NWSL MVP Tracker: Thompson leads USWNT in ranking, but other internationals dominate

The 2025 NWSL season is already five weeks old, which can only mean one thing: the return of ESPN’s NWSL MVP Tracker!

We will be checking in on the developing MVP race periodically throughout the season as the form of top players ebbs and flows. Who is positioning themselves to be the league MVP? We’re here to tell you, all season long.

Our methodology is a combination of not just data, but observation because (1) numbers aren’t the entire story, and (2) it allows us to analyze players across all positions.

Yes, goal-scorers inherently get much of the attention and often win the MVP award. There really wasn’t any arguing with Kansas City Current forward Temwa Chawinga claiming the award last year after she set a new league scoring record, but all players are eligible to win the MVP award and can earn a spot on our shortlist.

Whether history repeats itself and another goalscorer is named the MVP at the end of the year remains to be seen, but undoubtedly, there are a host of familiar names on our first in-season edition of these rankings. (Several of our preseason MVP predictions look like good shouts early on).

Of note: There are prominent players who we expect to make their way onto this list when or if they get healthy. Thus far, however, their time on the field can’t warrant inclusion — Washington Spirit forward Trinity Rodman, whose back problems have resurfaced, is the top player that list.

With that, let’s get to the ranking!

11. Rebeca Bernal, Washington Spirit defender

The arrival of Bernal added depth and versatility to a Spirit team that came within a whisker of winning the NWSL Shield and NWSL Championship last year.

The Mexican international can play as a centerback or a holding midfielder, providing the Spirit with the flexibility to line up in a three-back or four-back formation, and also allowing head coach Jonatan Giraldez to make mid-game adjustments without necessarily burning a substitution. All of that has been necessary considering the Spirit’s injury list has grown to what could be a competitive starting 11 by itself.

Bernal ranks third in the league in clearances and eighth in aerials, per TruMedia. She’s still adapting to the league and should only get better in time.

10. Lorena, Kansas City Current goalkeeper

This time last year, Kansas City was winning games while bleeding goals. The Current’s back four was a mess and there were uncertainties in net. Lorena, along with a solidified unit in front of her, has made sure that Kansas City’s perfect start to 2025 is a holistic offensive and defensive effort.

The Brazilian newcomer leads the league in goals against, having conceded only once in five games. She has her defense to thank for that, in part, but she has also been otherworldly when called upon to make jaw-dropping saves, as she did in the team’s best win of the season to date, over the Washington Spirit.

If you thought this list would be without a stalwart box-to-box midfielder who embodies much of what the NWSL is about, you must be new here.

Haley McCutcheon is not a name that will jump out to any casual fan. She provides neither the flair nor the statistical tally of teammates Barbra Banda and Marta, but McCutcheon is the do-everything midfielder for an Orlando team filled with stars. She has increasingly gotten on the score sheet dating back to last year.

McCutcheon is a jack of all trades, ranking in the 75th percentile or better in almost every offensive statistical category tracked by TruMedia. The kicker? Roughly the same can be said about her defensive metrics.

8. Lo’eau LaBonta, Kansas City Current midfielder

Keeping with the theme — and not to sound like a broken record from last year — Kansas City’s midfield is so impressive not because of how it controls possession, but because of how productive and incisive it is. LaBonta is the leader of that effort.

Yes, she is authoritative from the penalty spot and always entertaining in the celebration that follows, but she is also the heart and soul of a Current team that (stop me if you’ve heard this before) looks unstoppable right now. Kansas City wins games in transition, and LaBonta is the two-way midfielder orchestrating those game-changing moments on each side of the ball.

7. Ashley Hatch, Washington Spirit forward

The 2021 NWSL Golden Boot winner is back in form after a disappointing couple of years on a personal level.

Three of her four goals thus far this season have been game-winners, which has helped Washington keep pace in the Shield race despite their many injuries. Her brace against Bay FC in late March was particularly impressive as she adjusted her body to find the ball and evoked memories of the poaching goal-scorer that has given NWSL defenses fits.

Washington has been without Ouleye Sarr and (mostly) Trinity Rodman, which has placed more of the scoring burden on Hatch. Thus far, she has delivered. She is also valuable on the defensive side of the ball as the Spirit’s first line of confrontation.

6. Barbra Banda, Orlando Pride forward

Banda has three goals and one assist, which is just about the pace to be expected from one of the league’s best forwards. She remains a game-changing player who can slip behind defenses and drift off of the shoulders of defenders to finish plays spectacularly, and her relationship with Marta continues to prove fruitful.

The Washington Spirit’s defensive combination of Bernal and Tara McKeown did well to shut down Banda in last week’s NWSL Championship rematch, but Banda is still every bit the dominant player she was last year, and she’s likely to stay right near the top of this list all season long.

Is any player more improved year over year than Alyssa Thompson? The Angel City forward has three goals and one assist in four games as she has menaced opposing defenses on the dribble and in transition.

Thompson is adept at slipping behind defenders on the back shoulder, sharp on the dribble, and increasingly accurate at shooting from distance. Her upper-90 banger against the Seattle Reign a few weeks ago was the exclamation mark to her ascent, and don’t forget: She’s still only 20 years old.

To the point about her value: Look at how Angel City struggled without her last week. They lost 4-0 at home to NJ/NY Gotham FC, and they were without an answer for how to fill the void left by Thompson.

4. Temwa Chawinga, Kansas City Current forward

Last year’s league MVP is just as dangerous in the new year. Chawinga leads the NWSL with 4.3 expected goals, per TruMedia, and she has scored three times. She remains the single most exceptional player in the NWSL who can change games, a forward who makes almost everyone else on the field look like they are standing still.

This year looks a lot like last year thus far, to the tune of Chawinga recently matching her own previous record of scoring in eight straight games (a streak that began in 2024).

Chawinga will challenge for both the Golden Boot and MVP award again. If she can put together a season remotely close to last year’s 20-goal output, she will insert herself into Sam Kerr territory as arguably the league’s most dominant player. She’s certainly off to the right start on that journey.

There really is no other forward like Esther Gonzalez. She scored another brace last week against Angel City — her second in as many games — all while continuing her trend of being the most free-flowing forward in the league. At one point in the first half, she was literally closer to her own goal than all 11 Angel City players, playing a 1-2 passing combination with her centerbacks.

Esther is an anomaly, a proverbial unicorn. She continues to score goals with her head despite her listed 5-foot-5 frame, she’s exceptionally gifted on the ball, and she has a vision for the game that allows her to see plays develop before most other players.

She’s also crucial to Gotham’s success. The “Super Team” designation barely lasted a year, and Gotham got off to a slightly shaky start this season, but Esther remains the constant, reliable leader who gets things done.

We told you to watch out for Cascarino in our preseason rankings, and she has proven why thus far. Her brace over the weekend added to three assists on the season for one of the best wingers — and players — in the NWSL right now.

San Diego looks vastly improved this year under new head coach Jonas Eidevall after half a season of no direction (or coach) in 2024, and Cascarino is one of the primary beneficiaries. She’s electric on the flanks, frequently beating defenders to the endline and combining with Gia Corley and Kenza Dali, two other names to watch going forward.

Ultimately, Cascarino could be the reason San Diego returns to the playoffs.

1. Debinha, Kansas City Current forward/midfielder

One of the great injustices of the NWSL’s history is that Debinha, who was a focal point for arguably the greatest team in league history (the 2018-19 North Carolina Courage) has never been named MVP. She was among the best players in the world at the time.

It would be harsh to call last year a relative struggle for Debinha, but undoubtedly, the attention on the Current was elsewhere, namely with Chawinga.

Five games into the new year, the 33-year-old Debinha has pulled a page from Brazilian compatriot Marta’s book of anti-aging. Debinha is back to her prime, and she’s setting the pace in the MVP race. She leads the league in chances created (16), per TruMedia, and she has added to her game by improving defensively in a Kansas City system that demands a lot from its front six. Look only to her goal on opening day, when she expertly pressured two Portland Thorns midfielders to win the ball and start the transition sequence, as evidence.

It’s the opening stretch of a marathon season, but Debinha has set the pace.