The Portland Thorns will take on the Kansas City Current in the NWSL Championship Sunday, with kickoff set for 8:00pm at Audi Field in Washington, DC.
It’s an unprecedented occasion for the league, with a primetime broadcast on over-the-air CBS (with streaming on Paramount+ in the US, and Twitch for international viewers). It also pits two very different teams together.
Portland is the traditional power, but they’re going through difficult times off the field in the aftermath of the Yates investigation. Kansas City, meanwhile, only moved back to the Midwest two years ago, and finished at the bottom of the table in 2021. However, massive off-field investment has changed the club, who are now striving to join the Thorns as carrying a certain top-class cache going forward.
There’s also the tactics at play: Portland loves to dominate possession, controlling games and making their opponents chase shadows. KC, meanwhile, has been extremely effective at making games more frenetic and chaotic, an environment they tend to thrive in.
Read further for an in-depth preview of each team, including quotes, analysis, and projected lineups.