Welcome to this week’s edition of Goalside Gossip!

To all of our new subscribers who met us outside Audi Field in Washington, D.C., we're thrilled to have you. The international window gave us two meetings between the United States and Spain that could not have gone more differently, and England booking their spot in the final round of World Cup qualifying.

Off the pitch, the Defender of the Year race is wide open with six names in it, Jessica Berman says the NWSL is headed to at least 20 teams, and Michele Kang had players on both sides at Audi Field. We also have a jersey winner to announce.

Let's get into it.

Game Summaries (Int’l):

News:

Hello and welcome to Goalside Gossip! If you joined us after meeting us outside Audi Field in Washington, D.C., or by grabbing one of our roster cards before the USWNT took on Spain, we're so glad you're here. Meeting that many soccer fans in one afternoon was easily the best part of our week.

Here's what we do. Every week we bring you match recaps, league news, and the stories worth knowing from across women's soccer, whether you're following the international game or just your club. No fluff, no filler.

Welcome to the community, and thanks for being here.

The United States lost 2-0 to Spain in front of a sellout crowd of 19,220 at Audi Field, and the damage was done inside 15 minutes. Patricia Guijarro struck from distance in the third minute and Eva Navarro added a second in the 14th, running onto a Salma Paralluelo cross at the back post.

After that it was all United States and no end product. They took 13 shots with 10 on target, and Adriana Nanclares stopped every one of them, finishing with nine saves. The biggest came in the 70th, when Sophia Wilson won a penalty after a VAR review and Lily Yohannes had her spot kick pushed away.

Mallory Swanson came on in the second half for her first USWNT appearance in 710 days, becoming the 19th mother to play for the program. In stoppage time Spain's Athenea del Castillo was sent off after a video review for pulling Michelle Cooper's hair. It was only Spain's second win over the United States, ever.

The two sides met again three days later in Chester, and that one went very differently.

Same hole, much better ending. The United States went 2-0 down to Spain for the second match running and this time climbed all the way out of it, drawing 2-2 in front of 18,648 at Subaru Park in Chester, Pennsylvania.

Spain were ahead by the half hour again. Alexia Putellas opened the scoring in the 27th minute on her 150th appearance for her country, and Salma Paralluelo made it two five minutes later.

Then Ashley Sanchez pulled one back in the 49th and Emma Hayes emptied the bench chasing the rest. It worked. In the 86th, Kate Del Fava hit a long ball to Michelle Cooper, who turned inside the box and laid it off for Mallory Swanson to volley into the corner. It was Swanson's first goal for the USWNT since the 2024 Olympic gold medal match, her 39th in 105 caps, and it made her the 10th mother to score for the program.

Hayes said afterward that the two teams are exactly side by side. Next up is the Concacaf W Championship quarterfinal against El Salvador in November.

England had been sloppy in Crete. They were anything but at the King Power. The Lionesses put four past Greece inside 35 minutes and finished 5-0 on the night, 8-1 on aggregate, to move into the final round of the World Cup play-offs.

Lauren James and Alessia Russo scored twice each, with Georgia Stanway adding the other. Maya Le Tissier, who got her first England goal in the first leg, turned provider for James' strike into the far corner in the 16th. Russo finished the scoring in the 75th, rounding goalkeeper Styliani Katergiannaki and slotting into an empty net off a Keira Walsh pass.

Lexi Potter made her England debut in the starting XI, one of two changes Sarina Wiegman made from the first leg. Wiegman called the performance dominant. England now face Ukraine for a place in Brazil.

With the regular season nearly done, six names have separated themselves in the Defender of the Year race. Tierna Davidson anchors a Gotham back line that's conceded just 21 goals. Washington's Tara Rudd is chasing back to back awards on the back of 242 defensive contributions.

San Diego have two in the mix. Kennedy Wesley hasn't missed a minute while the Wave built the league's third best scoring defense, and French left back Perle Morroni has 72 tackles and 38 interceptions playing a much more aggressive style.

The other two come from opposite ends of the table. Utah's Kate Del Fava sits in the 98th percentile for aerial duels and just earned a first USWNT call up, all while playing for a side that's shipped 35 goals.

Denver's Janine Sonis is the opposite case entirely. She's a fullback with 12 goals and six assists in 26 starts, miles ahead of her expected goals, which is not a sentence you write about defenders very often.

There's no clear favorite here. Rudd and Wesley have barely left the field, Davidson has the best defensive record behind her, Del Fava has the aerial numbers on the leakiest side in the race, and Sonis has a goal total no fullback is supposed to have. All six have monthly Best XI honors and a defense built around them. The Gradient numbers below don't settle it either, which is most of the fun.

The NWSL is going to at least 20 teams. Commissioner Jessica Berman said at the Leaders Week London conference that the league is opening its financial data room to investors interested in the 19th and 20th franchises. There are 16 clubs now, counting 2026 arrivals Boston Legacy and Denver Summit, with Atlanta and Columbus joining in 2028 on record fees of $165M and $205M.

Berman was clear that 20 isn't the ceiling. She pointed to the size of the country and to the NFL, NBA and NHL all carrying at least 30 teams. She also pushed back on the idea that expanding this fast waters down the product, arguing the talent pool is deep enough and what's missing is places for those players to work.

Investor interest is what's driving the pace, even with Racing Louisville currently exploring outside investment. There's no deadline for awarding the next two spots. The league plans to move when a market looks ready, and Berman said 2026 financials will go in front of prospective owners to make the case.

Saturday at Audi Field doubled as a showcase for how far Michele Kang's reach now extends. Five starters across the two national teams play for clubs she owns in the United States, France and England: London City Lionesses pair Alexia Putellas and Lucía Corrales, OL Lyonnes forwards Salma Paralluelo and Lily Yohannes, and Washington's Trinity Rodman.

Kang bought the Washington Spirit outright in 2022, becoming the first woman of color to own an NWSL club. She picked up Olympique Lyonnais Féminin and London City the following year, and in 2024 folded all three under Kynisca Sports International, the first multi club group built only for women's football. London City went up to the WSL in 2025 as the first fully independent club ever promoted there.

She pledged $30M to U.S. Soccer in late 2024, the largest single investment in women's programs in the federation's history, and her Kynisca Innovation Hub has since merged with the federation's Soccer Forward program to push research on female athletes. Why? Because, as she puts it, women are not small men, and training them as though they are has never made sense.

She was also the reason Trinity Rodman re-signed in Washington, a deal the salary cap nearly killed before the league's High Impact Player rule made it work. That rule is also the subject of a players' union grievance.

We have a winner. Marissa K. takes home the Trinity Rodman jersey. Congratulations, Marissa, and thank you to everyone who entered!!

If you missed this one, don't worry. We'll be running more giveaways as the playoffs get going, so keep an eye on your inbox.