NWSL Challenge Cup

The NWSL Challenge Cup is an annual supercup competition organized by the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL), the top-tier women's league in the United States soccer league system. The current (2024) cup holders are the San Diego Wave FC after defeating NJ/NY Gotham FC through an Alex Morgan goal in the 88th minute.

The NWSL Challenge Cup was first held in 2020 as a one-off tournament to mark the league's return to action from the COVID-19 pandemic. It was the first top-tier professional sports league in the United States to restart after COVID-19 lockdowns began. Subsequently, the NWSL announced that it would return as an annual league cup competition. After the 2023 season, the NWSL announced that the Challenge Cup would change from a league cup to a supercup starting in 2024.

2020–2023
For the first four years of the tournament, all NWSL teams would begin a group stage where they would play four to six games, usually split geographically. The group stage would then be followed by one or more knockout matches to determine the Cup winner. In 2020, all nine teams at the time were to play four games in a single pool, with eight teams advancing to the knockout stage. In 2021, the ten teams at the time divided into two divisions of five teams, with the group winners qualifying for the final match. In 2022 and 2023, the twelve teams at the time split into three groups of four, with the best runner-up joining the three group winners in a two-round knockout tournament. For the 2023 season, the NWSL moved the tournament to run concurrently with the season, due to player concerns about injuries.

2024 onward
In 2024, the NWSL Challenge Cup transitioned to a single pre-season match between the current NWSL Shield holder and the current NWSL Champions, a similar structure to other Super Cup trophies worldwide such as the FA Community Shield. Should a team win both the Championship and Shield, the Challenge Cup will be a rematch of the previous season's championship match.