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Credit: Darren Yamashita-USA TODAY Sports
The National Women’s Soccer League’s official announcement of its new “High Impact Player” rule included the criteria that will be used to determine which players will qualify for the new roster mechanism. The criteria includes lists of the best players in the world from various media outlets, U.S. Women’s National Team playing time, and a list of the most marketable athletes in all sports. The mechanism is meant to give NWSL clubs more leverage in the global market for players, but the NWSL Players Association is vehemently against the new policy, with Executive Director Meghann Burke telling ESPN, “We just don’t feel that it delivers anything of value that simply increasing the team salary cap wouldn’t, without having negative consequences.”
With the criteria released, it is now possible to compile a list of which players would qualify for HIP classification. The Equalizer used the following sources to create our list:
In total, 102 players qualify for HIP status at the moment.
The list includes 28 players from the United States, 15 from England, 13 from Spain, 7 each from France and Germany, and 6 from Brazil. 21 countries are represented on the list. Notable national teams with no representation on the list include Nigeria, Mexico, Canada, and Korea.
Confederations are represented very unevenly on the list. UEFA (Europe) leads the pack with 58 players—that’s over half the list. CONCACAF (North America, Central America, and the Caribbean) claims 30 players, CONMEBOL (South America) has 8, and AFC (Asia) and CAF (Africa) have 3 each. Oceania has none.
Four clubs each have over 10 players on the list: Chelsea (15), Barcelona (12), Arsenal (11), and OL Lyonnes (11). Seven HIP-qualifying athletes play for the Kansas City Current, followed by Bayern Munich and NJ/NY Gotham with 6 each.
Ten other NWSL clubs are represented on the list: Washington Spirit (5), Orlando Pride (3), Portland Thorns (3), Chicago Stars (2), Boston Legacy (1), Denver Summit (1), Houston Dash (1), North Carolina Courage (1), San Diego Wave (1) and Seattle Reign (1). Angel City, Bay, Racing Louisville, and Utah Royals are all without HIP players.
The Women’s Super League in England has more players on the list—33—than the NWSL, which has 32. The Première Ligue in France and Liga F in Spain both have 14 HIP-eligible players. Frauen-Bundesliga in Germany has 7, and the Italian Serie A has 2. Amanda Gutierres, who qualifies on the list due to her inclusion in the Ballon D’Or 2025 top 30, played for Palmeiras in the Brasileirão Feminino in 2025 but will be playing for the Boston Legacy in 2026. We considered her an NWSL player in our statistical calculations.
The average age of the players on the list is 27. Five players were born in 1990 or before: Marta, Alyssa Naeher, Ann-Katrin Berger, Cristiana Girelli, and Casey Krueger. Six were born in 2005 or later: Lily Yohannes, Claire Hutton, Vicky López, Michelle Agyemang, Linda Caicedo, and Olivia Moultrie.
Seven goalkeepers are on the list.
The HIP criteria includes placement on various lists “in the two (2) years prior to the current league season.” Thus, it is relevant to know which players are included on the list for only 2024 top players lists, and thus are at risk of falling off the list in 2027. (However, once a player signs an HIP contract, that status stays with them for the duration of the contract). 32 players on the list qualify with only 2024 criteria, not 2025. Those players include Croix Bethune, Sophia Wilson, Naomi Girma, Mallory Swanson, Tierna Davidson, Casey Krueger, and Alyssa Naeher. This system seems to disadvantage players who take significant time off due to injury or pregnancy.
Most players qualify for HIP on more than one count. Temwa Chawinga, Lindsay Heaps, and Trinity Rodman all qualify under 9 criteria. Barbra Banda and Marta qualify under 8, and Lucy Bronze, Aitana Bonmati, Patri Guijarro, Alexia Putellas, and Sophia Wilson qualify under 7.
Seven players have played in the NWSL, but no longer do: Tarciane, Lindsay Heaps, Naomi Girma, Alyssa Thompson, Jenna Nighswonger, Emily Fox, and Steph Catley. There are 30 current NWSL players on the list, and 65 with no affiliation.
Here’s the full list of players with HIP status, as of December 23, 2025 (U.S. players in bold):
Michelle Agyemang
Selma Bacha
Sandy Baltimore
Barbra Banda
Ona Batlle
Aggie Beever-Jones
Ann-Katrin Berger
Croix Bethune
Stina Blackstenius
Aitana Bonmati
Jule Brand
Millie Bright
Lucy Bronze
Klara Bühl
Linda Caicedo
Mariona Caldentey
Sofia Cantore
Olga Carmona
Delphine Cascarino
Steph Catley
Temwa Chawinga
Tabitha Chawinga
Sam Coffey
Cata Coll
Erin Cuthbert
Tierna Davidson
Kadidiatou Diani
Claudia Dickey
Melchie Dumornay
Mary Earps
Emily Fox
Grace Geyoro
Cristiana Girelli
Naomi Girma
Manuela Giugliano
Esther Gonzalez
Caroline Graham Hansen
Alex Greenwood
Patri Guijarro
Amanda Gutierres
Giulia Gwinn
Hannah Hampton
Pernille Harder
Yui Hasegawa
Lindsey Heaps
Ada Hegerberg
Lauren Hemp
Claire Hutton
Lauren James
Marie-Antoinette Katoto
Chloe Kelly
Casey Krueger
Kaleigh Kurtz
Rose Lavelle
Mapi León
Vicky López
Lorena
Frida Maanum
Caterina Macario
Marta
Clara Mateo
Manaka Matsukubo
Katie McCabe
Tara McKeown
Beth Mead
Olivia Moultrie
Alyssa Naeher
Jenna Nighswonger
Sjoeke Nüsken
Ewa Pajor
Salma Paralluelo
Irene Paredes
Avery Patterson
Clàudia Pina
Alexandra Popp
Gabi Portilho
Alexia Putellas
Mayra Ramírez
Guro Reiten
Trinity Rodman
Izzy Rodriguez
Fridolina Rolfö
Alessia Russo
Johanna Rytting Kaneryd
Emily Sams
Lea Schüller
Ally Sentnor
Kayla Sharples
Khadija Shaw
Korbin Shrader
Emily Sonnett
Georgia Stanway
Mallory Swanson
Tarciane
Alyssa Thompson
Glódís Viggósdóttir
Kiera Walsh
Caroline Weir
Leah Williamson
Sophia Wilson
Lily Yohannes
Bia Zaneratto
And finally, the following are notable players who do not qualify for HIP status, including six former NWSL MVPs (U.S. players in bold):
Rebeca Bernal
Lynn Biyendolo
Jess Carter
Ghizlane Chebbak
Michelle Cooper
Kenza Dali
Debinha
Crystal Dunn
Jess Fishlock
Mary Fowler
Vanessa Gilles
Sarah Gorden
Maika Hamano
Kerolin
Sam Kerr
Rosemond Kouassi
Racheal Kundananji
Lo’eau Labonta
Cloe Lacasse
Adriana Leon
Sydney Leroux
Kim Little
Ludmila
Gift Monday
Esme Morgan
Kika Nazareth
Esther Okoronkwo
Diana Ordóñez
Lizbeth Ovalle
Midge Purce
Lilly Reale
Leicy Santos
Emma Sears
Jaedyn Shaw
Olivia Smith
María Sánchez
Hina Sugita
Mina Tanaka
Riley Tiernan
Phallon Tullis-Joyce
This story was updated on December 24, 2025 to reflect the 2025 ESPN FC Top 50 football players in the world list.
