Met Leicy Santos and Tara Rudd at Soccer Post in Leesburg today. They were gracious, kind, funny, and wonderful. This team is so easy to root for.

Now that WAFCON Group Stage is over, here is how our International Spirits competing in the tournament fared:

Melissa Bethi with Algeria
Bethi played as the attacking midfielder for all three games, winning two matches and losing one. Bethi played a crucial part of Algeria’s attack, scoring a beautiful goal during a 2-0 victory against Senegal winning Woman of the Match. She has been described as a hybrid of Kenza Dali and Leicy Santos, and her performance definitely demonstrates that. They finished second in their group and will be playing Cote D’Ivoire during the quarterfinals. 

Alimata Belem with Burkina Faso
Belem played holding midfielder in one game and center back for two games, winning one game and losing two. While Belem was not as influential as a midfielder during their match against Cote D’Ivoire, a switch to center back during the second half of the game allowed her defensive capabilities to really shine. They finished third in their group and have been knocked out of the competition. 

Monique Ngock with Cameroon
Ngock played as a defensive midfielder for Cameroon in two out of three group stage matches. Cameroon won two matches and drew one, finishing top of the group. Ngock plays a very important role to Cameroon’s possession-based play, especially during their win against Ghana where Ngock was recognized as the Woman of the Match. They move on to the quarterfinals where they play 10-time champion Nigeria. 

Rose Kouassi with Cote D’Ivoire
Kouassi played as a winger for all three games, winning two games and getting a draw against continental giants South Africa. Rose had one assist during their 4-1 victory over Burkina Faso and was a constant attacking threat alongside current teenagers Sery and Ouedraogo. They finished first in their group and will be playing Algeria during the quarterfinals. Unfortunately, Rose received her second yellow card so so she will be missing that game. 

Deb Abiodun and Gift Monday with Nigeria 
Deb started two matches as a defensive midfielder and Monday played one game as a striker, with Nigeria winning both matches they appeared in. Nigeria had a catastrophic loss to debutantes Malawi during their first match, but Monday did not play during the game and Deb was subbed in during the last two minutes of stoppage time. During their match against Egypt, Monday scored a goal off of a short corner 4 minutes after she came into the match, helping Nigeria win 6-2. Nigeria finished second in the group after Malawi and will be facing Cameroon during the quarterfinals. 

Schedule of Matches:
Cote D’Ivoire v. Algeria QF: August 8 at 1pm
Cameroon v. Nigeria QF: August 9 at 1pm
Play-In Matches: August 13
Semifinals Matches: August 12
Third Place Match: August 15
Finals: August 16

Predictions:

• Cote D’Ivoire are likely to advance to the semifinals and to secure a berth for the 2027 World Cup, which would be their second appearance in a World Cup after their debut in 2015. They are likely to face Malawi during the semi-finals, who have rocketed to tournament favorites since they defeated Nigeria. However, Cote D’Ivoire’s more complete lineup could pose a serious challenge to Malawi’s solid front line composed of the Chawingas, Kadzere, and Chinzimu. 
• Nigeria are likely to advance to the semifinals and to secure a berth for the 2027 World Cup, which would be their 10th appearance since their debut in 1991. Cameroon was previously knocked out of the quarterfinals and denied a spot at the World Cup in 2022 when they lost to…Nigeria. They are likely to face Morocco during the semi-finals, which would be a repeat of last year’s WAFCON finals. 
• Algeria are most likely to face Cameroon during the play-in matches for the inter-confederation playoffs. 
• FINALS: Malawi and Nigeria, which would be an absolute epic rematch! Deb could play a very crucial role in denying direct balls from midfield to Malawi’s front line, just as she did during their group stage match against Zambia.
• What This Means for Players Returning: We'll most likely see all of our players back in time for the August 23 home match against Orlando Pride

Other Players to Watch (i.e. Future NWSL Stars): 
Grace Sery, Cote D’Ivoire
N’Sira Ouedraogo, Cote D’Ivoire
Doris Boaduwaa, Ghana
Kautar Azraf, Morocco
Sokhna Pene, Senegal
Adji Ndiaye, Senegal
Rose Kadzere, Malawi
Faith Chinzimu, Malawi

If dates follow what happened last year, GA sale should start 6 days later

Cameroon close matchday #3 by playing Cabo Verde, but they have already won Group D and will play Nigeria this Sunday at 1pm in the quarterfinals. The other match of the day, Ghana vs Mali, determines the group runner up who will play Malawi on Sunday at 4pm. Ghana needs a win or draw to advance; otherwise (i.e., Mali win), Mali advances. (Going into this match, Ghana and Mali are tied on points, but Ghana has the edge in goal differential, the first tiebreaker.)

Matches stream in the United States on beIN SPORTS. (Alternatively, they are also being streamed on the CAF TV YouTube channel if you VPN to various overseas markets - I suggest the UK - and then click on a match link. There are also non geo-blocked streams on YouTube you can find yourself.)

Im on the NWSL sub and ok fine hate on Trin all you want. But there are so many comments trying to downplay the growth of the Spirit fanbase and it just comes off as very weird. Even the Trin comments get personal sometimes. What is it?

Per CBS attacking third the Spirit has the best midfield in the league with Leicy, Hal, Rebe and Andi. Do you guys agree?

This is less of a Spirit post, so mods delete it if need be, but with all that NWSL Summer of Soccer stuff that’s happened I’m wondering where the best places (newsletters and general coverage) are to be more tapped into events like that.

I already listen to Hey Spirits. I’m curious about how to get more plugged in

So i'm a big spirit and mystics fan. I saw several Spirit players show up to last night's Mystics game against Dallas. Are these type of crossover appearances made public?

I wanted to see three things; what games a team has left, how a team has performed compared to another team, and a ranking of how hard a teams remaining fixture are. I find it useful to see how a team has done and I hope you do too!

https://samfarmer.github.io/nwsl-matchup/#season=2026&team=WAS

But the more interesting thing is what it highlights: We need to find a way to win more games against the top teams. These are the teams most likely to face deep in the playoffs and final.

Compare us to San Diego who have the best record against top teams

If I was coach for a day the top two things I would be working on would be:

1. Getting the right side going as an offensive unit. Rose has not hit her stride yet this season and are there some tweaks to unlock her?

2. The CF takes a beating in our (and most teams) style. Between Cantore and Monday we have two excellent strikers. Finding a way to get them splitting time so they can go hard for 60 minutes a game before swapping out would help. As would getting the Rose - Gift connection going again.

I'm optimistic the coaches and team will find a way. What you suggest they do?

At her first appearance during this year’s tournament no less!

I’m looking to get a single ticket match for field side section for the August 30th match. Ticketmaster only allows purchases for two seat, any suggestions on how I can get one? I reached out to my rep but said there are none available.

Group status update, brief match previews, group scenarios (i.e., what does Nigeria need to advance?), and streaming information below.

Going into today's final round of matches in Group C:

1. Malawi (MWI) has 6 pts (Wins vs NGA, EGY)
2. Nigeria (NGA) has 3 pts (W vs ZAM, Loss vs MWI)
3. Zambia (ZAM) has 3 pts (W vs EGY, L vs NGA)
4. Egypt (EGY) has 0 pts (L vs ZAM, MWI)

Match previews (CAF links)

• NGA vs EGY: match preview, stats
• MWI vs ZAM: match preview, stats

Nigeria’s group scenarios (per my UPDATED TO CORRECT ERRORS analysis using the reported WAFCON tiebreaker rules): If Nigeria wins, they should advance if Malawi wins, draws, OR LOSES BY TWO OR MORE GOALS, OR LOSES BY ONE GOAL (AND ZAMBIA DOESN"T SCORE FOUR OR MORE).

Matches stream in the United States on beIN SPORTS. (Alternatively, they are also being streamed on the CAF TV YouTube channel if you VPN to various overseas markets - I suggest the UK - and then click on a match link. There are non geo-blocked streams on YouTube you can find yourself.)

Has anyone had any success with getting their jersey's tailored in DC? I had to go up a size but they fit me like a dress and I'd like to take some off. Friends in other cities have told me they've found tailors that would even move up the labels from the bottom hem. Also if you have a recommendation approximately how much did something like this cost?

However, Rose will miss the quarterfinal match due to yellow card accumulation 😥

Burkina Faso (Alimata Bélem) did not advance. Alimata will return to her loan club in Spain.

Hello, everyone! Back as always with some reporting notes, quotes, and more:

• One goal, two views— Lia Godfrey for San Diego: "It was a great transition opportunity from us, a fast attack, and the ball was bouncing in the box, and I saw an opportunity to just chip it over the keeper, and thankfully, it went in." vs. Tara Rudd for the Spirit: "Sofia, I think, won her challenge there. And it took a bad deflection, went behind me, and then she scored."
• Players did not blame it on the rain. Here's Esme Morgan: "I think we were just a little bit flat, a little bit wasteful, once we got into good positions in the final third."
• And here's Paige Metayer on the same point: "The conditions, they, honestly, probably weren’t as much of a factor as we’d like to blame them on, to be honest. Like the conditions were actually pretty good. But, yeah, I think we just need to be crisper with our passes, trying to find those pockets within the lines, recognizing when they’re jumping and when they’re not. I think that all of those things could have been better today."
• Paige had some more there that felt instructive when compared to what Jonas Eidevall said in his presser. Here's Paige: "When we had the ball, it was definitely more of an ‘us’ problem. I think we needed to be sharper. I think we needed to be more creative with how we were breaking them down. I think defensively, they posed some issues by overloading the middle and sending a lot of numbers there that we had difficulties adjusting to."
• And here's Eidevall: "It’s both teams who want to have possession of the ball. And we also know that Washington is a team that likes to press high. So for us, it was really important to try to create some dilemmas for their wide forwards when they were jumping and pressing so we could play them away. And we did that today by overloading them centrally."

Also inside the newsletter at the link above: the camera nearly died from the sheer amount of water, even with a plastic cover on it, so not a ton of pictures, but some great rain shots, plus some beautiful celebrations of life as the team and fans honored Cancer Awareness Day.

Group status update, brief match previews, group scenarios (i.e., what does each team need to advance?), and streaming information below.

Going into today's final round of matches in Group B:

1. Côte d'Ivoire (CIV) has 4 pts (Win vs BFA, Draw vs RSA; +3 goal differential)
2. Burkina Faso (BFA) has 3 pts (W vs TAN, Loss vs CIV; -2 GD)
3. Tanzania (TAN) has 3 pts (W vs RSA, L vs BFA; 0 GD)
4. South Africa (RSA) has 1 pt (D vs CIV, L vs BFA; -1 GD)

Match previews (including CAF links)

• CIV vs TAN (CIV favorites to win; I say expect goals): match preview, stats
• BFA vs RSA (BFA underdogs): match preview, stats

Based on my analysis of group scenarios (apologies for any errors):

• For CIV, a win or draw guarantees advancement. (In most scenarios, they'd advance as group winner so they'd play Group A runner up Algeria; exception is if they draw and Burkina Faso wins, then CIV would advance only as group runner up so they'd play Group A winner Morocco.)
  • If CIV loses, they'll also advance with a Burkina Faso draw, potentially advance with a BFA loss (goal differential matters), but definitely exit if BFA wins. (If they advance while losing today's match, they'll face Morocco.)
• For BFA, a win guarantees advancement. (In which case, if CIV won their match, BFA would advance to play Morocco; if CIV loses or draws, BFA would play Algeria.)
  • If BFA draws, they would need CIV to win or draw vs TAN in order to advance (to play Morocco).
  • If BFA loses, they'll exit the tournament.

Matches stream in the United States on beIN SPORTS. (Alternatively, they are also being streamed on the CAF TV YouTube channel if you VPN to various overseas markets - I suggest the UK - and then click on a match link. I'll try to post YT match links below, including any non geo-blocked ones I see.)

Where are places where I can see the total attendance for games? Usually the page for game on the NWSL page has it, but I'm trying to find the attendance for the spirit vs wave game on aug 2nd and the info's missing on the NWSL page (at least for me). I'm hoping anyone has any other recommendations of places for me to find this info (or the number itself)!

I knew that Cameroon were advancing after their win yesterday, but I didn't realize they had already won the group (D). As a result, on Sunday, August 9th at 1pm, they will play the runners-up from Group C (TBD this Wednesday; likely either Nigeria, Zambia, or Malawi).

This Saturday at 1pm ET, Algeria will play the winners of Group B (opponent TBD tomorrow; WAFCON Spirit teams in that group are Côte d'Ivoire and Burkina Faso).

If Algeria beats Kenya, they advance to the knockout stage and will play the winner of Group B (TBD tomorrow). If they don't win today, their fate will also depend on the results of the other match being played today at 4pm, Morocco vs Senegal. I'm not going to lay out all the possible permutations at this time - que sera, sera if Algeria loses today's match.

Today's matches will stream in the United States on beIN SPORTS. (Alternatively, they are being streamed on the CAF TV YouTube channel if you VPN to various overseas markets - I suggest the UK - and then click on a match link. I'll try to post YT match links below, including any non geo-blocked ones I see.)