A new NWSL season kicks off this weekend, and there are a number of new faces across the league. Many of these players represent a trend in the NWSL: an influx of foreign players as the U.S.-based league becomes increasingly international.
In the past few months, a number of top American players have made the decision to head overseas. USWNT center back Naomi Girma, one of the best defenders in the world, led the charge with a transfer to Chelsea, with other players — Crystal Dunn (Paris Saint-Germain), Jenna Nighswonger (Arsenal) — also making the leap across the pond. USWNT star forward Trinity Rodman told ESPN this week that, in terms of playing overseas, “it’s just a matter of when.” (Rodman has one year remaining on her contract with the Washington Spirit.)
As some American stars head to Europe, the NWSL is also turning to international talent. Over the past several years, the league opened itself up to a number of major international transfers, both veterans and young, up-and-coming stars.
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Bringing in international players serves multiple purposes. It fills NWSL rosters with players who can make a difference, either in terms of experience, leadership or dynamic energy. With a wider range of players, more players represent their home countries (not just the U.S.) at international competitions — a big boost for the NWSL in terms of both exposure and prestige. It turns the NWSL into a destination for players from across the globe.
For the players, there are a number of benefits to joining the NWSL, an established league with a significant fanbase, but one that continues to grow.
One of the most exciting international players in the league, Bay FC forward Racheal Kundananji, told Yahoo Sports that she had wanted to join the NWSL after hearing positive things about it early in her career while playing in Kazakhstan alongside several American players.
“That was one kind of thing which motivated me because they spoke highly about it,” Kundananji said. The 24-year-old Zambian national signed with Bay last year ahead of the club’s inaugural season, after time spent playing in Zambia, Kazakhstan and Spain’s Liga F.
Washington Spirit defender Esme Morgan, a 24-year-old English national who joined the Spirit from Manchester City last summer, told Yahoo Sports that she transferred to the NWSL because she wanted to “bet on myself.”
“I felt like I’d reached the point where I’d been at City for nine years, including at the academy, and I felt like I was kind of plateauing a bit as a player, which is a stage you never want to reach,” Morgan said.
Angel City FC’s Julie Dufour, a 23-year-old French forward, signed with the club just a few weeks ago after nearly eight years in France’s Première Ligue. Dufour said that she was “grateful” for the new opportunity, both to improve her game on the field and to introduce herself to a new country.
“I needed a new challenge,” Dufour said, speaking in French with her agent translating. “I also wanted a new human adventure for my personal life, and Angel City, what they were proposing (to) me was aligned with what I needed and I wanted.”
Of the three players who spoke with Yahoo Sports, Dufour is the only one who signed with the team ahead of this year. But a slew of other international talents joined the NWSL during the offseason, many of them also up-and-coming players. The San Diego Wave brought in 19-year-old Nigerian forward Chiamaka Okwuchukwu from the Nigerian leagues; the Portland Thorns signed Brazilian defender Daiane Limeira. Gotham FC signed 19-year-old Ghanaian midfielder Stella Nyamekye and veteran Brazilian attacker Gabi Portilho. Aisha Solórzano, a 26-year-old Guatemalan forward, joined the Utah Royals from Liga MX Femenil, with 19-year-old Colombian defender Ana María Guzmán also joining the team on loan.
These players were recruited directly by their teams, who wooed them away from their current leagues by selling them on two things: the club, and the NWSL as a whole.
Different league, different mentality
For Dufour and Morgan, that experience was a little different. Both players had stayed in one league for their entire careers prior to heading to the U.S.; for them, the NWSL represented a totally new experience. Both Dufour and Morgan said that the NWSL comes with a different mentality. Part of this is a cultural difference, but it also has to do with the way the league is run.
One of the NWSL’s biggest selling points is equity. Although teams sometimes complain about the league’s salary cap for limiting who they can sign, the restrictions create a largely even spread across the table, and dynamics can change each year. During the season, game results are largely unpredictable, something that Morgan said she found “really appealing.”
“You don’t go into any games thinking it’s gonna be an easy game, or you’re gonna win comfortably. Every game, you have to be at your very best,” Morgan said. “I think that’s something that I really enjoy, knowing that you have to be 100% applied every single week, every single training session, to make that sort of level of competitiveness a habit.”
After spending significant time with Manchester City, one of the biggest and richest teams in English soccer, Morgan said that the NWSL was a good change of pace.
“When I was at City … lower teams in the league would just be trying to grind it out and hold on for a draw, maybe nick a goal on the transition. Whereas here, everyone just goes for the win all the time,” Morgan said. “It’s probably why you see so many late goals and last-gasp winners, ‘cause every team’s just all-out trying to win, and I find that really exciting to be a part of.”
Dufour echoed the sentiment: “There is something about the mindset around soccer, and I wanted that.”
Internationally, some buy into the stereotype that the NWSL is a “retirement league” — a term more typically directed at the U.S. men’s league, MLS. But it’s not the only stereotype that the league has to contend with: Morgan noted that players in the WSL don’t always have the most favorable view of the NWSL’s style of play.
“To be honest, a stereotype before I got here that I think maybe people hold back home is that the NWSL is kind of just a ‘kick-and-run’ league, it’s kind of just punt it up to the forwards and see what happens, but that couldn’t be further from the truth,” Morgan said.
“So many teams play possession-based football; I think it’s just with a little more attacking intent than many you see in England. I think the game there is a little bit more patient, and a bit slow tactically,” she added. “Whereas here, I feel like people are a bit more willing to take risks and throw bodies forward.”
Starting from scratch
After starting her professional career in the Zambia Super League in 2018, and playing in multiple leagues afterward, NWSL opportunity came knocking a little earlier than she expected. The Zambian forward said that multiple teams had shown interest in her, but with Bay FC, she got to join a franchise that was building from scratch.
“I was just in love with the team,” Kundananji said. “Knowing it’s a new team and everything would just start fresh, (that) we are all new on the team, I just wanted to have that experience too.”
Kundananji was also in a unique situation with the expansion team: At 23 years old, Kundananji was one of Bay FC’s marquee signings and faces of the franchise ahead of its inaugural season. Kundananji has spent the past year building a name for herself in the U.S., and scored five goals in 20 starts for Bay. But she also pointed out the privileges that come with playing in an established league like the NWSL.
“I think every league is different, it depends (on) how they are treating the players, how they are taking care of the players and how much sponsorship they are getting,” Kundananji said. “It’s not everywhere where teams are having a privilege to get this kind of attention, especially when it comes to the fanbase, when it comes to the stadiums that we are using, when it comes to the media and everything.”
Goals (and goals) for 2025
When asked what they were hoping to get out of the upcoming season, Kundananji, Morgan and Dufour, in true competitive fashion, said that they wanted to win games and win trophies. But they also each have individual goals.
Kundananji said that she wanted to focus on growing her own game, and fixing her own individual mistakes. Morgan wanted to continue her development and compete for her own spot on the squad.
“It’s important to have the best demanded of you every day, and I really feel that I’m in a place to do that,” Morgan said.
Dufour, who has only been with the team for a few weeks, wants to lead her team in scoring.
“First I want to be part of the team, to be integrated fully, want to help my teammates and be happy and then we will see,” Dufour said.
Now on her fourth professional league and fourth country, Kundananji said that she likes to focus on her own playing and improvement more than adapting to the league itself.
“Every league, they have their own culture and what they believe in,” Kundananji said. “Most of the time when I go to a new league, I don’t focus on the things that are, ‘this and this and this.’ As long as I’m having fun, and as long as everybody around me (is) happy, I’m also happy. Enjoying the game.”
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