The NWSL Shield is an annual award given to the

National Women's Soccer League The National Women's Soccer League (NWSL) is a women's professional Association football, soccer league and the highest level of the United States soccer league system#Women's leagues, United States soccer league system (alongside the USL Supe ...

(NWSL) team with the best

regular season In an organized sports league, a typical season is the portion of one year in which regulated games of the sport are in session: for example, in Major League Baseball the season lasts approximately from the last week of March to the last week of S ...

record as determined by the NWSL points system. The NWSL Shield has been awarded annually since 2013 and is recognized as a major trophy by the league. The

North Carolina Courage The North Carolina Courage are an American professional Association football, soccer team based in Cary, North Carolina, that competes in the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL). It was founded on January 9, 2017, after Stephen Malik acqui ...

and Seattle Reign FC, each with three NWSL Shields since the league's inception in 2013, are tied as of 2023 for the most shields won by any NWSL team. The

Orlando Pride The Orlando Pride are an American professional Association football, soccer team based in Orlando, Florida, that competes in the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL). The Pride began play in the 2016 National Women's Soccer League season, 2016 ...

are the current (

2024 The year saw the list of ongoing armed conflicts, continuation of major armed conflicts, including the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the Myanmar civil war (2021–present), Myanmar civil war, the Sudanese civil war (2023–present), Sudane ...

) winners. In 2024,

CONCACAF The Confederation of North, Central America and Caribbean Association Football, abbreviated as CONCACAF ( ; typeset for branding purposes since 2018 as Concacaf), is one of FIFA's six continental governing bodies for association football. Its 4 ...

announced that the NWSL Shield winner and runner-up qualified by virtue of those accomplishments for the 2024–25 CONCACAF W Champions Cup, the inaugural edition of that competition.

History

When the NWSL was launched in

2013 2013 was the first year since 1987 to contain four unique digits (a span of 26 years). 2013 was designated as: *International Year of Water Cooperation *International Year of Quinoa Events January * January 5 – 2013 Craig, Alask ...

, the league's format was set up similarly to other contemporary North American leagues. After the regular season, the

NWSL playoffs The National Women's Soccer League playoffs (or NWSL playoffs) are a single-elimination tournament among eight teams in the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL) of the United States. The final round of the playoffs is the NWSL Championship. Si ...

were held, with the top four teams vying for a spot in the postseason championship match. The club with the most regular-season points was awarded the NWSL Shield and earned the top seed in the playoffs. A new NWSL Shield trophy, designed by Tiffany & Co., was unveiled by the league in 2024. It includes a depiction of a soccer ball and uses 24-karat

gold Gold is a chemical element; it has chemical symbol Au (from Latin ) and atomic number 79. In its pure form, it is a brightness, bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile metal. Chemically, gold is a transition metal ...

vermeil and

sterling silver Sterling silver is an alloy composed mass fraction (chemistry), by weight of 92.5% silver and 7.5% other metals, usually copper. The sterling silver silver standards, standard has a minimum millesimal fineness of 925. ''Fineness, Fine silver'' ...

Point system and tiebreakers

Since the 2013 inaugural season, the system of awarding points in the NWSL is the same as the

international standard An international standard is a technical standard developed by one or more international standards organizations. International standards are available for consideration and use worldwide. The most prominent such organization is the International O ...

: three points for a win, one for a draw, and no points for a loss. Since the 2022 season, in the event of an end-of-season tie in total accumulated points, the following tie-breakers are used among all teams with the same number of points: # Greater goal difference across the entire regular season (against all teams, not just tied teams). # Most total wins across the entire regular season (against all teams, not just tied teams). # Most goals scored across the entire regular season (against all teams, not just tied teams). # Head-to-head results (total points) between the tied teams. # Head-to-head most goals scored between the tied teams. # Least disciplinary points accumulated across the entire regular season (against all teams, not just tied teams). # Coin flip (if two teams are tied) or drawing of lots (if three or more teams are tied). All tiebreakers involving goal counts (goal differential, goals for) include all regular-season games, not just games against tied teams. Prior to the 2022 season, the first tie-breaker was head-to-head record.

Winners

Records

Shield winners

''Italics'' indicates a defunct team.

References

External links

* {{USSoccer

Shield A shield is a piece of personal armour held in the hand, which may or may not be strapped to the wrist or forearm. Shields are used to intercept specific attacks, whether from close-ranged weaponry like spears or long ranged projectiles suc ...

Regular season trophies and awards