Every 2021 NWSL playoff game, three ways: the season race carried on into the postseason, who beat their seeding, and the bracket.
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The same race these clubs ran all season, carried on through the postseason on one scale and on real dates.
Where each club finished the season against how far it went, ranked on record rather than seed.
Who played whom, round by round, which no line chart can say.
Washington Spirit won the 2021 title from a regular season record of 11-6-7. 6 teams reached the playoffs and the bracket ran 3 rounds. Every game below is taken from the NWSL data feed; nothing on this page is estimated.
| Round | Won by | Result | Opponent | Played |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| First round | Washington Spirit | 1-0 | North Carolina Courage | November 7, 2021 |
| First round | Chicago Red Stars | 1-0 | NJ/NY Gotham FC | November 7, 2021 |
| Semifinals | Chicago Red Stars | 2-0 | Portland Thorns FC | November 14, 2021 |
| Semifinals | Washington Spirit | 2-1 | OL Reign | November 14, 2021 |
| NWSL Championship | Washington Spirit | 2-1 | Chicago Red Stars | November 20, 2021 |
The left column ranks this field by regular season record, not by seed number: seeding rules differ by era, so this site uses records everywhere instead. The right column groups clubs by the round they went out in, which is not the same as the number of rounds they won, because a bye carries a club further without it winning anything. The figure beside a name is places moved between the two columns, and part of it is only where a club sat inside its band. Nothing here is a prediction. The data notes carry the whole method.
The races that filled this bracket: NWSL