There’s a particular type of bad soccer that eventually stops being about the standings and statistics. The losses blur together, one after another. A 1-0 or 2-0 defeat almost feels encouraging, because at least it wasn’t a complete drubbing. Players and coaches talk about “taking away the positives” in press conferences, but only because there isn’t much else to say.
This basically sums up the 2026 season for the Chicago Stars. One of the NWSL’s oldest and most historic teams, the Stars are 5-17-2 through 24 games this season and have spent basically the entirety of it in the last two places in the standings. They have scored 14 goals and conceded 54 — a goal differential of -40. If the losses and shutouts weren’t enough, the team fired head coach Martin Sjögren in August after he led the team to a 4-13-1 record through the first 18 matches.
Things still got worse. In September, the Stars allowed their opponent to score six goals on two separate occasions (they lost 6-1 to the Denver Summit and 6-0 to the North Carolina Courage). They showed signs of life against the Portland Thorns last weekend, earning a 1-1 draw, but that game did officially eliminate the Stars from playoff contention (as if that was still a real option). Chicago still has to face the Washington Spirit twice and Gotham FC this season, as well as Denver and the Seattle Reign before they can pack it up and go home.
So, is this the worst season in NWSL history? Technically, no. That honor belongs to Sky Blue FC (now Gotham)’s 2018 season, who endured the longest winless streak in NWSL history. The team’s only win came in the 24th and final game of the season. But Chicago is close enough that the question is worth asking.
The strangest part about the Stars’ collapse is the team’s history in the NWSL. The team has been a permanent fixture in the league since the WPS, and was one of the original eight teams that formed the NWSL in 2013. It has survived the turbulence of women’s soccer trying to survive in this country.
In addition to being a legacy team, the Stars have not always been bad. In NWSL history, Chicago has made the playoffs eight times, including seven consecutive appearances, and even reached the championship game in 2019 and 2021. They didn’t win either championship, but a point was made — when it comes to women’s soccer, Chicago is not irrelevant. Unfortunately, that success on the pitch came at a steep cost, as abusive coach Rory Dames was at the helm through the 2021 season.
Only five years ago the team was playing in the league finals, today they can’t even seem to remember how to score a goal. And the collapse started early this season — Chicago lost eight of its first 10 matches, scoring only four goals in that time.
On an individual level, there is some talent there, but the Stars have failed to turn it into anything cohesive. Their roster includes U.S. national team star Mallory Swanson and Canadian international Jordyn Huitema as well as other players with significant club and international experience, but they can’t figure out how to play together. Huitema tore her ACL in July, so she won’t be able to add to her four goals on the season — although she remains the team’s leading scorer this year.
The club’s organizational issues do span a few years now. Dames resigned in 2021 and Arnim Whisler sold the club to a group led by Laura Ricketts in 2023, but the new ownership’s promises of progress have not materialized. Sjögren was the latest coach to arrive with plans to stabilize the team, but his tenure with the Stars ended before the season did. The list of permanent and interim head coaches leading Chicago over the past five years is… long.
Scores are only part of the story.
Unlock full access.
Chicago can’t salvage 2026, but they can treat the remainder of the season as a training camp for 2027, identifying who will truly be useful for the next season and constructing the team’s future around them. The club traded Jameese Joseph to the Utah Royals on September 7, which gave the club some money to work with — Chicago received $750,000 in intra-league transfer funds from Utah, including $300,000 this year, with additional compensation possible through 2029. This money should go towards acquiring proven attacking talent, but maybe also towards coaches and staff who are capable of developing that talent.
The bigger challenge the team may face, though, is becoming an organization where people actually want to play. The elimination of the draft in 2024 means the team has to offer something enticing to players. Finding a permanent home stadium would be a start, as well as building out the team’s planned performance center. If it all came together, Chicago would be an attractive place to play — but if and when that might happen is still up in the air.
Chicago may not actually be the NWSL’s worst team ever. But does it matter? The team faced something objectively harder over a decade ago — learning how to survive as a women’s soccer franchise when there was little precedent for it. They owe it to their own legacy to learn how to not only survive, but now thrive.
