We also examine the initial list of cities that U.S. Soccer have contacted to bid to host 2031 Women’s World Cup games. This process will go very quickly this year and all 11 2026 men’s World Cup host venues were included, along with 17 other cities.
USL Super League playoffs—Tampa Bay Sun wins the league’s first title
The USL Super League playoffs saw the top seed and regular season champion Carolina Ascent upset at home by fourth seed Ft. Lauderdale 2-1 in the semifinals on June 8. American forward Kiara Locklear (23) scored two goals, the second coming in the 120th minute on a volley inside Carolina’s goal area, to give Ft. Lauderdale United a berth in the championship final. To be fair, Lochlear appeared offsides on the chipped ball to her deep in the box, with defenders on either side, but not close enough to prevent the shot. She seemed stunned at first that it wasn’t waived off.
As we saw in the A-League playoffs this season from late goals, not having VAR in either league leaves the decision up to the referee, but from our vantage point, this game should have gone to penalty kicks to decide a winner. Locklear had five goals and four assists in 16 appearances during the regular season, including scoring the crucial ultimate game-winner in the 26th minute against Dallas Trinity on May 24 to give Ft. Lauderdale a chance to clinch a playoff spot in Spokane on the last day of the season (see: The Week in Women's Football: Loza Abera exclusive; Bhutan; Super League excitement - TribalFootball.com).
Three of Locklear’s five goals during the regular season were against Carolina, including both goals in a 2-0 win at home on December 14 and the winner on March 2 in Charlotte (2-1). With her two goals in the semifinal, she ended with five goals in five matches against the Ascent. Locklear was the Atlantic Sun Player of the Year at Lipscomb University with 19 goals and four assists her senior season. She grew up in Mooresville, North Carolina, only thirty minutes’ drive from Charlotte, and had a large group of family at the match which attracted a crowd of 5,539.
Puerto Rican international midfielder Kathrynn González (25), who had largely played as a substitute all season, had put the Players’ Shield winners ahead in the 68th minute with her only goal of the season. Gonzalez grew up in Pennsylvania, played at East Carolina and Marshall Universities, and joined Carolina after a season in Denmark with Thisted.
After the match and in the lead-up to the championship match, the United players said that they found huge motivation from a poll of fans, that the league had posted on their Instagram page, showing only 5% thought they would win the league title, compared with 37% for Tampa Bay, 30% for Dallas Trinity and 28% for Carolina.
The league has done so much correctly this first season, but maybe they should ditch the poll for next season. Locklear said after the win in Charlotte: “I’m just so excited to have another week with this team. It’s a team effort, and I’m proud of all my teammates just battling, literally until the last minute. Everyone doubted us this whole playoff run. I mean, five percent (in the USL’s fan poll), are you kidding me? We’re taking it, and we’re taking it home to Fort Lauderdale.”
In the other semifinal on June 7, Tampa Bay (seeded second) held form over Dallas Trinity (the third seed) with a 2-1 win in front of 3,038 fans at the Riverfront Stadium. English import Tash Flint scored from the penalty spot in the 36th minute and then assisted on American midfielder Carlee Giammona‘s winner in the 59th minute to complete the comeback for the Sun, who trailed after 17 minutes from American Hannah Davison’s second goal of the season on a header past Tampa’s American goalkeeper Ashley Orkus.
In the final, Tampa Bay Sun won the Florida Derby with a 1-0 win in overtime over Ft. Lauderdale in front of an enthusiastic sellout crowd of 5,006 fans at Riverfront Stadium in Tampa. In the 100th minute of play, Sydny Nasello took a quick traditional throw-in on the right touchline from Jordan Zade—when Ft. Lauderdale was expecting a flip throw from the American rookie—and dribbled brilliantly along the touchline to evade two defenders; Nasello then sent the ball to Danish U-23 international Cecilie Floe, who scored uncontested in front of goal. The Sun earlier had a goal waived off for offside in the 54th minute by Tash Flint.
Sydny Nasello, who grew up in nearby Land O’Lakes, Florida, played this season with her former college head coach—Denise Schilte-Brown—at the University of South Florida. Nasello was named the Most Valuable Player of the final with her outstanding dribbling and control from midfield, helping the Sun pressure United throughout most of the game; in the second half they entered their opponents’ final third twice as often as United (35-17) but United defended well to take the game to extra time.
USL Super League Teams of the Year and Award Winners for 2024-25
Players Shield winner (regular season champions) Carolina Ascent FC led all teams with three selections on the 2024-25 All-Super League first team and four on both the first and second teams: defenders Sydney Studer and Jill Aguilera, and Mia Corbin, who was second in the league in scoring with 12 goals, made the first team. Ascent goalkeeper Samantha Leshnak Murphy was selected for the second team.
Dallas Trinity FC and Tampa Bay Sun FC also earned four total selections. For Dallas, Golden Boot winner Allie Thornton earned first team honors alongside captain and midfielder Amber Brooks, with Hannah Davison and Chioma Ubogagu making the second team. The Sun was represented by forwards Tash Flint and midfielder Sydny Nasello (both on the first team) and forward Cecilie Fløe and defender Vivianne Bessette (both on the second team).
For Ft. Lauderdale, midfielder Addie McCain (first team), forward Jasmine Hamid (second team) and defender Laveni Vaka (second team)—who plays internationally for Tonga—were selected for the championship final runners-up. Spokane Zephyr, who just missed the playoffs with a tie in their last game against Ft. Lauderdale when a win was essential, had three members on the team: forward and Bosnia and Herzegovina international Emina Ekic and goalkeeper Hope Hisey on the first team, with defender Sarah Clark on the second team.
D.C. United defender Susanna Fitch was a first team selection while the Brooklyn FC duo of midfielder Sam Kroeger of Brooklyn FC and forward Mackenzie George were both selected to the second team. Lexington SC midfielder Shea Moyer also made the second team.
The 2024/25 USL Super League All-League Teams were voted on by each club’s technical staff following the conclusion of the 2024/25 USL Super League regular season.
For the end of season awards, Spokane’s Emina Ekic was voted the USL Super League player of the year. She ended the season with 10 goals and six assists, leading the team in both categories and the league in goal contributions. She converted all four penalty kicks taken and scored two game-winning goals. Ekić also recorded a brace on three separate occasions, the most in the league. She is a full international for Bosnia and Herzegovina (see our interview with Ekic from earlier in the season: The Week in Women's Football: Spokane Zephyr in focus; how the USL Super League franchise exceeding expectations - TribalFootball.com).
Ekić earned the award with 37.5% of the votes. Carolina Ascent’s Mia Corbin finished second with 19% after leading the Players’ Shield winners with 12 goals and an assist. Overall, six players received votes for Player of the Year.
Ekic’s teammate in Spokane, Hope Hisey (23), was named Goalkeeper of the Year. Entering the Super League following her college career at the University of Arizona Wildcats and a short stint with the NWSL’s Kansas City Current, Hisey led the league in saves (70), save percentage (77%) and was tied for first with nine clean sheets. Her 1.0 goals-against average ranked second in the league among all Golden Glove-eligible goalkeepers. Hisey was a key component during Spokane’s spring half of the season, where the team had a league-best record of 9-3-2 (W-D-L) and tied for second with the fewest goals conceded (14); six of Hisey’s nine clean sheets came in the spring.
Hisey earned the award with the most votes among goalkeepers, followed by Carolina Ascent’s Samantha Leshnak Murphy and finishing third was Dallas Trinity’s Madison White.
Carolina Ascent FC’s Puerto Rican international Jill Aguilera won the USL Super League Defender of the Year award. Aguilera also contributed in attack, scoring two goals and adding a league-high seven assists to win the Golden Playmaker award.
Aguilera earned the Defender of the Yar award with the most votes among defenders, followed by Carolina teammate Sydney Studer and DC Power FC’s Susanna Fitch in third.
Dallas Trinity forward Sealey Strawn (17) won the USL Super League Young Player of the Year award. On November 2, she subbed into the game and scored her first goal of the season in the 87th minute for the only goal in a 1-0 win over Fort Lauderdale United FC. She finished the season with seven starts in 19 appearances and scored four goals with two assists; her six goal contributions ranking third on the team.
She also played for her youth club, Solar SC and the U.S. U-20 national team in October, scoring once in two appearances at the 2025 CONCACAF Women’s U-20 championship. Strawn is committed to play for the University of North Carolina Tar Heels in 2026. With her stellar season in the USL Super League, she could forego college and turn professional as a few others players—notable U.S. international Lindsey (Horan) Heaps—have done in the past.
Strawn earned the award with 50 percent of the votes. Fort Lauderdale United FC striker Kiara Locklear and Lexington SC forward and Colombian youth international Maithe Lopez finished tied for second on 12.5%. Overall, seven players received votes for Young Player of the Year.
Carolina Ascent FC’s Philip Poole was voted as the USL Super League Coach of the Year. Under Poole, the Ascent hosted the league’s inaugural match on August 17 and recorded the Super League’s first win in front of a sold-out crowd of 10,553 fans at American Legion Memorial Stadium over D.C. United (1-0). Carolina were unbeaten in their first 11 matches and were always in a playoff spot. The Ascent tied the record for most consecutive wins with six and set a league record for most consecutive clean sheets with five. Carolina’s 45 goals scored and 24 goals conceded were also both league bests. The Ascent won the inaugural Players Shield for topping the regular season with 48 points and a 13-9-6 record.
Poole earned the award with 56 percent of the votes. Spokane Zephyr FC’s Jo Johnson finished second on 18% after leading Spokane to a remarkable spring campaign, finishing just shy of a postseason berth, after finishing bottom of the league in the fall season. Tampa Bay’s Denise Schilte-Brown and Dallas Trinity’s Pauline MacDonald tied for third on 13% as the teams finished second and third in the league, respectively.
Other Super League News
Angel City of the NWSL, with league teams holding essentially another preseason during the summer break for the EUROS, will host the USL Super League regular season champion Carolina Ascent in a friendly at BMO Stadium in Los Angeles in July 26. ACFC Sporting Director Mark Parsons said: “We are excited to host the Carolina Ascent and introduce them and the USL Super League to our incredible fan base. The development of talent in this country is growing rapidly as is the popularity of women’s football. The USL Super League is creating additional opportunities for professional play and we look forward to welcoming them as our featured home friendly match.
Carolina Ascent Head Coach/General Manager Philip Poole said: “We are really looking forward to our upcoming game against Angel City. ACFC have been an NWSL standard setter since their inception. As the 2024/25 USL Super League shield winners, it will be a pleasure to take on one of the world leaders in women’s professional football in a competitive friendly.”
The Carolina Ascent FC roster includes three Southern California-native players including forward Rylee Baisden from Yorba Linda, midfielder Taylor Porter from San Diego, defender Sydney Studer from Corona, and one Northern California-native in midfielder and league Defender of the Year Jill Aguilera from Redwood City.
In tremendous news for the league and the inaugural league champions Tampa Bay Sun, it was announced on June 18 that the team will build a 15,000 soccer stadium on the Tampa waterfront at Ybor Harbor. The development will include a boutique hotel, a 33-acre mixed-use development featuring residential, retail, restaurants, hotels, and office towers that will house the USL’s league headquarters, which has been located in Tampa for many years.
Scotland 2024-25 Women’s Premier League Wrap-up—Hibernian’s win for the ages
For the 2024-25 Scotland Women’s Premier League season, Hibernian of Edinburgh won the league title in a huge shock and sent a message to Glasgow City (three points behind in second) and giants Glasgow Celtic and Glasgow Rangers that another side can break through to win the league, which has been focused on the three Glasgow sides (with each winning one title over the previous three seasons) since the advent of professionalization in the women’s league five years ago. Hibs is one of five clubs that are full-time professional on the women’s side, along with the Glasgow trio and fellow Edinburgh side Heart of Midlothian.
In the league, Hibernian finished 24-5-3 (W-D-L) for 77 points. The league runs a first round of 22 matches for each of the 12 SWPL sides, which then splits into a six team championship round and a six team relegation group. Hibs finished the first stage tied on points with Glasgow City (54 points), but behind on goal differential with City well ahead (+80 to +57). Third place Rangers were two points behind but had the most dominate goal differential in the league (+94) while 2023-24 champions Celtic (51 points) were a further point behind their Ibrox rivals and had a +67 goal difference, all of which points to the huge gulf between the top few teams in the league and the followers.
In the Championship round, Hibernian tied Glasgow City 2-2 at home and won away 1-0 to pull ahead in the title race. Hibs won the Scottish league championship by defeating Rangers at Ibrox on the final day of the season (1-0). They only dropped two points from 36 against the bottom six sides—at home against Patrick Thistle on November 24 (1-1)—and at one stage of the season won ten games in a row (including a Cup match). Hibs finished first with 77 points and Glasgow City had 74 points for second to also make the 2025-26 UEFA WCL, with Rangers third on 71 points, Celtic fourth on 62 points and Hearts fifth on 59 points.
Absolutely no one saw Hibs’ success coming before the season, given that the budgets are far larger at Celtic and Rangers and they dominate on signing imports in the league, along with record 16-time champions and independent side Glasgow City. In 2023-24, Hibernian finished in fifth, 36 points behind the winners Celtic. Hibernian’s success in the league was akin to what Leicester City did on the men’s side in winning the EPL title in 2015-16. I hope to see multiple books chronicling their achievement, as we saw for the Foxes. This was Hibs fourth women’s title but their first in 18 years, after winning the league in 2003-04, 2005-06 and 2006-07.
In the final game victory over Rangers, Hibernian midfielder Linzi Taylor (31) scored the winner in the 75th-minute with an assist from Kathleen McGovern (23). Linzi Taylor was a crucial addition last summer from Patrick Thistle, where she played in 84 games and had 13 goals for the Leith side. Taylor also played with Celtic, starting as a professional in 2011. She then moved to Kilmarnock as well as abroad to play in Israel for FC Ramat HaSharon, winning the 2018 Israeli Cup, and in Iceland with Vikingur.
In this historic season, Hibs ended an 18-game winless streak against Rangers with a 3-0 win in December, which had been active since October of 2019, and a 16 game winless streak against Celtic in March, that was active since September 2019.
At the end of the 2023-24 season, Hibs captain and former Scottish international Joelle Murray (38) retired—she played with the club for 20 years and is in the club’s Hall of Fame—while top-scoring America Jorian Baucom (28), who scored 25 goals in 32 games last season, left for the USL Super League D.C Power and was transferred to Ft. Lauderdale mid-season. In addition, Scottish international Shannon McGregor (25) left for Celtic after seven seasons and Leah Eddie (24)—who left after six years with the club—joined Rangers.
Head coach Grant Scott brought in Kathleen McGovern (23) and Ciara Grant (32), who were both released by town rivals Hearts, with the goal to bring in players with a winning background and add to a young squad built with local players. This was Scott’s second season with the club in his second stint and he has also coached at Hearts, St Johnstone and Glasgow City in the SWPL and Durham in the FA Women’s Championship (now WSL 2).
The Scottish Women’s National Team certainly took note of Hibs’ success this season as Kathleen McGovern and Eilidh Adams both made their Scotland ‘A’ Squad debuts in 2025. McGovern, who currently has three caps, scored against Netherlands during the UEFA Nations League in her second match to help Scotland earn a point in Tilburg.
She became the first Hibs Women’s player to score for the Scotland Women’s National Team in over 15 years, since Kirsty McBride scored against Denmark on 14 August 2009. The U-23 WNT utilized Michaela McAlonie (23), who is in her fourth season with the club, Rosie Livingstone, who debuted the club as a 15-year-old in 2020-21, Tegan Bowie, who is a full international and started out at Hibs Academy and then played at Celtic before returning, and loanee goalkeeper Erin Clachers (23) from Glasgow City, where she won five league title. Rowena Armitage (17) played for multiple Scottish youth national teams.
For next season, the Women’s Premier League will reduce the top league to ten teams, which hopefully will reduce the huge gap between the top five clubs and the other seven in terms of competitiveness, budgets, squad building, etc. Thus, three clubs were relegated after the 2024-25 season: Spartans (36 points), Queens Park of Glasgow (12 points) and Dundee United (7 points). Montrose narrowly retained their top tier spot for next season with 37 points, one ahead of Spartans of Edinburgh. After the first round, there will still be a split second round, with a top six/bottom four split.
Hibs’ imports this season were:
American goalkeeper Noa Schumacher (25) played 17 regular season games this season and collegiately at Cal State-Fullerton.
Defender Stacey Papadopoulos (28) of Australia scored two goals in 28 matches in her first season in Scotland after two seasons with Western United in Melbourne in the A-League.
Defender Ciara Grant (32) is a Republic of Ireland international and moved to Hibs for 2024-25 after two seasons with Hearts. She also played with Rangers, with Sion Swifts in Northern Ireland and multiple clubs in the Republic.
Defender Poppy Lawson (22) is from England and in her third season with Hibs. She came from Manchester United to turn pro with Hibs and captained United’s U-21 side at 18-years-of-age; she won the FA WSL Academy League title in her last season in England.
Looking at the total scorers across the two league campaigns in 2024-25, the Golden Boot winner was former England U-17 international Katie Wilkinson (30), who scored 39 goals for Rangers—29 in the first round and 10 in the Championship round—in her first season in Scotland after two seasons with Southampton. Republic of Ireland forward Saoirse Noonan (25) of Celtic and Scottish international Kathleen McGovern of Hibernian were tied for second in the league on 25 goals, with McGovern’s Hibs and Scottish international teammate Eilidh Adams (21) fourth with 24 goals.
English import Rio Hardy (28) of Rangers was fifth with 22 goals—she played at the University of South Alabama in the States as well as in Cyprus with Apollon Ladies, winning a league title in 2020-21 and in Iceland at Grindavik; she is in her second at Celtic after leaving Durham Women at home. Ukrainian international Nicole Kozlova (24) of Glasgow City (see: The Week in Women's Football: Reviewing UEFA Nations League; examining Armenia squad - TribalFootball.com) was sixth with 21 goals. Tied for seventh with 18 goals were Scotland native Laura Berry (18), who played with Rangers and Motherwell, and American Brenna Lovera (28) of Glasgow City, who played in the NWSL in Chicago and in Iceland and Portugal. Scottish nationals Bayley Hutchinson (21) of Hearts was ninth on 16 goals and Kristy Howat (28) of Rangers was tenth with 14 goals—she was capped against Slovakia in July of 2024 in a 2025 Women’s EURO qualifiers.
Other imports among the top 15 scorers were:
Olufolasade “Sade” Adamolekun of Hearts, a Jamaica international who grew up in the U.S., played at the University of Southern California and for the U.S. at the U-14 level; she scored 12 goal in her second season at Hearts. She won a UWS Summer League title with Santa Clarita Blue Heat in 2021. She is on contract with Hearts for next season.
Natalia Wrobel (21) of Glasgow City is a Polish international who came to Scotland after two seasons with Brondby of Denmark. She has 19 caps since 2021 but was not called in for the EURO Finals side this summer for her nation’s debut finals. She scored 11 goals in her first season with City.
2031 Women’s World Cup City Bidding Update
At the end of May, U.S. Soccer began its bidding process to select the host cities for the 2031 Women’s World Cup, which will be held within CONCACAF. U.S. Soccer requested bids from the 11 cities hosting 2026 men’s World Cup games next summer:
Atlanta
Boston
Dallas
Houston
Kansas City
Los Angeles
Miami
New York/New Jersey
Philadelphia
San Francisco/Oakland/San Jose
Seattle
Other cities that were included in the initial information request were:
Baltimore
Charlotte
Chicago
Cincinnati
Denver
Detroit
Las Vegas
Minneapolis
Nashville
New Orleans
Orlando
Phoenix
San Diego
St. Louis
Tampa
Washington D.C.
For the 2003 Women’s World Cup, six cities hosted the games with four on the list above (Boston, Los Angeles, Philadelphia and Washington D.C.) and two that are not on the list of prospects cities above: Columbus and Portland, Oregon. In 1999, eight venues were used: Palo Alto, San Jose and Los Angeles in California, New Jersey, Boston, Washington (Landover, MD) and Chicago—who are all on the list above (Palo Alto can be considered in the SF/Oakland/San Jose area) with Portland again not on the list above.
The shocker is that Portland was not included for 2031 at this point, even though they successfully hosted games in the two previous WWC’s in the States and still is seen globally as the number one women’s club market in the world, with attendances always hovering around 20,000. Columbus, a 2023 host city, has a new MLS stadium downtown that is only about five years old, but Cincinnati is less than two hours away and has a larger and newer stadium. U.S. Soccer has not yet eliminated any cities that were not on the list of 27, but this process is expected to go quickly, so cities who want to be considered further should express their interest and establish bidding committees promptly.
U.S. Soccer is holding a working session (i.e., a bidder’s conference) for interested cities in the Atlanta area in July. Cities’ bids must be submitted in September of 2025. U.S. Soccer will submit its formal bid to FIFA in the last three months of 2025—which should have the final list of host cities throughout the region—and FIFA is expected to formally award the 2031 WWC on April 30 in Vancouver, British Colombia. Reports are that the U.S. bid will have 15-20 cities across all the CONCACAF countries involved, with more than half located in the States.
With U.S. Soccer soliciting interest from other venues besides the 2026 men’s World Cup host cities, there is more openness and transparency than we saw for the 2027 WWC, which the U.S.—in a joint bid with Mexico—stepped out of in April 2024, just weeks before FIFA’s final decision process. Done very quickly at the time, U.S. Soccer presented the same cities that were hosting men’s World Cup games, with SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles replaced by nearby Pasadena’s Rose Bowl. Mexico was also using the same stadiums for the 2026 World Cup along with the addition of Leon (Estadio Leon) and Querétaro City Estadio Corregidora) in Mexico (see: The Week in Women's Football: Examing USL comps; reviewing each 2027 bid book - Tribal Football).
This list doesn’t preclude some of the games being hosted in Mexico (as is being done next year with the men’s WC)—likely Mexico City, Guadalajara and Monterey and perhaps Toluca, Leon, Queretaro and/or Pachuca, as well as in Jamaica (Kingston) and in Costa Rica (San Jose).
Tim Grainey is a contributor to Tribal Football. His latest book Beyond Bend it Like Beckham on the global game of women’s football. Get your copy today. Follow Tim on X: @TimGrainey