Let’s just call this the revenge game. Most fans will already know what happened a year ago, but a quick refresher: The Kansas City Current broke all sorts of league records on their way to winning the NWSL Shield and earning the #1 seed in the playoffs. Meanwhile, Gotham barely managed to squeak into the playoff field as the #8 seed and were on the road to face the Current for the quarterfinals. Unfortunately for KC, injuries (including to Chawinga and Cooper) had befallen the team in the last couple weeks of the season and they ultimately lost in heartbreaking fashion in the final moments of extra time to Gotham.
Fast-forward a year and the Current have a chance to return the favor. It is now Gotham who have just won their first ever Shield and are the #1 seed in the playoffs. They also have been dealing with some of their own injury issues recently, with players like Emily Sonnett lost for the season. Additionally, they hardly have the appearance of a juggernaut that they might have had at other points in the season. For example, to get past the 8th seeded Seattle Reign last weekend, they needed an own goal because they did not manage a single shot on target the entire match.
So, the opportunity is there for Kansas City to go on the road and steal a victory. And it could feel poetic…but, still, it won’t be easy.
One interesting note about this fixture is that, historically, the Current had absolutely dominated Gotham until the playoffs last year. Over their existences, these two teams have met a total of fifteen times across all competitions, and until last season’s quarterfinal match, Gotham had never defeated Kansas City (there had been several draws). That had even included when they clashed for the Championship of the NWSL x Liga MX Femenil Summer Cup and KC prevailed 2-0.
However, now Gotham have beaten the Current thrice within a year: last season’s playoffs, this year’s Challenge Cup, and then in NJ back on August 14th. KC did get the better of Gotham at home back in early April, but the trio of losses will be but fresher in everyone’s minds.
This semifinal match will really be strength against strength. Kansas City led the league in scoring with 54 goals and boasts an intimidating attack with the likes of Chawinga, Cooper, Bethune, Hopkins, and Debinha, all with at least four goals and at least nine goal contributions (goals plus assists). But they will be going against a team that has been defined by winning close, low-scoring affairs all season. The 1-0 quarterfinal win was the twelfth time this year that Gotham has shutout an opponent, and the thirteenth time they’ve won by a single goal. For the season, they only conceded 23 times in 30 matches with a backline that features players like Tierna Davidson and Jess Carter and keeper Ann-Katrin Berger.
So as much as the Current’s attack against Gotham’s defense may be strength on strength, the game could be decided when it moves in the other direction. As mentioned above, despite featuring some big names (Jaedyn Shaw, Rose Lavelle, Sam Kerr, Midge Purce), the Gotham attack wasn’t able to muster a single shot on target against Seattle last weekend. They finished the match with just five total shots, just 0.16 xG (expected goals) and 0 “big chances created”. Again, if it wasn’t for a very fortuitous mis-clearance from a Seattle defender off of a corner kick, they could have very easily been eliminated. Their forwards will need to create more chances against a Kansas City defense that has been rock solid for much of the past month. With the exception of one very uncharacteristic misplay from Lorena against the Spirit, the Current haven’t conceded a goal since a 5-1 win on October 3rd. In fact, the offense that KC just faced in Angel City is much more potent (54 goals on the season) than the one they’re about to face (39 goals on the season).
The other notable element of this match is where it’s being played. Not just that it’s a home match for Gotham as the #1 seed, but that it will not be played in their normal Sports Illustrated Stadium. SI Stadium’s primary tenant is the NY Red Bulls of the MLS and, at this time of the season, the field is in poor shape. That was a major talking point following the quarterfinal match as Gotham’s coach issued an apology and the Reign’s coach used profanity to describe the playing conditions. The NWSL even fined Gotham for the playing surface.
With the Red Bulls scheduled to play a friendly against Club América on Saturday evening, the day prior to the KC/Gotham semifinal, and the pitch already in such terrible shape, the decision was ultimately made to shift venues to Icahn Stadium in NYC. The main upshot of this relocation is that instead of playing in a 25,000-seat soccer-specific stadium, this NWSL semifinal will occur in a 5,000-seat track and field venue owned by the New York parks and rec department. (For anyone who paid attention to the WNBA finals, this feels akin to game 6 having to played at 12:30PM in Atlanta on a Thursday because the local NBA team needed the arena later that night.)
So, the Current are on the road, playing against the team that destroyed their dream season a year ago, and playing in front of a relative handful of fans for the right to progress to the title game. Kansas City is playing the best soccer they have all season (though they do need to remember how to score from open play) and if they can figure out a way past the stingy Gotham defense a time or two, Audi Field and the NWSL Championship Match could be next!
TEAL TIME ON THE BIG SCREEN 🎥Get tickets to our Semifinal Watch Party at Current Landing NOW for our match against Gotham on Sunday at 2PM on ABC 🍿🎟️ bit.ly/111526SemisWatchPartyTix
— KC Current (@kansascitycurrent.bsky.social) 2026-11-09T02:16:19.016Z
WHEN: Sunday, November 15 at 2:00 PM (Central Time)
WHERE: TBD
HOW TO WATCH: ABC and ESPN Deportes
Record (regular season):
KC Current: 16-5-9 (53 points, 4th place)
Gotham FC: 18-7-5 (61 points, 1st place)
Last Match:
KC Current: 1-0 home win over Angel City FC (quarterfinals)
Gotham FC: 1-0 home win over Seattle Reign (quarterfinals)