Revenge Game? KC Current host Orlando Pride

For as universally loved and respected as Brazilian superstar Marta is, she definitely made a few enemies in Kansas City last summer. In the two-year history of CPKC Stadium, the Kansas City Current have lost there exactly one time–July 6, 2024 against the Orlando Pride. In that match, Marta earned a yellow card for physical play, could have earned a second for screaming repeatedly at the official, panenka-ed a penalty kick for the game winning goal, and then seemed to relish taunting the home crowd in the Pride’s post-match celebration. Marta, of course, went on to score the game winner in the NWSL semifinals last November to knock out KC and then she and her Orlando teammates secured their first ever Championship at CPKC Stadium.

Marta hinted at retirement last offseason, at least for her international career, but she then reupped with both Orlando and Brazil. She has her club team in second place and she just helped her South American squad capture another Copa América Femenina title after she scored two late goals–one in stoppage time to send the Championship game to extra time, and then in extra time to get the match to PKs. For what it’s worth, in the shootout, KC keeper Lorena came up big by saving Colombia’s final attempt to set off celebrations around Brazil.

It’s with all this backdrop that the Current welcome the Pride back to Kansas City. One year ago, Orlando used the win in KC to springboard to the top of the standings and start pulling away in the race for the Shield and the number one seed. This season the teams again enter the match ranked first and second, however it’s the Current who have already started to distance themselves from the rest of the field, coming in with a 12-point advantage over second place Orlando. Additionally, the Teal have already defeated the Purple on the road this season, a 1-0 win back in May behind a Chawinga goal.

Despite this, there are definitely still players (and fans!) who remember the feeling of Marta and co. coming to the heartland and souring a lot of the positive vibes from last season. Athletes and coaches are good at suggesting they don’t look ahead, that every game is just as important as all the others. However, it’s quite likely that more than a few Current folks had this matchup circled the moment the schedules came out. By the time the final whistle blows in the late afternoon sun on Saturday, either KC will have earned some measure of revenge for a game 13 months earlier, or the Pride will have again dealt the Current and their fans a harsh blow.

Even though they’re occupying the first two spots in the league table, Kansas City and Orlando enter this match with somewhat diverging momentum. The Pride haven’t actually won an NWSL match since June 13, a 1-0 victory over Bay FC. Since then they’ve lost once and drawn twice. In fact, KC and Orlando share the last two opponents: Racing Louisville and Utah Royals. Since the international break, the Current have beaten Racing 2-0 and the Royals 1-0, both on the road. In the same timeframe, the Pride have hosted those two teams and both matches ended 1-1.

So as Orlando have earned just two points out of a possible nine over their past three matches, KC is a perfect nine for nine. In fact, the Current are on an eight-match winning streak (ten matches if the two Teal Rising Cup games count), and haven’t lost since May 2nd. However, even as KC continues to grind out Ws, they don’t feel like they’re coming quite as easily as they did earlier in 2025. The Current set multiple records for their multitude of goals scored, particularly in the first halves of matches. A majority of the games KC has won have been by two or more goals, and the pattern has usually been to score early and often and then focus more on defense through much of the second half. The team, though, has broken that pattern of late. Their previous three games have ended 1-0, 2-0, & 1-0 with the game-winning goals coming in the 69th, 65th, and 82nd minutes. This team will be eager to make some noise (train horns) early on Saturday in front of the home fans.

Both teams will enter the match fairly close to full strength as Orlando will likely welcome back their Brazilian stars and KC will have had another week to more fully integrate Ally Sentnor into their lineup. Coach Andonovski was able to make several changes to the lineups over the past two weeks as he has the depth to try to keep everyone fresh while also hopefully keeping everyone happy. The shuffling is likely to continue, even as he works to figure out what the squad’s “best XI” is.

Needless to say, there will be no love lost between these two squads come Saturday. Even setting aside all the recent history between two of the standout teams in the league, the game carries huge stakes. It’s one of those proverbial “6-point” games as a win for Orlando shrinks KC’s lead to nine points but a win for the Current grows the lead to fifteen. Of course, a tie would result in the gap remaining at twelve (not a bad spot for Kansas City), but the Current haven’t drawn a single match this season–likely they have no plans to start now.

WHEN: Saturday, August 16 at 3:00 PM (Central Time)

WHERE: CPKC Stadium, Kansas City, MO

HOW TO WATCH: CBS/Paramount +

Record:

KC Current: 13-0-2 (39 points, 1st place)

Orlando Pride: 8-3-4 (27 points, 2nd place)

Last Match:

KC Current: 1-0 road win versus Utah Royals

Orlando Pride: 1-1 home draw versus Racing Louisville