WSL v NWSL: Is the English women’s top flight now the best in the world?

Which league is better: the USA’s National Women’s Soccer League or England’s Women’s Super League? Welcome to one of the hottest debates in women’s football.

The two leagues, the NWSL and WSL, are constantly compared, consistently measured side by side.

But for two leagues that are so often billed as competitors, they operate completely differently in almost every aspect. Whether it be the general league rules or the transfer system, the top flights of the US and England have fundamentally distinct approaches to growing women’s football.

There is no rulebook or a tried and true method on the best way to grow the women’s game. But having two of the biggest leagues in the world adopt such starkly different ways of working is interesting, to say the least.

Here, we take an in-depth look at how women’s football’s two most talked-about championships are building their futures – and which of the two comes out on top.

When talking about expansion strategy, it only makes sense to start with the NWSL. After all, they’re the only one of the two that currently has an explicit expansion plan.

The NWSL, which was formed in 2013 after Women’s Professional Soccer folded in 2012, started with eight teams. Since then, the league has had three expansion phases. The most recent phase saw Racing Louisville join the league in 2021, with Angel City and San Diego Wave set to debut in the 2022 NWSL Challenge Cup in March.

And the league has no plans to stop there. Discussions have been held about expanding to one of the major cities in Texas, either Austin or San Jose; Atlanta, which is one of the most vibrant football cities in the United States; and Canada, which took more prominence after the Canadian national team won gold at the 2020