Overview
- Kickoff is 8 p.m. ET at San Jose’s PayPal Park, with national coverage on CBS and streaming on Paramount+, and the match is sold out at roughly 18,000.
- No. 8 seed Gotham reached the final through upsets of top‑seeded Kansas City and defending champion Orlando and now seeks to become the first No. 8 seed to win the title.
- Washington returns to the championship after a penalty‑shootout quarterfinal and a 2-0 semifinal, led by contributions from Gift Monday and Croix Bethune and key saves by Aubrey Kingsbury.
- Gotham’s postseason surge features a record $1.25 million acquisition of Jaedyn Shaw, who delivered late winners, alongside standout goalkeeping from Ann‑Katrin Berger and attacking quality from Esther González and Rose Lavelle.
- Tactical previews point to the midfield duel as decisive, while off the field Rodman’s expiring contract—with interest from English clubs and a reported no‑cap offer from DC Power—has intensified debate over the NWSL’s hard salary cap as league leaders pledge to keep top talent.