San Salvador (08/18/2025) – Washington Spirit will meet the 2025-26 CONCACAF W Champions League group match against Alianza Women’s Football Club in El Salvador on Tuesday night. This match will be the first match of the spirit in club history on international land.
What is the CONCACAF W Champions League?
From the second edition this year, the CONCACAF W Champions League is a competition for mainland clubs that aims to identify the best women's clubs in North America, Central America and the Caribbean. Similar to Europe's annual Champions League, the W Champions League featured top clubs in mainland China in the past season and was championed by group stages and knockout matches.
This season, ten clubs from six countries will participate in the Mainland Championships, divided into two groups and five groups in the first phase, with the first two of each group moving forward to May 2026 and entering the semi-finals.
The spirit will compete with NWSL rival Gotham Football Club, Mexico’s CF Monterrey Femenil, Vancouver Rise FC Academy, and El Salvador’s Alianza Women FC. Washington played two games and two games, starting now until mid-October for four mid-week games.
qualifications
The spirit finished second in the 2024 NWSL season, becoming the 2025-26 CONCACAF W Champions League, becoming the top three automatic qualifications in the league. Last season's Shield and champion Orlando's Pride and third-place Gotham Football Club will represent the NWSL in this match.
Alianza Women's Football Club won the Apertura and Clausura championships in the 2024-25 Primera División Femenina season, the top women's league for El Salvador. Alianza is eligible for last year's first W Champions League, but will make her debut in the group stage this season.
What to pay attention to
Washington used the latest NWSL break to gain an advantage, seeing several key players return with injuries throughout the summer. Find more minutes from the spiritual players who have seen reserve characters recently. With Tuesday's victory, that spirit can start on a wide-ranging trip as it will head straight to San Francisco for this weekend's NWSL regular season against Bay FC.
Tuesday night's game will be aired on CBS Sports Network and streamed in English on Paramount+ and in Spanish on ESPN+.