #3 Washington Spirit hosting the #13 Utah Royals (7:30 p.m. EDT) and closes with #12 Bay FC facing #5 Angel City.

There are no matches (currently) scheduled for Sunday.

FIFA WWC: The 2031 FIFA Women’s World Cup will have 48 teams

On Friday, May 9, FIFA announced that the 2031 Women’s World Cup — which will most likely be hosted by the United States of America, plus other Concacaf nations — will have a field of 48 teams. That is an increase of 50% compared to its present size of 32. The decision was made by the FIFA Council (fifa.com).

The idea of expanding the Women’s World Cup to 32 teams had been discussed seriously by those within the FIFA Council since at least September 2024.

As to what a 48-team Women’s World Cup would look like, see this article from September 2024. That article includes a section on the potential field of teams as well as the potential pots for the draw that would determine the groups.

FIFA press release: “FIFA Council takes landmark decisions on the future of the FIFA Women’s World Cup™ and on the fight against racism” (9-May-2025)

U.S. Soccer press release: “U.S. Soccer and Concacaf Partners to co-host 2031 FIFA Women’s World Cup” (3-Apr-2025)

NWSL: 2025 USA TV/Streaming Schedule — Week 8, with Referee Assignments

Week Eight of the National Women’s Super League’s 2025 season begins Friday night on Prime Video with #11 Racing Louisville hosting #4 Gotham FC. Then, at 10:00 p.m. EDT, #8 Angel City will take on the #13 Utah Royals (NWSL+ and others).

On Saturday, the first match of the day will see #5 Washington Spirit playing the last-place Chicago Stars in a nationally televised match on ABC at 12:50 p.m. EDT.

Saturday night’s ION doubleheader should be must-see-TV. The earlier match features the North Carolina Courage, who are on a two-match win streak, taking on the Orlando Pride, who have lost two straight matches. The doubleheader closes with the marquee match of the week: The #3 San Diego Wave hosts the #5 Portland Thorns. A victory for the Wave could see them at the top of the table, if the Pride lose their match.

Sunday also begins with a nationally televised match: The Kansas City Current, who are still at the top of the table despite losing their last two matches, will attempt to right their proverbial ship against Bay FC on ESPN at high noon, local time (1:00 p.m. EDT).

The final match of the weekend will see the #7 Seattle Reign host the #12 Houston Dash.

NWSL: 2025 USA TV/Streaming Schedule — Week 7, with Referee Assignments

(Updated, 3-May-25) The website for the Professional Referee Organization (PRO) is now back online (direct link to Week 7 assignments). Previously, PRO’s website had been offline since at least Wednesday (April 30).

screenshot of PROreferees.com as it was on 30-Apr-2025 and 1-May-2025

Week Seven of the National Women’s Soccer League’s 2025 regular season is front-loaded with three matches on Friday night, with two of those matches starting at 8:00 p.m. EDT. This week’s Prime Video features the #3 Washington Spirit hosting #9 Angel City (8:00 p.m. EDT). Simultaneous with that match is a battle between the #10 Houston Dash and the #12 Racing Louisville (NWSL+). At 10:30 p.m. EDT, the Kansas City Current, fresh off their shock loss to the North Carolina Courage, face the Seattle Reign (NWSL+).

On Saturday, the only action of the day is the ION doubleheader. At 7:30 p.m. EDT is the weekend’s marquee match-up between the (essentially) tied-for-first Orlando Pride and the #6 Portland Thorns. Then, at 10:00 p.m., the #13 Utah Royals welcome the #11 North Carolina Courage

Sunday opens with #4 Gotham FC hosting the last-place Chicago Stars (1:00 p.m. EDT on CBS), who are now without a permanent head coach after the questionable firing of Lorne Donaldson on Wednesday (Stars press release).

The weekend wraps up on Sunday night with a resurgent San Diego Wave hosting Bay FC (8:00 p.m. EDT, NWSL+).