As the game has evolved, the American game has been forced to evolve, too, leading to a wild 2024 offseason
The world of women's soccer is shifting. You have to admit it now. For years, the United States was the epicenter of the women's game. Now, things are a bit more tenuous and certainly more contested than ever before.
If you weren't willing to admit that before the U.S. women's national team's World Cup failure, you had to after. We'd seen the USWNT fail before, of course, but never quite like that. And they never fell short against such a talented field, a World Cup full of national teams capable of being considered the best at any given time.
But the world of women's soccer is more than just the USWNT, World Cups or even the international game. A similar shift has been occurring on the club level for some time, too. While the NWSL was thriving in the U.S., clubs across Europe started to spend and spend, assembling superteams that can go against any in the world. Some of the world's best clubs now play in Spain, France, Germany and England, with many of the game's top stars flocking to those countries to compete at a high level.
For years, the NWSL felt like it operated in its own little bubble. It never quite felt like part of the global game. Part of that was because there were no opportunities to see NWSL teams face, say, Barcelona. The other is because we hadn't really ever seen NWSL clubs relentlessly pursue talent from outside American shores.
That's all changed. Ahead of the 2024 NWSL season, it feels like a new era is beginning in the NWSL. The league is bigger than ever before, not just domestically, but internationally. The league feels like it is now playing in a bigger world, with record-breaking transfer fees and major signings sending a clear message: the NWSL is ready to fight back against the rising tide elsewhere.
The NWSL is no longer operating within its own bubble. Instead, the league is showing why America remains the hub of all things women's soccer, no matter the level.
GettyA relatively-isolated league
For years, American soccer struggled to maintain a healthy women's league. Several rose and fell over the years. Upon its formation in 2013, the NWSL built itself on the backs of USWNT stars, and rightfully so.
Many of the game's all-time greats have helped the league's rise. Players like Abby Wambach, Carli Lloyd, Megan Rapinoe and Alex Morgan were huge in those early years. The NWSL was largely built around those making waves with the national team, which made all the sense in the world for a young league looking to stay afloat.
Several Americans went abroad at points, whether for loans or permanent moves but, by and large, the league looked to keep the best USWNT in house. Several big international players came in but, by and large, the big money was spent on players familiar to the American public.
In the league's 10-year history, just 15 of its Best-XI selections have come from a country outside of North America. And, of those 15, five were Wales' Jeff Fishlock and three were Australian star Sam Kerr. That's not much representation any way you look at it.
While the NWSL was building, though, so too were leagues in Europe.
AdvertisementGettyRise of Europe's elite
For years, there were several notable teams in Europe taking the women's game seriously. Lyon springs to mind. So does Wolfsburg. In recent years, though, that game has exploded in Europe as several major clubs have gone all out on the women's side.
The European game has risen to new heights in recent years, led by stars from all over the continent. Norway's Ada Hegerburg won the first women's Ballon d'Or award back in 2018, beating out Pernille Harder and Dasenifer Marozsan. The year after Megan Rapinoe triumphed with Alex Morgan third due to the USWNT's World Cup run. Ever since, though, Europe has dominated award season with many of the world's best playing throughout UEFA.
Alexia Putellas has become one of the best players in the world, winning two Ballons d'Or. In 2023, her Spanish teammate Aitana Bonmati lifted the award. Spanish soccer has grown massively in recent years, headlined by Barcelona's big-spending to build a superteam. Currently, the club features many of the Spanish stars that lifted the World Cup in 2023, in addition to Norwegian star Caroline Graham Hansen, England regulars Lucy Bronze and Keira Walsh and Swedish ace Fridolina Rolfo.
Barca aren't the only team spending, though, English clubs like Chelsea, Manchester City, Arsenal and Manchester United have continued to throw money around as the WSL has risen in stature. The women's game was once an afterthought in England but, spurred on by the heroics of the Lionesses, the game is beginning to explode in that part of the world. France, too, remains at the very top, with Lyon and PSG leading the charge.
An arms race has begun as these major clubs have fought to acquire talent. Chelsea smashed the transfer record in 2020 to sign Pernille Harder, with Barcelona nearly doubling it two years later to sign Keira Walsh from Manchester City. This winter, Mayra Rodriguez joined Chelsea from Levante to re-break the record at £426,00. That record didn't last long, though, before the NWSL's newest clubs came out swinging.
GettyHuge transfer fees
Bay FC has not yet played a game in the NWSL. They're the league's newest team, an expansion side building from scratch. Ahead of their debut season, though, they took a major swing and smashed a world record.
The club destroyed the mark set by Chelsea when they signed Mayra Ramirez from Levante earlier in 2024, paying a colossal $787,600 fee to snap up Racheal Kundananji. The Zambian international emerged as a serious prospect with Madrid CFF, scoring 25 goals in 29 appearances. At 23, she's one of the game's rising stars, and a player that Bay FC deemed worthy of investing in in a big way.
The deal more than doubled the record set last season, when Angel City splashed the cash to sign Scarlett Camberos from Club America. It also wasn't the last massive move made this winter.
With Kundananji holding down the top spot as the most expensive transfer the womens' game has seen, Orlando Pride went out and paid out the second-largest to sign Kundananji's Zambia teammate Barbra Banda. That move cost around $740,000, another colossal deal for the women's game.
When you add in Bay FC's move for Asisat Oshoala (the 28th biggest) and the Portland Thorns' signing of Jessie Flemming (11th), the NWSL has paid out four of the top 50 transfer fees of all time just this winter.
“The importance of the transfer fee, to me, is less about the actual number because right now we’re in what is a developing market for player talent,” NWSL commissioner Jessica Berman told . “There is not a methodology to determine whether, did they pay too much, did they pay too little? What are the benchmarks like? There are so few examples to cite at this point that I think we are in the process of establishing the market.
“What I hope comes out of it in the next five years is that there actually is an established market, which if economic theory works the way it should work, investors will realize that investing in player talent is actually in of itself, a potential revenue source.”
GettyA major influx
It's not just the transfer fees, though. The last year or so has seen an major influx of talent into the NWSL.
Bay FC have filled out their squad with familiar faces from abroad, signing former Arsenal star Jen Beattie and ex-Manchester City and Atletico Madrid forward Deyna Castellanos. Longtime Chelsea midfielder Ji So-yun has joined up with the Seattle Reign.
The best homegrown talent has also been assembled, too. Gotham FC have built a USWNT superteam by signing Rose Lavelle, Tierna Davidson, Crystal Dunn and Emily Sonnett after winning the league last year. Angel City have continued to build by signing Gisele Thompson, younger sister of USWNT star Alyssa.
On the coaching front, meanwhile, the league continues to attract some of the best minds the game has to offer. Vlatko Andonovski is back in charge of the Kansas City Current after his stint with the USWNT. Laura Harvey remains on with Seattle Reign after reportedly drawing interest from the USWNT herself. Gotham's Juan Carlos Amoros is back for another season, while Casey Stoney turned down a chance to take over Chelsea in favor of staying on with the San Diego Wave.
"This is just the beginning," Stoney said, "and I am fully committed to building and developing this team. I am proud to be a part of this club, in this city, and I will continue to give everything I have to bring even more success to this incredible community. LFG San Diego.”
And then there's Emma Hayes, who has decided to leave one of the world's top club jobs at Chelsea to join up with the USMNT. The best coaches in the world are coming to the U.S., and that means the quality at the top level will continue to rise.