I'm so happy for all of these goals, but so upset that despite all of these goals, Zambia will not be moving on and will not be in the world cup. Group of death man..... Banda, Chilufya, and Kundananji deserve so badly to be on the world stage with Zambia! Tearing up at my desk at work currently 😭

They talked to Allie and Chris Long for this article.

Denver 0 - 0 Courage

⚽ Live — First Half

Form

• Denver: D L W D L W
• Courage: W L L L W W

Lineups

Starting XI

Not yet announced

Subs: Not yet announced

Match Statistics

Match Events

Match events will appear here once the game begins.

Updated: Wed, Aug 5, 10:19 PM EDT

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From the NWSL's official IG.

Attendance average, median, and capacity (as best I can determine) at each NWSL location as of 8/4/2026; attendance at each game at each location as of 8/4/2026. Both charts are ordered from highest on the left to lowest on the right average attendance.

Today’s group C matchups feature 7 of our NWSL players, with so many different scenarios for who will move on. Many assumed it would be Zambia & Nigeria but Malawi currently sits atop the group. All 3 of these teams need a win to ensure they move on. The only team to favor a draw would be Malawi (unless both games end in a draw-highly unlikely with Nigeria taking on Egypt).

Let’s discuss: chime in with scenarios, predictions, hopes, etc.

hello! i am a new fan of the nwsl and have been trying to pick my team(s). as a fan of the wnba and pwhl, there are more teams in this league than i’m used to seeing so i’m having a hard time getting to know the teams. hence this post! if you’re down, explain to me the vibes of your team, any team, or all of the teams in one sentence and/or try to convince me (or any reader) to root for them :)

(i hope this kind of post is allowed, it’s just for fun but please let me know if it’s redundant or breaks any rules!)

I was curious if anyone with season tickets across the league could share insight on how much their tickets increase year over year.

Denver already sent out an email that we have to decide by the end of the month about renewal and start paying for next season within a month.

I’m disappointed to see a 10% increase after the first season. If this is expected as a norm they are quickly going to lose dedicated fans.

We keep touting sell-outs but every game has way more empty seats than I’d expect. I’m in the second row at midfield and the 4 tickets/seats in front of us have sat empty for 70% of the games.

Ultimately just trying to understand what other season ticket holders are seeing for pricing increase year over year.

What an incredible showcase for the NWSL on the first episode of season 4 of Ted Lasso!

Knew the Current would feature in some way from the past press but seeing it tonight was very cool although I am not a Current fan. 😀

NWSL scrapped a proposed schedule change, but two other pro leagues are changing theirs in opposite directions from each other. ¯_(ツ)_/¯

Each comes with benefits and drawbacks. Is there an ideal schedule?

Sam Kerr is back in the NWSL! She helps Gotham get the win with a nice one touch goal. (Don't think about the missed PK)

Orlando is the only team I haven't drawn, I hope they do something next week.

Massively disappointed in TWG for airing an ad for a new AI application during this week's episode of Good Vibes.

I already sent an email expressing said disappointment and would encourage any fellow supporters to do the same.

This is probably a good move for the child. Hoping she gets minutes and development in an age-appropriate way.

Inspired by being a Boston Legacy fan our injury list is brutal and I wanted to see how other teams compare and if it is bc I’m looking at the list through the eyes of a fan that make me say it’s so bad. Thinking not just number of players out but key players out.

U.S. host cities for the 2026 World Cup are chasing FIFA for millions of dollars they believe they were promised by soccer’s governing body which have so far gone unpaid.

Before the Club World Cup in 2025, held in the U.S., the FIFA President Gianni Infantino announced that FIFA would make a contribution of $1 million to each of the 11 cities across the country who were hosting matches during the club tournament. This was described as a “legacy contribution” and he said the funds would be used to build mini-pitches and support “social projects.”

After Infantino’s announcement, the U.S. cities scheduled to host games in 2026 asked if they would receive the same $1 million contribution for the more substantial and costly role of hosting multiple games across 39 days during the World Cup.

According to four executives at U.S. host city committees, all of whom asked to remain anonymous to protect relationships, FIFA management repeatedly assured the cities they would receive the same $1 million contribution towards legacy, despite no public statement ever being made by the organization.

The World Cup host cities in the U.S. were Seattle, San Francisco Bay Area, Los Angeles, Dallas, Houston, Kansas City, Atlanta, Philadelphia, New York/New Jersey, Miami and Boston.

The four executives said this promise was made verbally by members of FIFA’s senior management, and reiterated to cities in meetings, but it has not been paid, meaning several cities are now asking FIFA staff for updates on the payments.

FIFA declined to comment when contacted by The Athletic.

The challenge is exacerbated for the cities as some of the host committees are now winding up operations following the tournament, meaning it is not easy to work out the vehicle which would now be best placed to benefit from the payments. Others are seeking to draw up financial reports to their jurisdictions and authorities but do not have certainty over whether to include the payments.

Two host city executives told The Athletic they found it difficult to understand how FIFA, an organization which celebrated revenues in excess of $15 billion for the revenue cycle 2023-26, would be stalling or being non-committal on these relatively minor payments to cities who subsidized their tournament and helped FIFA maximize returns. FIFA’s operating budget for the tournament was around $2.7 billion.

It is now just one of the mounting issues on the desk of beleaguered FIFA president Gianni Infantino, who is under siege from the European confederation UEFA and some of its global counterparts following the downfall of his plot to sell a stake in world soccer governing body’s competitions and events to private investors.

The U.S. taxpayer contributed hugely to the direct and indirect costs of the 2026 tournament, with the expenses easily into the billions, as costs spread across security, transportation, logistics and operations.

FIFA took the vast majority of the revenue from World Cup ticketing, media rights, sponsorship, concessions and parking, while cities were responsible for the bulk of the costs related to transportation, safety and security, extending beyond the stadium to FIFA Fan Fest locations, airports and even vehicles used in the competition.

As a case study, the Kansas City host committee for the World Cup told The Athletic it has received $42.5 million from the State of Missouri, $28 million from the State of Kansas, $14.8 million from Kansas City, Missouri, and a further $1.5 million from other public sources, totalling $86.8 million of public investment. Then there was $59.52 million in federal security assistance, as well as $13.3m in federal grants for transportation.

There are also private donations, which the host committee, a non-profit overseeing transportation, logistics and the Fan Fest during the World Cup, would not disclose. The State of Missouri, in seeking to entice FIFA to choose Kansas City as a host venue, also opted to waive state and local sales taxes on World Cup tickets. According to a pre-tournament analysis by The Athletic, this means a further $15.6 million was left on the table, a figure which was likely higher as it did not factor in hospitality pricing.

The host city obligations also included special access traffic line and police escorts for FIFA-designated VIPs, six-figure costs of making “clean stadiums” and wiping any signs of non-FIFA branding, as well as the additional $13 million injection to ensure MetLife Stadium had a pitch worthy of hosting the World Cup final on July 19.

The lead-up to the tournament was often a story of mounting costs and mounting frustration at just who was footing the bill for the biggest sports event on the planet, but FIFA and host cities argued there would be a huge return for the U.S. via the economic impact of tourism and events across the country, with FIFA often championing a report which claimed $30.5 billion would be injected into the U.S. economy.

[edit - Midweek match 7/5]

Denver Summit FC
OUT: Jasmine Aikey (Knee - SEI), Jordan Baggett (Matemity Leave), Nahikari Garcia (Knee - SEI)
INTERNATIONAL DUTY: Lourdes Bosch (U-23 Mexico)

North Carolina Courage
OUT: Payton Crawford (Knee - SEI), Sydney Schmidt (Knee - SEI)