NWSL schedule: 2022 Challenge Cup begins with Louisville-Kansas City; Angel City and San Diego Wave square off

The Challenge Cup will kick off on March 18 with several notable matchups

By Sandra Herrera

Mar 1, 2022 at 1:41 pm ET • 4 min read

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The NWSL on Monday unveiled its schedule for the 2022 Challenge Cup as the third annual competition will kick off on March 18. Two expansion clubs will be brought into the fold, as the league expanded to 12 clubs with the additions of Angel City FC and San Diego Wave FC, and the two will play their inaugural match against each other on March 19 in Fullerton, California. You can catch NWSL games all season long on Paramount+.

The competition will feature three matches broadcast on the CBS, including the Championship Cup match, and the three matches will also stream live on Paramount+. Four games will air on CBS Sports Network, and all other matches will stream exclusively on Paramount+ in the U.S.

2022 NWSL Challenge Cup format

Here's how this year's installment of the Challenge Cup will work: Clubs will be divided into three regional groups, with each division made up of four teams. The East features NJ/NY Gotham FC, North Carolina Courage, Orlando Pride and the Washington Spirit. The Central region includes the Chicago Red Stars, Houston Dash, Kansas City Current and Racing Louisville FC. While the West division contains Angel City FC, OL Reign, Portland Thorns FC and San Diego Wave FC.

The tournament will kick off with a rematch of last year's regular-season opener between the Kansas City Current and Racing Louisville FC hosted at Lynn Family Stadium. The opening day festivities will close with one of the top rivalries in women's soccer as OL Reign host the 2021 Challenge Cup champion Portland Thorns FC at Lumens Field in Seattle, Washington.

The teams will compete in double round-robin matches to determine four semifinalists ahead of the NWSL Challenge Cup final set for Saturday, May 7. Below you can find broadcast details and the full schedule for the tournament.

2022 NWSL Challenge Cup TV schedule

DATE	TIME (CST)	HOME	AWAY	VENUE	PLATFORM
Sunday, March 20	6:00 p.m.	Houston Dash	Chicago Red Stars	PNC Stadium	Paramount+
Friday, March 25	6:30 p.m.	Racing Louisville FC	Houston Dash	Lynn Family Stadium	Paramount+
Wednesday, March 30	7:30 p.m.	Houston Dash	Kansas City Current	PNC Stadium	Paramount+
Saturday, April 2	7:00 p.m.	Chicago Red Stars	Houston Dash	SeatGeek Stadium	Paramount+
Friday, April 15	7:00 p.m.	Kansas City Current	Houston Dash	Children's Mercy Park	CBSSN
Sunday, April 24	5:00 p.m.	Houston Dash	Racing Louisville FC	PNC Stadium	CBSSN
Wednesday, May 4 (Semi-Final 1)	7:00 p.m.	TBD	TBD	TBD	CBSSN
Wednesday, May 4 (Semi-Final 2)	9:00 p.m.	TBD	TBD	TBD	Paramount+
Saturday, May 7 (Championship)	12:00 p.m.	TBD	TBD	TBD	CBS/ Paramount+

Full 2022 NWSL Challenge Cup Schedule

DATE	TIME (ET)	HOME	AWAY	VENUE
Friday, March 18	7:30 p.m.	Racing Louisville FC	Kansas City Current	Lynn Family Stadium
Friday, March 18	10 p.m.	OL Reign	Portland Thorns FC	Lumen Field
Saturday, March 19	7 p.m.	Orlando Pride	Washington Spirit	Exploria Stadium
Saturday, March 19	7 p.m.	North Carolina Courage	NJ/NY Gotham FC	Sahlen's Stadium at Wakemed Soccer Park
Saturday, March 19	9 p.m.	Angel City FC	San Diego Wave FC	Titan Stadium at California State Fullerton
Sunday, March 20	7 p.m.	Houston Dash	Chicago Red Stars	PNC Stadium
Friday, March 25	7:30 p.m.	Racing Louisville FC	Houston Dash	Lynn Family Stadium
Friday, March 25	7:30 p.m.	Washington Spirit	NJ/NY Gotham FC	Segra Field
Friday, March 25	8:30 p.m.	Chicago Red Stars	Kansas City Current	SeatGeek Stadium
Saturday, March 26	4 p.m.	Angel City FC	OL Reign	Titan Stadium at California State Fullerton
Saturday, March 26	7 p.m.	North Carolina Courage	Orlando Pride	Sahlen's Stadium at Wakemed Soccer Park
Saturday, March 26	10 p.m.	San Diego Wave FC	Portland Thorns FC	Torero Stadium
Wednesday, March 30	7 P.M.	Orlando Pride	NJ/NY Gotham FC	Exploria Stadium
Wednesday, March 30	7:30 p.m.	Washington Spirit	North Carolina Courage	Audi Field
Wednesday, March 30	7:30 p.m.	Chicago Red Stars	Racing Louisville FC	SeatGeek Stadium
Wednesday, March 30	8:30 p.m.	Houston Dash	Kansas City Current	PNC Stadium
Wednesday, March 30	10 p.m.	Portland Thorns FC	Angel City FC	Providence Park
Saturday, April 2	3 p.m.	Kansas City Current	Racing Louisville FC	Children's Mercy Park
Saturday, April 2, 2022	4 p.m.	San Diego Wave FC	Angel City FC	Torero Stadium
Saturday, April 2	8 p.m.	Chicago Red Stars	Houston Dash	SeatGeek Stadium
Saturday, April 2	10 p.m.	Portland Thorns FC	OL Reign	Providence Park
Sunday, April 3	4 p.m.	Washington Spirit	Orlando Pride	Audi Field
Sunday, April 3	3 p.m.	NJ/NY Gotham FC	North Carolina Courage	Red Bull Arena
Thursday, April 14	10 p.m.	OL Reign	San Diego Wave FC	Lumen Field
Friday, April 15	8 p.m.	Kansas City Current	Houston Dash	Children's Mercy Park
Saturday, April 16	7 P.M.	Orlando Pride	North Carolina Courage	Exploria Stadium
Saturday, April 16	7:30 p.m.	Racing Louisville FC	Chicago Red Stars	Lynn Family Stadium
Sunday, April 17	7 P.M.	Portland Thorns FC	San Diego Wave FC	Providence Park
Sunday, April 17, 2022	7 P.M.	OL Reign	Angel City FC	Lumen Field
Sunday, April 17	3 p.m.	NJ/NY Gotham FC	Washington Spirit	Red Bull Arena
Saturday, April 23	1 p.m.	North Carolina Courage	Washington Spirit	Sahlen's Stadium at Wakemed Soccer Park
Saturday, April 23	10 p.m.	San Diego Wave FC	OL Reign	Torero Stadium
Saturday, April 23	7 p.m.	NJ/NY Gotham FC	Orlando Pride	Red Bull Arena
Sunday, April 24	5 p.m.	Kansas City Current	Chicago Red Stars	Children's Mercy Park
Sunday, April 24	7 p.m.	Houston Dash	Racing Louisville FC	PNC Stadium
Sunday, April 24	8 p.m.	Angel City FC	Portland Thorns FC	Titan Stadium at California State Fullerton
Wednesday, May 4 (Semifinal 1)	TBD	TBD	TBD	TBD
Wednesday, May 4 (Semifinal 2)	TBD	TBD	TBD	TBD
Sunday, May 7 (Championship)	TBD	TBD	TBD	TBD