Published for Kansas City Current fans — October 2026
By Toxlay Sports Editorial Team · Last updated October 23, 2026
⚽ Kansas City Current Fans — Your Playoff Push Is On, Teal Rising!
The Shield winners of 2025 are charging again: three straight wins, Chawinga back and scoring, and a home quarterfinal in reach at CPKC Stadium. Red shirts, full voice — this is the autumn to wear the Current colors.
The Club
Kansas City Current is a professional women’s soccer club based in Kansas City, Missouri, playing in the NWSL. The club was founded in December 2020 as an expansion team under the temporary name Kansas City NWSL, after an ownership group led by Angie and Chris Long secured the franchise and the player-related assets of the defunct Utah Royals. Brittany Mahomes bought a stake at founding; Patrick Mahomes joined the ownership group in January 2023. On October 30, 2021, the club revealed its permanent name — Kansas City Current — and its crest: a shield with the stacked KC monogram, a river-current motif and two stars representing Kansas and Missouri.
The colors tell the story, too. Teal stands for optimism, hope and inclusion, Heartland Red for the heart of the country, and Storm, a deep blue, for strength, determination and power. Together they make the identity every Current fan chants about: Teal Rising.
That stadium changed women’s soccer forever. CPKC Stadium, at Richard L. Berkley Riverfront Park on the Missouri River, is the first stadium in the world purpose-built for a women’s professional team. Privately financed at an estimated cost of $117 million, it opened on March 16, 2024 with a famous 5–4 win over Portland Thorns before a sellout crowd. Capacity is 11,500, and in 2024 the Current became the first NWSL team to sell out every home match. The September 26, 2026 match against Denver Summit was already the 50th match played there across all competitions.
The Kansas City Current roster matches that ambition, and the Kansas City Current schedule is now one of the hottest tickets in American soccer. Searching for Kansas City Current tickets, roster news or the next home date? This guide covers the stars, the story of 2025, the 2026 playoff race, the key fixtures and the rivalries.
⭐ FAN FAVORITE
#6 Chawinga — Kansas City Current Style Jersey
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The two-time MVP in Heartland Red. White swoosh, United Way front sponsor in white, teal trim, and the name and number on the back in solid white — a fan-inspired apparel tribute to the fastest show in the NWSL.
Last Season (2025): The Record Shield Season
Some seasons are good. The Current’s 2025 was historic. Kansas City won the NWSL Shield, presented by CarMax, for the first time in franchise history — and did it faster than any club has ever done it, clinching on September 20, 2025 with a 2–0 home win over Seattle Reign FC, with five regular-season games still to spare. Debinha converted the penalty on 34 minutes and Temwa Chawinga headed home the second on 74, on a night CPKC Stadium shook. The Current had led the table since Week 6 and never really looked back.
The final numbers still read like a misprint: 21 wins, 3 draws and just 2 defeats for 65 points, 21 clear of second-placed Washington Spirit. Kansas City set league records for points, wins, shutouts with 16, fewest goals conceded with just 13, and fewest minutes trailing with 109. Chawinga won NWSL MVP and the Golden Boot, with 15 goals, for the second straight year — the first player in league history to win back-to-back MVP awards — and Lorena was named Goalkeeper of the Year.
Then came the heartbreak that still fuels this team. As the No. 1 seed, Kansas City lost the playoff quarterfinal 1–2 after extra time at CPKC Stadium on November 9, 2025 to No. 8 seed Gotham FC, who went on to win the championship. The Current played without their two biggest attacking threats: Chawinga, who suffered an adductor injury to her right leg at Houston on October 18, 2025, and Michelle Cooper, also out injured. A record season ended one game too soon.
Best Players Right Now
Temwa Chawinga — #6, forward. The two-time reigning NWSL MVP and Golden Boot winner, scorer of a league-record 20 goals in 2024 and 15 more in 2025. Her 2026 comeback story is told in the Star Spotlight below; the headline is simple: fit, starting, and leading the Current with 12 league goals.
Debinha — #99, midfielder and forward. The Brazilian playmaker who makes Kansas City tick. She scored the Shield-clinching penalty in 2025, and her equalizer against Gotham on April 4, 2026 was the 80th goal of her NWSL career across all competitions, second all-time. On October 3, 2026 she scored a second-half hat trick against Bay FC (46, 53 and 75 minutes) in a 5–1 win.
Michelle Cooper — #17, forward. The USWNT winger whose game-winner beat Gotham on April 4, 2026. Injury kept Cooper out of the 2025 playoff quarterfinal too, and in 2026 she returned from a 42-day absence as a substitute at Gotham on August 14. She is back starting now, including the October 17 win at Utah.
Haley Hopkins — #13, forward. The form player of the run-in. Hopkins scored a hat trick against Denver Summit on September 26, 2026, a goal against Bay FC on October 3, then a brace at Utah on October 17 that took her to 11 goals for the season — six in her last three games.
Lo’eau LaBonta — #10, midfielder, captain. The heartbeat of this club since 2021, signed through 2028. The Celly Queen reached 15,000 career regular-season minutes on August 14, 2026, scored in the 3–1 home win over Portland this season, and in September 2025 converted her 14th career regular-season penalty, tying Megan Rapinoe’s NWSL record. She earned her first USWNT caps in 2025, debuting against China on May 31, 2025 as the oldest debutant in program history.
Croix Bethune — #8, midfielder. The creative hub of the Armas side, with four goals by early September and a strike in the 2–2 home draw with San Diego. The depth is real, too: Lorena guards the goal, and Ally Sentnor assisted Cooper’s winner against Gotham.
Star Spotlight
168 days out. That is how long Kansas City waited for its superstar. Chawinga’s adductor injury at Houston on October 18, 2025 ended her season on the spot: she missed the finale, watched the playoff quarterfinal from the sideline, and began 2026 on the season-ending injury list. Lesser players fade after a winter like that. Chawinga spent it getting ready.
April 4, 2026 — the return. Her first action in 168 days came at home against Gotham FC, the defending champions. Within 37 minutes she had flicked on the assist for Debinha’s equalizer, Cooper completed the 2–1 comeback win, and Chawinga became the first player in club history to reach 10 or more regular-season goals and 10 or more regular-season assists for the Current. The MVP was back.
The summer she ruled a continent. Chawinga missed the summer window at the 2026 WAFCON in Morocco, July 26 to August 16 — and owned it. She won the tournament Golden Boot with five goals and two assists, led Malawi to a first-ever Women’s World Cup qualification and a runner-up finish, and earned a second straight Ballon d’Or Féminin nomination.
And now, the finish line. Back in teal and red, she scored against Bay FC on October 3, started the October 17 win at Utah and assisted Hopkins’ second goal that day — her fourth assist of the season. Her tally stands at 12 league goals, the club’s top mark. Last autumn she watched the postseason from the stands. This autumn, it has to deal with her.
🔥 More Fan Favorites
More Current stars, same Heartland Red.
This Season (2026): The Playoff Push
This is the first season under head coach Chris Armas, appointed on January 7, 2026 after Vlatko Andonovski moved into the sporting director role. The former USMNT midfielder made his NWSL head-coaching debut in the March 14, 2026 home opener against Utah Royals — and the rebuild started slowly. Kansas City went 2-3-0 through five games and sat ninth in early April, learning a new system without their injured MVP.
The summer brought the season’s hardest lesson. On Friday, June 26, 2026, the Current met Gotham FC in the NWSL Challenge Cup final in Columbus, Ohio — the 2025 Shield winners against the 2025 champions. Gotham won 2–0, on an Esther González penalty on 37 minutes and a Jordynn Dudley goal on 79. The autumn would be about payback and positioning, not silverware already won.
Now look at them. Kansas City sit fourth on 47 points from 28 matches — 14 wins, 5 draws and 9 defeats, goal difference plus 12 — powered by three straight wins: 4–1 over Denver Summit on September 26, 5–1 over Bay FC on October 3 and 2–0 at Utah Royals on October 17. The Shield is gone, but the prize Kansas City wants is alive: one win from the final two matches seals a playoff berth, and holding fourth brings a home quarterfinal back to CPKC Stadium.
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Mark Your Calendar
Sunday, October 25, 2026 — vs Washington Spirit, CPKC Stadium (5:00 p.m. ET, ESPN). A top-four showdown and the final home match of the regular season. Win it, and the playoff berth is sealed in front of the home crowd.
Sunday, November 1, 2026 — at Racing Louisville FC, Lynn Family Stadium (5:00 p.m. ET). Decision Day. The regular-season finale that fixes the final seeding — and decides whether the quarterfinal comes home to Kansas City.
November 6–8, 2026 — NWSL Quarterfinals. Kansas City would host at CPKC Stadium if they hold a top-four seed. Semifinals follow on November 13–15, and the NWSL Championship lands on Saturday, November 21, 2026 at Audi Field in Washington, D.C.
Biggest Rivalries — The Wars
1. Gotham FC — the nemesis. Every great team needs a villain, and Gotham has volunteered, repeatedly. The No. 8 seed that stunned Kansas City 2–1 after extra time in the 2025 playoff quarterfinal at CPKC, with Chawinga and Cooper injured, then beat the Current again in the 2026 Challenge Cup final, 2–0 in Columbus on June 26. The 2026 league meetings split: Kansas City won 2–1 at home on April 4, Debinha and Cooper scoring either side of a Jaedyn Shaw goal, and Gotham won the August 14 rematch 2–1, after Amelia White’s 22-second opener tied the NWSL record for the fastest goal in regular-season history. If the bracket delivers this tie in November, clear your weekend.
2. Orlando Pride. Orlando ended Kansas City’s 2024 season in the playoff semifinal. In 2026 the Pride struck first and hard, winning 3–0 at Orlando on July 10, before the teams drew 2–2 at CPKC Stadium on September 11. A playoff meeting would pair two of the league’s most complete squads — and Kansas City owe them one.
3. Portland Thorns. Portland beat Kansas City 2–0 in the 2022 NWSL Championship final, the first great heartbreak of the Current era, and lost the wild 5–4 CPKC Stadium opener in March 2024. In 2026 Kansas City won the home meeting 3–1, LaBonta, Chawinga and Hopkins scoring after Sophia Wilson’s early Portland goal. This fixture never disappoints.
4. Washington Spirit. The 2025 Shield runners-up, 21 points behind Kansas City, are now direct top-four rivals — and they humbled the Current this spring, winning 4–0 at Audi Field on April 24, 2026 behind a Leicy Santos brace, a Trinity Rodman goal and a Claudia Martínez finish. That defeat left Kansas City at 2-4 in the early Armas rebuild. The October 25 rematch at CPKC is effectively a home-quarterfinal decider.
Frequently Asked Questions
When do Kansas City Current play next?
Next up is Sunday, October 25, 2026, when Washington Spirit visit CPKC Stadium at 5:00 p.m. ET on ESPN, followed by the Decision Day trip to Racing Louisville on Sunday, November 1, 2026. The NWSL playoffs follow, with quarterfinals on November 6-8, semifinals on November 13-15 and the Championship on Saturday, November 21, 2026 at Audi Field.
Is Temwa Chawinga playing for Kansas City Current in 2026?
Yes. Chawinga returned on April 4, 2026 after 168 days out with an adductor injury, won the Golden Boot at the 2026 WAFCON with Malawi, and leads Kansas City with 12 league goals. She started the October 17 win at Utah Royals and is fully fit for the playoff push.
Where do Kansas City Current play their home games?
Home matches are at CPKC Stadium on the Berkley Riverfront in Kansas City, Missouri, the first stadium in the world purpose-built for a women’s professional team. It opened on March 16, 2024, holds 11,500 fans, and Kansas City sold out every home match in 2024. Match tickets are sold through the club’s official site.
Have Kansas City Current won a trophy?
Yes. Kansas City won the 2025 NWSL Shield, the first in club history, with a league-record 65 points, after winning the NWSL x Liga MX Femenil Summer Cup and The Women’s Cup in 2024. The Current have never won the NWSL Championship — they were runners-up in 2022 — so the 2026 playoffs are the hunt for that first title.
⚽ Kansas City Current Fan Shop
The full Current trio — Chawinga, Debinha and Cooper in Heartland Red, fan-inspired apparel for Teal Rising fans.
Sources & official links: Kansas City Current official site · NWSL official site · Kansas City Current tickets
Teal rising, river roaring, one more run to make — Kansas City, wear the red and believe.
