The tightest NWSL race charted came in 2022: OL Reign over Portland Thorns FC by 1 point. Below, every race charted since 2015, ranked three ways: by final margin, by lead changes, and by days spent within three points. How each list is computed is spelled out under the lists.
OL Reign won the 2022 NWSL race by 1 point over Portland Thorns FC, with 17 lead changes, taking first place for good on October 1, 2022.
San Diego Wave FC won the 2023 NWSL race by 2 points over Portland Thorns FC, with 20 lead changes, taking first place for good on October 15, 2023.
Portland Thorns FC won the 2016 NWSL race by 2 points over Washington Spirit, with twelve lead changes, taking first place for good on September 25, 2016.
North Carolina Courage won the 2017 NWSL race by 2 points over Portland Thorns FC, with three lead changes, taking first place for good on August 5, 2017.
Portland Thorns FC won the 2021 NWSL race by 2 points over OL Reign, with eight lead changes, taking first place for good on July 17, 2021.
Orlando Pride won the 2024 NWSL race by 4 points over Washington Spirit, with 14 lead changes, taking first place for good on July 6, 2024.
North Carolina Courage won the 2019 NWSL race by 5 points over Chicago Red Stars, with 17 lead changes, taking first place for good on September 11, 2019.
Seattle Reign FC won the 2015 NWSL race by 10 points over Chicago Red Stars, with ten lead changes, taking first place for good on July 26, 2015.
North Carolina Courage won the 2018 NWSL race by 15 points over Portland Thorns FC, with one lead change, taking first place for good on March 31, 2018.
Kansas City Current won the 2025 NWSL race by 21 points over Washington Spirit, with five lead changes, taking first place for good on May 11, 2025.
Most lead changes
The lead in the 2023 NWSL race changed hands 20 times, and San Diego Wave FC won it by 2 points over Portland Thorns FC.
The lead in the 2022 NWSL race changed hands 17 times, and OL Reign won it by 1 point over Portland Thorns FC.
The lead in the 2019 NWSL race changed hands 17 times, and North Carolina Courage won it by 5 points over Chicago Red Stars.
The lead in the 2024 NWSL race changed hands 14 times, and Orlando Pride won it by 4 points over Washington Spirit.
The lead in the 2016 NWSL race changed hands twelve times, and Portland Thorns FC won it by 2 points over Washington Spirit.
The lead in the 2015 NWSL race changed hands ten times, and Seattle Reign FC won it by 10 points over Chicago Red Stars.
The lead in the 2021 NWSL race changed hands eight times, and Portland Thorns FC won it by 2 points over OL Reign.
The lead in the 2025 NWSL race changed hands five times, and Kansas City Current won it by 21 points over Washington Spirit.
The lead in the 2017 NWSL race changed hands three times, and North Carolina Courage won it by 2 points over Portland Thorns FC.
The lead in the 2018 NWSL race changed hands one time, and North Carolina Courage won it by 15 points over Portland Thorns FC.
Most days within three points
The top two in the 2022 NWSL race ended 66 of its 66 playing days within three points of each other, and OL Reign won it by 1 point over Portland Thorns FC.
The top two in the 2023 NWSL race ended 56 of its 56 playing days within three points of each other, and San Diego Wave FC won it by 2 points over Portland Thorns FC.
The top two in the 2019 NWSL race ended 51 of its 62 playing days within three points of each other, and North Carolina Courage won it by 5 points over Chicago Red Stars.
The top two in the 2024 NWSL race ended 46 of its 79 playing days within three points of each other, and Orlando Pride won it by 4 points over Washington Spirit.
The top two in the 2015 NWSL race ended 38 of its 52 playing days within three points of each other, and Seattle Reign FC won it by 10 points over Chicago Red Stars.
The top two in the 2016 NWSL race ended 37 of its 48 playing days within three points of each other, and Portland Thorns FC won it by 2 points over Washington Spirit.
The top two in the 2021 NWSL race ended 37 of its 59 playing days within three points of each other, and Portland Thorns FC won it by 2 points over OL Reign.
The top two in the 2017 NWSL race ended 32 of its 48 playing days within three points of each other, and North Carolina Courage won it by 2 points over Portland Thorns FC.
The top two in the 2025 NWSL race ended 26 of its 81 playing days within three points of each other, and Kansas City Current won it by 21 points over Washington Spirit.
The top two in the 2018 NWSL race ended 5 of its 55 playing days within three points of each other, and North Carolina Courage won it by 15 points over Portland Thorns FC.
How these lists are ranked
Everything on this page comes from the same season files the charts draw, with standings read as each day ended. All 10 charted NWSL races from 10 finished seasons enter: every race from 2015 to 2025. Wild card races are not ranked; their story is the playoff cutoff, not first place. The 2026 season joins these lists when it ends.
Tightest finishes ranks races by the final gap between first and second place, in points. Ties are broken by how late the winner took first place for good, then by lead changes, then oldest first. Two teams the standings cannot separate are shown as level, with no winner named; where the league settled such a race another way, the linked race page tells that story.
Most lead changes counts a change only when a new team passes the leader outright. A day spent tied on top stays with the team already leading, so a tie can never inflate the count.
Most days within three points counts the days on which this race's teams played and the top two ended the day within three points of each other, the most a single result can make up. Days a league stood idle (a strike, a pause) are not counted: a frozen gap says nothing about a race.
Only finished seasons are ranked. Seasons shortened by strikes or other stoppages count as played; every irregularity in the record is listed in the data notes.