Challenge Cup Preview, with Special Insights

While June has been a massive month for soccer in general, WoSo fans have had little to pay attention to. Internationally, most leagues are in their offseasons, and domestically, the NWSL has taken this month off to allow focus and resources to be put towards the men’s World Cup. That changes in a big way this Friday night as the league’s Challenge Cup takes place, pitting the 2025 champions, Gotham FC, against the 2025 Shield winners, Kansas City Current.

A few years ago, the Challenge Cup morphed from a full tournament into a supercup match. It has also, traditionally been played early or pre-season, with, for example, the Washington Spirit defeating the Orlando Pride to jumpstart the 2025 season. This year, however, it gets to be the only NWSL action occurring during the month of June and while, yes, it will be playing against two World Cup group stage matches (Spain vs. Uruguay & Cabo Verde vs. Saudi Arabia), it is nonetheless a showcase event for the league.

Another distinction this year is the neutral site: Columbus, OH. This should not only provide a competitive balance for KC and NY/NJ, but will also be a nice preview of the NWSL in Ohio. Columbus was recently awarded an expansion franchise and will start play in 2028. A match between two of the league’s best teams with a trophy on the line should nicely whet their appetites.

The match will have a national broadcast on Prime Video and the KC Soccer Journal was given special access to the personalities who will be calling the game. We were able to ask them for their impressions of the two teams heading into this match and we’re excited to share their responses below.

The broadcast team that Prime has assembled includes:

• Play-by-play commentator Mike Watts, who has been calling NWSL matches since 2014, giving him a perspective of the evolution of the league and its players.
• Analysts Lori Lindsey and Jill Loyden, both former USWNT players who routinely offer firsthand insights into teams’ styles of play and what success looks like in the league, both currently and historically.
• Sideline reporter Britney Eurton, who has experience with a variety of live sports.

Here are our questions and their responses:

Entering this match, with a trophy on the line, which team is more in form? They both headed into the World Cup break stringing together some positive results, so who goes in having the edge?

Mike Watts: I think recent form will prove pretty fickle coming out of a four week break and being dropped into a trophy game. The first team to find their legs and shake off the rust has the edge in my mind. They’re among the top four point earners in the last two months in the league, probably where everyone thought they’d be when the season started. The Current’s offense with Chawinga and Cooper stringing together some of their most consistent production, and the Gotham defense is arguably the best in the league allowing one goal over the last six games. I think both those X-factors travel well to Columbus.

Lori Lindsey: Really, I wouldn’t say either team has the edge over the other because it has been a long layoff, nearly a month. As mentioned, there have been national team duties, they had a mandatory CBA (10 days or so off), and so I wouldn’t say either team really has an edge. I think it just depends on the kind of the work they are doing.

The Current, thus far in 2026, are Jekyll and Hyde depending on whether they’re playing at home or on the road. The Challenge Cup is at a neutral site so which version of KC shows up?

Britney Eurton: The concern is valid. So far this season, the Current have just one win away from home, and that came against North Carolina. The record certainly doesn’t instill you with a ton of confidence. That said, I do think there are some valid reasons for their road woes. Kansas City’s season began with three road matches in a span of seven days, a demanding stretch for any club, especially one adjusting to a new coaching staff and trying to establish an identity under Chris Armas.

Then there’s Temwa Chawinga, who always seems to find her way into the conversation. The reigning Golden Boot winner didn’t return from injury until April 4. Before her return, the Current lost three of their first four matches. Since then, they’ve lost just twice in eight games and have looked much more like the team many expected entering the season. So while the road record is what it is, I think there’s a little more context behind it than the standings might suggest.

As for Friday, I think Kansas City has every reason to look closer to its “home” identity than its “away” identity. A neutral site removes many of the challenges that come with a true road environment, and the Current are a healthier, more settled team than they were at the start of the season. It’s also worth noting how passionate Kansas City supporters are. Columbus is about an 11.5 hour drive from Kansas City, and with a trophy on the line, I wouldn’t be surprised to see plenty of teal in the stands. Gotham should have strong support as well given its proximity to Ohio, but I don’t expect either team to have a significant crowd advantage. If anything, the neutral venue removes one of the biggest questions surrounding Kansas City this season. This won’t feel like CPKC Stadium, but it won’t feel like a true road match either. For me, that points to a version of the Current that’s much closer to the one we’ve seen dominate at home than the one we’ve occasionally seen struggle away from it.

Gotham notably dashed KC’s dreams at the end of last season, but outside of that one playoff result, the Current have pretty much owned NJ throughout their history, including already once this season. Which team is more inside the other’s heads?

Jill Loyden: Historically there hasn’t been much between both of these teams. The games are always close. The margins for victory have been so small over the course of the last few years. Both teams have their own competitive advantages going into this challenge cup final. The Kansas City Current, coming off of one of the most dominant regular seasons this league has ever seen, has started to create a bit of positive momentum with their game changer back and consistently adding quality minutes and attacking production. Gotham on the other hand has steadily been sturdy defensively, only conceding five goals over the course of the first half of the season. Both teams are littered with game changers from front to back, have their own way of pressing opponents into problems, and players that can score in the blink of an eye.

Mike Watts: The lowest points of the past two years for the Current didn’t include a healthy Temwa Chawinga – neither the three game losing streak in March, nor the quarterfinal loss last year. I don’t know when she’s in the teamsheet the Current have reason to fear anybody including the team that knocked them out after a historic Shield-winning run. Gotham won’t be intimidated, in the past three years only one of the six meetings between the clubs was decided by multiple goals, they’re reigning champions. And I think they probably feel like they didn’t get their due for winning that quarterfinal – it was much discussed that KC was without Chawinga and Cooper, less so that Gotham advanced at CPKC without Tierna Davidson and Esther Gonzalez.

With this match taking place in the vacuum of any other NWSL action through the month of June it could generate a lot of interest. Additionally, both teams have players who have spent time these past couple of weeks with their national teams. How much are the teams, coaches, players going to treat this like a highly important title-clash as compared to more of a non-league friendly?

Jill Loyden: When these two teams meet the games have been anything but friendly; both teams have lofty ambitions with a desire to not only dominate their domestic league but to be considered in the upper echelons of clubs globally. It is so infrequent as a professional player to be competing for a chance to lift a trophy, so I expect to see this game played with high energy, intensity, and an enthusiasm to bring home hardware and confidence to finish out the back half of the NWSL regular season.

Lori Lindsey: They are absolutely going after this trophy. Both of these organizations are built off of wanting to win whatever they can. That is always the topic, right? You’re evolving your roster, you’re looking for the best players, you want to pay them the best you can, and just looking to always have an edge That starts with winning trophies. Gotham earlier lost in CONCACAF Champions Cup, so this will be the next trophy on the line. Same with Kansas City. They started off a little bit shaky this season, and now they’re back on track, and with an opportunity for them to also win a trophy. So, no doubt both teams will be wanting to win this Challenge Cup game on Friday night.

As Jill Loyden mentions, this match is not only an opportunity to earn a title (and bonus $ for each of the players), but will provide momentum for the back half of the regular season. Both of these teams have visions of hoisting other trophies later on this year, and earning a victory here could provide a nice springboard for that sort of run.

These teams should also be at relatively full strength, as the layoff will have given the athletes time to rest and recover. With that said, these squads will also have a different look than the last time they took the field. The Current sold USWNT striker Ally Sentnor to Angel City and signed reigning league MVP Temwa Chawinga to an extension through 2029. Meanwhile Gotham traded defender Lilly Reale to Boston and signed international star forward Sam Kerr from Chelsea. (They also are rumored to be in the mix for two-time Ballon d’Or winner Alexia Putellas.)

The Current, having already claimed one in-season title this year (the Teal Rising Cup), have a recent history of success with these sorts of competitions. Over the past three years, they’ve built their trophy case with two Teal Rising Cups, the Women’s Cup, and the Summer Cup (in addition to the NWSL Shield). Incidentally, the final of the Summer Cup featured the Current against Gotham at a neutral site. Chawinga led the way that day as the Current won 2-0.
Can they add the Challenge Cup to their resume? Tune in Friday (or travel to Columbus!) to find out.

WHEN: Friday, June 26 at 7:00 PM (Central Time)

WHERE: ScottsMiracle-Gro Field, Columbus, OH

HOW TO WATCH: Prime Video

Record:

KC Current: 7-0-5 (21 points, 6th place)

Gotham FC: 6-3-2 (21 points, 5th place)

Last (League) Match:

KC Current: 1-0 home victory over Boston Legacy

Gotham FC: 1-0 home victory over Houston Dash

FWIW, the last time Gotham was in the Challenge Cup, they lost the final to Alex Morgan and the San Diego Wave.