NWSL Playoffs: Washington Spirit and Gotham FC reach 2025 Championship final | OneFootball

Only two teams are left standing in this year’s NWSL Playoffs following the semi-final action. Washington Spirit and Gotham FC, who have both won the NWSL Championship before, will lock horns in this year’s grand final.

The Spirit, who lifted the trophy in 2021, beat three-time winners Portland Thorns in their semi-final, while Gotham saw off defending champions Orlando Pride.

Here’s how the semi-final results unfolded and how you can watch the NWSL Championship final live.

#2 Washington Spirit vs #3 Portland Thorns

Washington Spirit win 2-0

A battle between two of the last four champions, and the first of the NWSL semi-finals, was a statement for the home team.

Washington was in control of this match throughout, and they struck first in the 27th minute. A Portland corner was smartly headed out of the box by the Spirit defense, and Rosemonde Kouassi was off to the races. Streaking past the Thorn backline, she was all alone in front of Mackenzie Arnold, yet wisely chose to pass to the wide-open Gift Monday. The Nigerian international calmly put the ball in the back of the net for a 1-0 Spirit lead. Washington continued to apply pressure for the rest of the half, and only Arnold’s heroics kept the score at 1-0.

The Spirit came out of the locker room buzzing in the second half and had several chances to add to their lead. Arnold stopped two huge chances in the 56th and 57th minutes. Sofia Cantore rattled the woodwork with a blistering shot in the 69th minute, and in the 83rd, Washington got the break they needed.

Sam Hiatt’s back pass to Arnold at the half line was weak, and the keeper was left in no-man’s land. Spirit’s Croix Bethune beat the Thorn’s net-minder to the ball. The striker was then able to walk all the way in to score the easy insurance goal. Portland never threatened again, and the Spirit head to their second straight championship. Will they be able to change the result from last season’s final?

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#4 Orlando Pride vs #8 Gotham FC

Gotham FC win 1-0

The second of the NWSL semi-finals was just as exciting as the first, and this one went right to the death. The two sides played even football throughout, though Orlando mounted serious pressure during the second half.

For 90 minutes, the match was a defensive grind that produced just a single shot on target: an early attempt from Orlando’s Lizbeth Ovalle that Gotham keeper Ann-Katrin Berger got a leg to. With both Berger and Orlando’s Anna Moorhouse otherwise untested, the stalemate seemed destined for extra time.

Shaw seals it late for Gotham

However, Jaedyn Shaw’s late heroics put Gotham through late in injury time. Six minutes were added on, and the two sides held off. Then, in the dying moments, Gotham’s Rose Lavelle drew a free-kick just outside the Orlando box. Lavelle and Shaw stood on either side of the ball, and Shaw fired a low, curving shot to the far corner. The ball went just over the players in the box, who seemed to screen Moorhouse’s view. The ball nestled into the bottom corner for a 1-0 Gotham lead with just seconds left.

Orlando nearly tied it with a free-kick of their own in the 100th minute. Marta delivered a perfect ball into the box just in front of goal. Pride defender Oihane Hernandez got her head on it, sending it for the top corner. But Berger rose up high to tip it away, and Gotham now heads to a second final in three years.

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When is the NWSL Championship final?

The NWSL Playoffs conclude on Saturday, November 22nd, at 8:00 p.m. ET (1:00 a.m. GMT, November 23rd).

The final will air live on CBS for viewers in the US, and on TNT Sports for those in the UK. Fans in territories without a dedicated broadcaster can stream the action live and for free on NWSL+.

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