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In this week\u2019s women\u2019s soccer news, Gotham won the 2026 NWSL Challenge Cup; Alexia Putellas seems to have found her new club; Temwa Chawinga is staying with the Kansas City Current; and more!<\/p>\n
Gotham FC are the 2026 NWSL Challenge Cup winners after a 2-0 win over the Kansas City Current. The 2025 NWSL Champions added another trophy to their collection with the win. It\u2019s the first time that the club has won the Challenge Cup.<\/p>\n
The match was played in Columbus, Ohio, which will be the home of a new expansion team beginning in 2028. It was a rainy night for these two teams that were competing for a trophy. Gotham kind of dominated the statistics on paper with 10 shots and 55% of the possession, but Ann-Katrin Berger did have to come up with big saves to keep the Current off the board. Gotham got the scoring started thanks to an Esther Gonz\u00e1lez penalty kick after the Current\u2019s Lo\u2019eau LaBonta committed a foul in the box. The penalty came in the 37th minute, so Gotham was able to go into halftime with the lead. In the 79th minute, Jordan Dudley added the insurance goal that Gotham was looking for thanks to an impressive individual effort.<\/p>\n
There was talk that a couple of NWSL clubs were at least attempting to be in the mix to sign two time Ballon d\u2019Or winner Alexia Putellas, but unfortunately for the NWSL, it seems that she\u2019s agreed to join the London City Lionesses in the WSL. ESPN broke the news of the signing this week, but the team has yet to make the announcement. Bringing a player of Putellas\u2019 caliber to the NWSL would have been huge for the league, but it\u2019s likely that teams couldn\u2019t match the offers made by clubs in England. It seems that the star player wanted to stay in Europe to be closer to home, which ultimately is why the NWSL missed out. Putellas had interest from many clubs, but her signing with London City is an interesting decision as opposed to the likes of Arsenal. It\u2019s the first time that Putellas will represent a new club in 14 years.<\/p>\n
London City is owned by Michele Kang, who also owns Olympique Lyon and the Washington Spirit, and she has pledged to really invest in the Lionesses both in facilities and by creating a championship winning team. The 2025-26 season was their first in the WSL, and they finished in sixth place with an 8-3- 11 record.<\/p>\n
There were two big contract extensions announced this week in the NWSL. The Kansas City Current announced that they\u2019ve signed MVP Temwa Chawinga through the 2029 season. Since coming to the NWSL, Chawinga has been incredible. She\u2019s been named the league MVP and Golden Boot Winner in back-to-back seasons, and resigning her is huge for the Current. In 61 games, she\u2019s scored 47 goals, which is insane. For the 2026 season, she has scored seven goals in eight games so far.<\/p>\n
Gotham also announced the extension of defender Emily Sonnett. She signed with the club through the 2028 season. Sonnett has been in the NWSL since she was the first pick in the 2016 NWSL Draft. She\u2019s had stints with the Portland Thorns, Orlando Pride, Washington Spirit, and OL Reign. Since joining Gotham in 2024, she has appeared in 77 matches for the club and helped them win the 2025 NWSL Championship.<\/p>\n
The rookie, Jordan Dudley, added the insurance goal for Gotham in great fashion. Dudley showed off tremendous footwork as she dribbled into the box and went 1v1 with a defender before sending the ball into the side of the net. It was a great individual effort for the youngster.<\/p>\n
AFC Toronto made a big signing this week by bringing goalkeeper Sabrina D\u2019Angelo back home to Canada. She\u2019s from Welland, Ontario, which is only about two hours from Toronto, so it\u2019s a special homecoming for a player that\u2019s been away for so long.<\/p>\n
D\u2019Angelo brings a lot of experience to the club after a long professional career. She was drafted by the Western New York Flash in the 2015 NWSL Draft. She played a massive part in the Flash winning the 2016 NWSL Championship, and she was named the Championship MVP. When the Flash relocated and became the North Carolina Courage, D\u2019Angelo spent two seasons and won another NWSL title in 2018. She then moved to Sweden and played with Vittsj\u00f6 GIK and spent four years there. In 2023 joined the WSL, spending two seasons with Arsenal and then, most recently, Aston Villa. The goalkeeper is also a part of the senior CANWNT after making her debut in 2016.<\/p>\n
Ann-Katrin Berger has been incredible for Gotham since joining the team, and she put up another big performance against the Current for the Challenge Cup. She came up with three saves to secure the shutout and the win for Gotham. One save was an impressive kick save off a close-range Croix Bethune shot. The play started with what could have been called a foul on Bethune, but they played on, and she was able to steal the ball and dribble into the box to get a shot off.<\/p>\n
This week, Venezuela suffered two devastating earthquakes. The natural disasters caused extensive damage to much of the country, and the death toll is still rising as rescuers are working to try to find people through the rubble. The country needs a lot of support, and Portland Thorns\u2019 forward Deyna Castellanos, who is from Venezuela, is working to do what she can from far away. She\u2019s been sharing information on her social media that people in Venezuela might need, as well as organizations that people can donate to. She also posted that with her Thorns teammates\u2019 help and the community of Portland, she has collected a large truck full of supplies to send to those in need.<\/p>\n
\nI\u2019m truly speechless. Thank you to the Portland community, and especially to my teammates at @ThornsFC<\/a> , for your incredible generosity and support for my country.<\/p>\n
We know the road to recovery will be long, and the need for help won\u2019t end anytime soon. Let\u2019s keep standing\u2026 pic.twitter.com\/KzPTUVtmJQ<\/a><\/p>\n