3 KEY Canadian storylines to watch ahead of the 2026 NWSL season
After a lengthy offseason, the NWSL finally returns this week, as the Washington Spirit will host the Portland Thorns in the first game of 2026 on Friday.
From there, it won’t take long for the league to get up and running, with five games scheduled on Saturday and two more on Sunday to round off a busy opening weekend.
NWSL IS HERE! 😎
— OneSoccer (@onesoccer) March 9, 2026
We're so excited to present select @NWSL matches featuring CanWNT 🇨🇦 stars on OneSoccer, beginning this weekend with a Saturday triple-header 📺 pic.twitter.com/hNpEzwSGyl
In a sense, though, it’s a fitting way to mark the start of this campaign, as it promises to be a massive one for the league. With the arrival of two new expansion teams, the league is literally bigger than ever, which is good news given the continued influx of new talent into the circuit over the past few years.
From a Canadian perspective, there’s plenty to keep an eye on, too. With 23 Canadian players in the league, a figure that continues to grow year-over-year, the NWSL remains a crucial league for the development of the CanWNT, with several key National Team players plying their trade in the circuit.
Because of that, when watching any given game, there will usually be a Canadian-interest story. For example, that opening match between the Spirit and Thorns could feature up to four Canadian players, with Gabrielle Carle and Élisabeth Tsé will look to take the field for the Spirit, while the pair of Jessie Fleming and Marie-Yasmine Alidou will hope to start for the Thorns.
With that in mind, here are three Canadian storylines to keep an eye on throughout the 2026 NWSL season.
Can Gabrielle Carle and the Washington Spirit finally get over the hump?
Funnily enough, the first storyline to watch features that same Spirit side, as they’ve got big ambitions for this season.
After coming so close to glory in 2024 and 2025, they’re hoping that 2026 can be a year of triumph, which is why they broke the bank to retain star attacker, Trinity Rodman, who has been one of the best players in the NWSL over the last few years when healthy.
Heading into the first full season under the helm of former assistant and interim head coach Adrián González, who assumed the full-time role last summer after the departure of Jonathan Giráldez, the mission is simple for the Spirit: win at all costs.
Not only have they lost in consecutive NWSL Championship matches, falling 1-0 to the Orlando Pride in 2024 and losing 1-0 to Gotham FC in 2025, but they also finished second in the regular season table in both seasons, missing out on the chance to lift the NWSL Shield in each year.
In particular, the 2024 campaign will linger with Spirit players - not only did they lose the final by a goal, but they missed out on the Shield to the Pride by four points. At least in 2025, they finished 21 points behind the Shield winners, KC Current, so it’s not as if their finishing second was anywhere near the level of a near-miss as it was in 2024 (especially when considering that same Pride team then went on to beat them in that 2024 final).
Because of that, it’s expected that the Spirit will come out hungry and motivated this season, and it’s hoped that Gabrielle Carle plays a big role for them in their quest to do that, as she looks to build off strong 2024 and 2025 campaigns.
Having featured in a combined 59 games across both seasons, she’s been a mainstay at full back for this team, playing a big role in what they want to do on both sides of the ball. Defensively, she’s been a 1v1 force, while offensively, she’s been a key part of her team’s build-up play.
(RE-)SIGNING NEWS 👀
— OneSoccer (@onesoccer) December 23, 2025
Gabrielle Carle has signed a new contract with NWSL side Washington Spirit, with the CanWNT 🇨🇦 star now locked in through the 2029 season 😎 pic.twitter.com/6hFJg11j1v
Plus, while Carle will be more than motivated to help her team get their hands on the sort of trophies they’ll feel they deserve to win after coming so close the past two years, she has extra fuel in the tank thanks to the CanWNT. She’s been a mainstay in the Canadian team in recent years, making 22 appearances across the last two years, but she faces a tough battle to retain a spot going forward with Canada’s growing depth at the full-back position.
With another strong season, Carle can put her name in contention to start the big games that await Canada this fall at the Concacaf Championships, where they’ll look to secure qualification to both the 2027 World Cup and 2028 Summer Olympics, and potentially even snap a trophy drought while doing so.
While Carle will be pushing to do that, don’t sleep on Tsé as a Canadian to watch, however. As a new arrival to this Spirit team, her short-term goal will just be to carve out a regular role in this squad, but she’s certainly got the potential to be an effective signing.
Armed with good experience from her time in France, already racking up over 40 professional appearances as a 23-year-old, she’s also got the stylistic fit as a centre back to fit in this ball-dominant, aggressive Spirit system, which is why this move is so intriguing to see.
Therefore, while she might take some time to adjust to a new team in a new league, she’ll hope to be a big add for the Spirit long-term, which could open the door for her to get into the Canadian fold in the years to come - something you have to imagine she’s angling to do after making seven appearances for Canada’s U20 team earlier this decade.
Yet, all of that shows why it’ll be worth watching the Spirit this year from a Canadian perspective. Not only will they be a top team pushing for trophies, but they’ve got two Canadian players with plenty to prove in their defensive ranks, so hopefully Carle and Tsé can play a significant role in what’s ahead for this Washington side.
Will we see a return to form for some key CanWNT veterans?
From a Canadian perspective, 2025 wasn’t exactly a grandstand year in the NWSL, as only one player won a trophy, and that’s Nichelle Prince, who was part of that dominant KC Current side that ran away with the NWSL Shield - and she only played a bit part role in that success.
Otherwise, from an individual perspective, the highest scoring Canadian, Adriana Leon, only scored four goals, which tied her for 28th in the league. Then, while someone like Janine Sonis had a solid three goals and five assists, giving her eight goal contributions, even that figure only had her tied for 16th in the NWSL.
Yet, that’s something worth watching - while most Canadians have performed decently for their teams over the last few years, there haven’t been many standout names, at least relative to their peers. To that point, no Canadians were named in NWSL’s first or second Best XI in each of 2024 and 2025, something that would be nice to see change in 2026.
For example, how about goalkeeper Kailen Sheridan, who was named to NWSL’s first Best XI in both 2021 and 2022, along with the second Best XI in 2023? After a quiet year with the San Diego Wave, could a move to the North Carolina Courage spur her back to her best? That’s the bet the Courage are making, and given her importance to this Canadian team, they’d love nothing more than to see Sheridan return to being one of the best goalkeepers in the NWSL.
unreal save from Skyler's mom 🔥 @Kailen_Sheridan pic.twitter.com/3Nkhd8o9f0
— San Diego Wave FC (@sandiegowavefc) October 5, 2025
Elsewhere, how about Canadian captain Jessie Fleming, who did well to generate two goals and five assists last year for the Portland Thorns? As she’s shown in the past, she has even more goals and assists in her game, and will have an even bigger role to play on a Thorns side that lost midfield lynchpin Sam Coffey this winter - she could certainly be a best XI player in the right circumstances.
An important Decision Day goal 🙌
— National Women’s Soccer League (@NWSL) November 2, 2025
After a little chaos in the box, Jesse Fleming's shot hits the back of the net for her second of 2025! pic.twitter.com/ENuktdZCJ6
And those are but two of a list of Canadians who will be motivated to show that they can be among the best in their respective positions across the NWSL, such as Julia Grosso, Jordyn Huitema, Carle, Sonis and more.
Even beyond those more established players, though, there will be added motivation for all Canadians to perform to that sort of level, as at the National Team level, head coach Casey Stoney has pushed her players to be playing more regularly at their clubs since her hiring in 2025.
Therefore, you have to wonder if that creates more internal competition for Canadian players to hit another level this year, as they’ll know that maintaining their club form will be the best way to maintain their spot within the CanWNT.
Gone are the days when Canada’s squad essentially picked itself, as a growing player pool will give Stoney the flexibility to leave out players she feels aren’t earning consistent minutes. She showed that in Canada’s most recent camp, leaving out someone like Leon, who, despite scoring those four goals last year, tailed off and lost her starting role on the Wave heading into the playoffs.
Yet, that shows why it’ll be so fascinating to keep an eye on some of these Canadian players this season, as you have to figure many of them will be quite motivated, and perhaps that can spur them to hit new heights - and maybe even put themselves among the best in the league.
Canadians are set to thrive on new expansion clubs:
It turns out that the arrival of two new expansion clubs was excellent news for Canadian players, as each of the Denver Summit and Boston Legacy has three Canadians apiece on their respective rosters.
And it’s not as if they’re unknown Canadian players, either. On the Summit are regular Canadian starters Janine Sonis and Emma Regan, while the Legacy did well to acquire Nichelle Prince and Bianca St-Georges, with Prince a regular Canadian call-up and St-Georges a semi-regular participant.
GOAL 🇨🇦🇨🇦
— OneSoccer (@onesoccer) March 1, 2026
It's JANINE SONIS with the PERFECT free-kick strike! 🎯
CanWNT go up 2-0 on Colombia 🇨🇴 at the 2026 SheBelieves Cup! 🏆
🔴 Watch LIVE on OneSoccer pic.twitter.com/Sr55wos901
Along with the signing of veteran centre back Megan Reid with the Summit, and young attacker Amanda Allen with the Legacy, that’s a fascinating six players worth watching, as all will have various reasons as to why they’ll want to shine on these expansion clubs.
For Sonis and Regan, their goal is to maintain their starting spots with Canada, while Prince will battle to prove that she can be a rotation option for Canada going forward. Meanwhile, St-Georges and Reid will want to show that they can be veteran options worth rounding out a squad with, while Allen will want to find some consistency and show Stoney, who isn’t shy in playing youngsters, that she could be worth a look in the immediate future.
New season. New threads. 🧵
— OneSoccer (@onesoccer) February 25, 2026
CanWNT 🇨🇦 stars Emma Regan & Janine Sonis sporting the brand-new green of @denversummit_fc ahead of the 2026 NWSL season 🤩
Watch NWSL on OneSoccer 📺 pic.twitter.com/eE8Vmup8eN
On an expansion team, there’s no better place to do all of that, as each of these players will have a fresh slate to prove that they can play to their respective levels, whatever that may be. Of course, for players like Sonis and Regan, that isn’t as much of a worry - they’d find a home as starters on most teams in the league - but for some of the others, this could allow them to perhaps even play a bigger role than they might’ve had if they ended up elsewhere.
Such is the beauty of playing for a brand-new club - it’s a fresh slate for all involved. Hopefully, that fresh slate can benefit the Canadian players who will partake in each team’s maiden voyages in this league.
You can watch select NWSL games LIVE on OneSoccer
