NWSL Team of the Month

The National Women's Soccer League Team of the Month, also called the Best XI of the Month since 2022,^[1] is a monthly women's soccer award given to individual players in the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL).

Selection

This award began in 2017.^[2] From 2017 to 2021 it was named the "Team of the Month", and since 2022 it has been named the "Best XI of the Month".^[1]

From 2017 to 2022, the NWSL Media Association, composed of journalists who regularly cover the league, select eleven players deemed to have put in the best performances over the past month.^[2] Since 2023, the NWSL Media Association and the league's broadcast talent select the players.^[3]

Winners

2017

Month	Goalkeeper	Defenders	Midfielders	Forwards	Ref.
April	Stephanie Labbé, WAS	Estelle Johnson, WAS Becky Sauerbrunn, KC Emily Sonnett, POR	Julie Ertz, CHI Debinha, NC Rose Lavelle, BOS Jess Fishlock, SEA Sam Mewis, NC	Kealia Ohai, HOU Lynn Williams, NC	[2]
May	Kailen Sheridan, NJ	Samantha Johnson, CHI Becky Sauerbrunn, KC (2) Casey Short, CHI	Danielle Colaprico, CHI Amandine Henry, POR Rose Lavelle, BOS (2) Sarah Killion, NJ	Nahomi Kawasumi, SEA Christen Press, CHI Sam Kerr, NJ	[4]
June	Stephanie Labbé, WAS (2)	Casey Short, CHI (2) Abby Dahlkemper, NC Ali Krieger, ORL Estelle Johnson, WAS (2)	Marta, ORL Sam Mewis, NC (2) Jess Fishlock, SEA (2)	Megan Rapinoe, SEA Sam Kerr, NJ (2) Ashley Hatch, NC	[5]
July	Jane Campbell, HOU	Taylor Smith, NC Abby Dahlkemper, NC (2) Amber Brooks, HOU Casey Short, CHI (3)	Marta, ORL (2) McCall Zerboni, NC Julie Ertz, CHI (2) Andressinha, HOU	Megan Rapinoe, SEA (2) Sam Kerr, NJ (3)	[6]
August	Katelyn Rowland, NC	Emily Sonnett, POR (2) Steph Catley, ORL Ali Krieger, ORL (2) Taylor Smith, NC (2)	Marta, ORL (3) Sam Mewis, NC (3) Lindsey Horan, POR	Hayley Raso, POR Alex Morgan, ORL Sam Kerr, NJ (4)	[7]
September	Adrianna Franch, POR	Emily Menges, POR Kelley O'Hara, NJ Becky Sauerbrunn, KC (3) Casey Short, CHI (4)	Alanna Kennedy, ORL Marta, ORL (4) Sam Mewis, NC (4)	Shea Groom, KC Christine Sinclair, POR Lynn Williams, NC (2)	[8][9]

2018

Month	Goalkeeper	Defenders	Midfielders	Forwards	Ref.
March	Jane Campbell, HOU	Jaelene Hinkle, NC Becky Sauerbrunn, UTA Emily Sonnett, POR Rachel Daly, HOU	Lindsey Horan, POR Debinha, NC Gunnhildur Jónsdóttir, UTA	Megan Rapinoe, SEA Mallory Pugh, WAS Crystal Dunn, NC	[10]
April	Aubrey Bledsoe, WAS	Jaelene Hinkle, NC (2) Estelle Johnson, WAS Becky Sauerbrunn, UTA (2) Emily Sonnett, POR (2)	Sofia Huerta, CHI Crystal Dunn, NC (2) McCall Zerboni, NC	Francisca Ordega, WAS Jessica McDonald, NC Mallory Pugh, WAS (2)	[11]
May	Abby Smith, UTA	Steph Catley, SEA Abby Erceg, NC Becky Sauerbrunn, UTA (3) Ali Krieger, ORL	Kristie Mewis, HOU Lindsey Horan, POR (2) McCall Zerboni, NC (2)	Rachel Daly, HOU (2) Christine Sinclair, POR Crystal Dunn, NC (3)	[12]
June	Alyssa Naeher, CHI	Becca Moros, UTA Abby Erceg, NC (2) Becky Sauerbrunn, UTA (4) Merritt Mathias, NC	Lindsey Horan, POR (3) Yuki Nagasato, CHI McCall Zerboni, NC (3)	Kealia Ohai, HOU Christine Sinclair, POR (2) Crystal Dunn, NC (4)	[13]
July	Adrianna Franch, POR	Katie Naughton, CHI Abby Erceg, NC (3) Rachel Corsie, UTA Theresa Nielsen, SEA	Lindsey Horan, POR (4) Yuki Nagasato, CHI (2) McCall Zerboni, NC (4)	Megan Rapinoe, SEA (2) Rachel Daly, HOU (3) Sam Kerr, CHI	[14]
August	Lydia Williams, SEA	Megan Oyster, SEA Abby Erceg, NC (4) Taylor Comeau, HOU Theresa Nielsen, SEA (2)	Lindsey Horan, POR (5) Sofia Huerta, HOU (2) Vanessa DiBernardo, CHI	Lynn Williams, NC Tobin Heath, POR Sam Kerr, CHI (2)	[15]

2019

Month	Goalkeeper	Defenders	Midfielders	Forwards	Ref.
April	Kailen Sheridan, NJ	Casey Short, CHI Becky Sauerbrunn, UTA Abby Erceg, NC Meghan Klingenberg, POR	Christine Sinclair, POR Yuki Nagasato, CHI Crystal Dunn, NC	Christen Press, UTA Sam Kerr, CHI Tobin Heath, POR	[16]
May	Aubrey Bledsoe, WAS	Casey Short, CHI (2) Rachel Corsie, UTA Sam Staab, WAS Merritt Mathias, NC	Yuki Nagasato, CHI (2) Jordan DiBiasi, WAS Verónica Boquete, UTA	Sam Kerr, CHI (2) Amy Rodriguez, UTA Ashley Hatch, WAS	[17]
June	Aubrey Bledsoe, WAS (2)	Casey Short, CHI (3) Sam Staab, WAS (2) Megan Oyster, RFC Katherine Reynolds, POR	Andi Sullivan, WAS Jess Fishlock, RFC Kristen Hamilton, NC	Margaret Purce, POR Amy Rodriguez, UTA (2) Ifeoma Onumonu, RFC	[18]
July	Kailen Sheridan, NJ (2)	Casey Short, CHI (4) Sarah Gorden, CHI Abby Erceg, NC (2) Merritt Mathias, NC (2)	Vanessa DiBernardo, CHI Debinha, NC Gabby Seiler, POR	Kristen Hamilton, NC (2) Sam Kerr, CHI (3) Marta, ORL	[19]
August	Aubrey Bledsoe, WAS (3)	Casey Short, CHI (5) Emily Menges, POR Abby Erceg, NC (3) Jaelene Hinkle, NC	Lo'eau LaBonta, UTA Debinha, NC (2) Christine Sinclair, POR (2)	Christen Press, UTA (2) Margaret Purce, POR (2) Amy Rodriguez, UTA (3)	[20]
September	Alyssa Naeher, CHI	Casey Short, CHI (6) Julie Ertz, CHI Lauren Barnes, RFC Jaelene Hinkle, NC (2)	Beverly Yanez, RFC Debinha, NC (3) Morgan Brian, CHI	Yuki Nagasato, CHI (3) Sam Kerr, CHI (4) Lynn Williams, NC	[21]

2020

The 2020 NWSL regular season was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.^[22]

2021

Month	Goalkeeper	Defenders	Midfielders	Forwards	Ref.
May	Kailen Sheridan, NJY	Caprice Dydasco, NJY Emily Fox, LOU Phoebe McClernon, ORL Carson Pickett, NC	Debinha, NC Crystal Dunn, POR Jess Fishlock, RGN	Sydney Leroux, ORL Alex Morgan, ORL Mallory Pugh, CHI	[23]
June	Michelle Betos, LOU	Caprice Dydasco, NJY Abby Erceg, NC Courtney Petersen, ORL Becky Sauerbrunn, POR	Tori Huster, WAS Kristie Mewis, HOU Sam Mewis, NC	Marta, ORL Trinity Rodman, WAS Lynn Williams, NC	[24]
July	Bella Bixby, POR	Caprice Dydasco, NJY Emily Menges, POR Meghan Klingenberg, POR Katie Naughton, HOU	Andi Sullivan, WAS Allie Long, NJY Morgan Gautrat, CHI	Sydney Leroux, ORL (2) Mallory Pugh, CHI (2) Ashley Hatch, WAS	[25]
August	Casey Murphy, NC	Caprice Dydasco, NJY (4) Emily Menges, POR (2) Ali Krieger, ORL Carson Pickett, NC (2)	Jess Fishlock, RGN (2) Denise O'Sullivan, NC Angela Salem, POR	Nadia Nadim, LOU Ifeoma Onumonu, NJY Megan Rapinoe, RGN	[26]
September	Kailen Sheridan, NJY (2)	Tierna Davidson, CHI Sofia Huerta, RGN Estelle Johnson, NJY Casey Krueger, CHI	Morgan Gautrat, CHI (2) Dzsenifer Marozsán, RGN Angela Salem, POR (2)	Bethany Balcer, RGN Rachel Daly, HOU Eugénie Le Sommer, RGN	[27]
October	Aubrey Bledsoe, WAS	Caprice Dydasco, NJY (5) Sofia Huerta, RGN (2) Sarah Gorden, CHI Sam Staab, WAS	Jess Fishlock, RGN (3) Morgan Gautrat, CHI (3) Angela Salem, POR (3)	Ashley Hatch, WAS (2) Margaret Purce, NJY Trinity Rodman, WAS (2)	[28]

2022

Month	Goalkeeper	Defenders	Midfielders	Forwards	Ref.
May	Phallon Tullis-Joyce, RGN	Naomi Girma, SD Alana Cook, RGN Sofia Huerta, RGN Vanessa Gilles, LA	Taylor Kornieck, SD Rose Lavelle, RGN Savannah DeMelo, LOU	Alex Morgan, SD Rachel Daly, HOU Mallory Pugh, CHI	[1][29][30]
June	Bella Bixby, POR	Carson Pickett, NC Tatumn Milazzo, CHI Naomi Girma, SD (2) Natalia Kuikka, POR	Debinha, NC Sam Coffey, POR Taylor Kornieck, SD (2)	Alex Morgan, SD (2) Sophia Smith, POR Mallory Pugh, CHI (2)	[31]
July	Adrianna Franch, KC	Carson Pickett, NC (2) Kristen Edmonds, KC Kelli Hubly, POR Hailie Mace, KC	Hina Sugita, POR Jess Fishlock, RGN Lo'eau LaBonta, KC	Morgan Weaver, POR Ebony Salmon, HOU Bethany Balcer, RGN	[32]
August	Adrianna Franch, KC (2)	Elizabeth Ball, KC Naomi Girma, SD (3) Sofia Huerta, RGN (2) Carson Pickett, NC (3)	Meggie Dougherty Howard, ORL Lo'eau LaBonta, KC (2) Cari Roccaro, LA	Diana Ordoñez, NC Megan Rapinoe, RGN Ebony Salmon, HOU (2)	[33]
September /October	Katie Lund, LOU	Alana Cook, RGN Naomi Girma, SD (4) Hailie Mace, KC (2) Carson Pickett, NC (4)	Sam Coffey, POR (2) Vanessa DiBernardo, CHI Rose Lavelle, RGN (2)	Debinha, NC Megan Rapinoe, RGN (2) Sophia Smith, POR (2)	[34]

2023

Month	Goalkeeper	Defenders	Midfielders	Forwards	Ref.
March/April	Phallon Tullis-Joyce, RGN	Emily Fox, NC Naomi Girma, SD Becky Sauerbrunn, POR Sam Staab, WAS	Debinha, KC Crystal Dunn, POR Jess Fishlock, RGN	Bethany Balcer, RGN Sophia Smith, POR Lynn Williams, NJY	[35]
May	Abby Smith, NJY	Kylie Strom, ORL Naomi Girma, SD (2) Sam Staab, WAS (2) Bruninha, NJNY	Jenna Nighswonger, NJNY Savannah DeMelo, LOU Crystal Dunn, POR (2)	Megan Rapinoe, RGN Lynn Williams, NJNY (2) Veronica Latsko, RGN	[3]
June	Casey Murphy, NC	Abby Erceg, LOU Sofia Huerta, OL Kaleigh Kurtz, NC M.A. Vignola, LA	Sam Coffey, POR Debinha, KC (2) Savannah DeMelo, LOU (2)	Kerolin, NC Sophia Smith, POR (2) Lynn Williams, NJNY (3)	[36]
July	Emily Boyd, CHI	Malia Berkely, NCC Abby Erceg, LOU (2) Sarah Gorden, LA Paige Monaghan, LOU	Savannah McCaskill, LA Narumi Miura, NCC Jenna Nighswonger, NJNY (2)	Ashley Hatch, WAS Kristen Hamilton, KC Midge Purce, NJY	[37]
August	Adrianna Franch, KCC	Abby Dahlkemper, SD Casey Krueger, CHI (2) Jenna Nighswonger, NJNY (3) Kylie Strom, ORL	Kerry Abello, ORL Sam Coffey, POR (2) Lo'eau LaBonta, KC	Messiah Bright, ORL Kristen Hamilton, KC (2) Morgan Weaver, POR	[38]
September/ October	Jane Campbell, HOU	Caprice Dydasco, HOU Naomi Girma, SD (2) Sarah Gorden, LA (2) M.A. Vignola, LA (2)	Sam Coffey, POR (3) Debinha, KC (3) Savannah McCaskill, LA (3)	Esther González, NJY Kerolin, NCC (2) Jaedyn Shaw, SD	[39]

2024

Month	Goalkeeper	Defenders	Midfielders	Forwards	Ref.
March/April	Alyssa Naeher, CHI	Malia Berkely, NC Naomi Girma, SD Casey Krueger, WAS Sam Staab, CHI	Croix Bethune, WAS Vanessa DiBernardo, KC Taylor Flint, LOU	Temwa Chawinga, KC Sophia Smith, POR Bia Zaneratto, KC	[40]
May	Ann-Katrin Berger, NJY	Jenna Nighswonger, NJY Carson Pickett, LOU Emily Sams, ORL Sam Staab, CHI (2)	Croix Bethune, WAS (2) Sam Coffey, POR Savannah DeMelo, LOU	Barbra Banda, ORL Ouleymata Sarr, WAS Sophia Smith, POR (2)	[41]
June	Anna Moorhouse, ORL	Elizabeth Ball, KC Casey Krueger, WAS (2) Jenna Nighswonger, NJY (2) Izzy Rodriguez, KC	Croix Bethune, WAS (3) Lo'eau LaBonta, KC Rose Lavelle, NJY	Barbra Banda, ORL (2) Temwa Chawinga, KC (2) Mallory Swanson, CHI	[42]
July	Cassie Miller, NJY	Kerry Abello, ORL Madison Curry, LA Sarah Gorden, LA Meghan Klingenberg, POR	Debinha, KC Lo'eau LaBonta, KC (2) Meredith Speck, NC	Kristen Hamilton, KC Ashley Sanchez, NC Ally Sentnor, UTA	[43]
August	DiDi Haračić, LA	Kerry Abello, ORL (2) Abby Dahlkemper, BAY Sarah Gorden, LA (2) Kylie Strom, ORL	Debinha, KC (2) Kayla Fischer, LOU Lo'eau LaBonta, KC (3)	Temwa Chawinga, KC (3) Ella Stevens, NJY Alyssa Thompson, LA	[44]
September	Anna Moorhouse, ORL (2)	Malia Berkely, NC (2) Abby Dahlkemper, BAY (2) Naomi Girma, SD (2) Emily Sams, ORL (2)	Lo'eau LaBonta, KC (4) Marta, ORL Yazmeen Ryan, NJY	Temwa Chawinga, KC (4) Trinity Rodman, WAS Alyssa Thompson, LA (2)	[45]
October/ November	Almuth Schult, KC	Abby Dahlkemper, BAY (3) Kaleigh Kurtz, NC Emily Sams, ORL (3) Kayla Sharples, KC	Rose Lavelle, NJY (2) Yazmeen Ryan, NJY (2) Claudia Zornoza, UTA	Temwa Chawinga, KC (5) Esther González, NJY Makenna Morris, WAS	[46]

2025

Month	Goalkeeper	Defenders	Midfielders	Forwards	Ref.
March	Lorena, KC	Kerry Abello, ORL Jordyn Bugg, SEA Alana Cook, KC Ryan Williams, NC	Gia Corley, SD Debinha, KC Lo'eau LaBonta, KC	Barbra Banda, ORL Temwa Chawinga, KC Ashley Hatch, WAS	[47]
April	Aubrey Kingsbury, WAS	Lilly Reale, GFC Izzy Rodriguez, KC Emily Sonnett, GFC Ryan Williams, NC (2)	Kenza Dali, SD Debinha, KC(2) Lo'eau LaBonta, KC (2)	Barbra Banda, ORL (2) Delphine Cascarino, SD Esther González, GFC	[48]
May	Claudia Dickey, SEA	Trinity Armstrong, SD Hailie Mace, KC Casey Krueger, WAS Gisele Thompson, LA	Sam Coffey, POR Taylor Flint, LOU Manaka Matsukubo, NC	Barbra Banda, ORL (3) Temwa Chawinga, KC (2) Riley Tiernan, LA	[49]
June	Lorena, KC (2)	Jordyn Bugg, SEA (2) Caprice Dydasco, BAY Courtney Petersen, LOU Kayla Sharples, KC	Sam Coffey, POR (2) Kenza Dali, SD (2) Manaka Matsukubo, NC (2)	Emeri Adames, SEA Temwa Chawinga, KC (3) Esther González, GFC (2)	[50]

Multiple winners

This list is complete and up to date as of June 2025.

Bold	Indicates current NWSL player

Rank	N.	Player	Club(s)	Wins
1		Debinha	North Carolina Courage, Kansas City Current	15
		Casey Krueger (née Short)	Chicago Stars FC[a], Washington Spirit
3		Abby Erceg	North Carolina Courage, Racing Louisville FC	10
		Sam Kerr	Gotham FC[b], Chicago Stars FC[a]
		Lo'eau LaBonta	Utah Royals FC, Kansas City Current
		Becky Sauerbrunn	FC Kansas City, Utah Royals FC, Portland Thorns FC
		Lynn Biyendolo (née Williams)	North Carolina Courage, Gotham FC[b]
8		Naomi Girma	San Diego Wave FC	9
9		Temwa Chawinga	Kansas City Current	8
		Sam Coffey	Portland Thorns FC
		Crystal Dunn	North Carolina Courage, Portland Thorns FC
		Jess Fishlock	Seattle Reign FC[c]
		Megan Rapinoe	Seattle Reign FC[c]
14		Caprice Dydasco	Gotham FC[b]	7
		Sofia Huerta	Chicago Stars FC[a], Houston Dash, Seattle Reign FC[c]
		Marta	Orlando Pride
		Carson Pickett	North Carolina Courage, Racing Louisville FC
		Sam Staab	Washington Spirit, Chicago Stars FC[a]
		Mallory Swanson (née Pugh)	Washington Spirit, Chicago Stars FC[a]
20		Abby Dahlkemper	North Carolina Courage, San Diego Wave FC, Bay FC	6
		Sarah Gorden	Chicago Stars FC[a], Angel City FC
		Ashley Hatch	North Carolina Courage, Washington Spirit
		Lindsey Heaps (née Horan)	Portland Thorns FC
		Rose Lavelle	Washington Spirit, Seattle Reign FC,[c] Gotham FC[b]
		Sophia Wilson (née Smith)	Portland Thorns FC
26		Barbra Banda	Orlando Pride	5
		Rachel Daly	Houston Dash
		Adrianna Franch	Portland Thorns FC, Kansas City Current
		Kristen Hamilton	North Carolina Courage, Kansas City Current
		Aubrey Kingsbury (née Bledsoe)	Washington Spirit
		Sam Mewis	North Carolina Courage
		Yūki Nagasato	Chicago Stars FC[a]
		Jenna Nighswonger	Gotham FC[b]
		Kailen Sheridan	Gotham FC[b]
		Christine Sinclair	Portland Thorns FC
		McCall Zerboni	North Carolina Courage
37		Kerry Abello	Orlando Pride	4
		Jaelene Daniels (née Hinkle)	North Carolina Courage
		Savannah DeMelo	Racing Louisville FC
		Vanessa DiBernardo	Chicago Stars FC[a], Kansas City Current
		Morgan Gautrat (née Brian)	Chicago Stars FC[a]
		Esther González	Gotham FC[b]
		Estelle Johnson	Washington Spirit, Gotham FC[b]
		Ali Krieger	Orlando Pride
		Emily Menges	Portland Thorns FC
		Alex Morgan	Orlando Pride, San Diego Wave FC
		Emily Sonnett	Portland Thorns FC
48		Bethany Balcer	Seattle Reign FC[c]	3
		Malia Berkely	North Carolina Courage
		Croix Bethune	Washington Spirit
		Jane Campbell	Houston Dash
		Alana Cook	Seattle Reign FC[c], Kansas City Current
		Julie Ertz (née Johnston)	Chicago Stars FC[a]
		Taylor Flint (née Kornieck)	San Diego Wave FC, Racing Louisville FC
		Meghan Klingenberg	Portland Thorns FC
		Merritt Mathias	North Carolina Courage
		Hailie Mace	Kansas City Current
		Alyssa Naeher	Chicago Stars FC[a]
		Christen Press	Chicago Stars FC[a], Utah Royals FC
		Midge Purce	Portland Thorns FC, Gotham FC[b]
		Trinity Rodman	Washington Spirit
		Amy Rodriguez	Utah Royals FC
		Angela Salem	Portland Thorns FC
		Emily Sams (née Madril)	Orlando Pride
		Kylie Strom	Orlando Pride
66		Elizabeth Ball	Kansas City Current	2
		Bella Bixby	Portland Thorns FC
		Jordyn Bugg	Seattle Reign FC
		Steph Catley	Orlando Pride, Seattle Reign FC[c]
		Rachel Corsie	Utah Royals FC
		Kenza Dali	San Diego Wave FC
		Theresa Eslund (née Nielsen)	Seattle Reign FC[c]
		Emily Fox	Racing Louisville FC, North Carolina Courage
		Tobin Heath	Portland Thorns FC
		Kerolin	North Carolina Courage
		Kaleigh Kurtz	North Carolina Courage
		Stephanie Labbé	Washington Spirit
		Sydney Leroux	Orlando Pride
		Katie Lind (née Naughton)	Chicago Stars FC[a], Houston Dash
		Lorena	Kansas City Current
		Manaka Matsukubo	North Carolina Courage
		Megan Montefusco (née Oyster)	Seattle Reign FC[c]
		Anna Moorhouse	Orlando Pride
		Casey Murphy	North Carolina Courage
		Ifeoma Onumonu	Seattle Reign FC,[c] Gotham FC[b]
		Courtney Petersen	Orlando Pride, Racing Louisville FC
		Yazmeen Ryan	Gotham FC[b]
		Ebony Salmon	Houston Dash
		Kayla Sharples	Kansas City Current
		Abby Smith	Utah Royals FC, Gotham FC[b]
		Taylor Smith	North Carolina Courage
		Andi Sullivan	Washington Spirit
		Alyssa Thompson	Angel City FC
		Phallon Tullis-Joyce	Seattle Reign FC[c]
		Kealia Watt (née Ohai)	Houston Dash
		Morgan Weaver	Portland Thorns FC
		Ryan Williams	North Carolina Courage

Notes

1. Chicago Stars FC was previously known as Chicago Red Stars.
2. Gotham FC was previously known as Sky Blue FC and NJ/NY Gotham FC.
3. Seattle Reign FC was previously known as Reign FC and OL Reign.

See also

• Women's association football portal
• Association football portal
• Sports portal

• List of sports awards honoring women
• NWSL Player of the Week
• NWSL Rookie of the Month
• NWSL Player of the Month
• NWSL awards
• NWSL records and statistics
• Women's soccer in the United States