2020–2023 For the first four years of the tournament, all NWSL teams began a group stage where they played four to six games, usually split geographically. The group stage was then followed by one or more knockout matches to determine the Cup winner. In
2020, all nine teams were to play four games each in a single pool, with eight teams advancing to the knockout stage; however, one team had to drop out due to
COVID exposure, and the pool games among the remaining eight teams were used solely for seeding the knockout rounds. In
2021, the ten teams were divided into two divisions of five teams, with the two group winners qualifying for the final match. In
2022 and
2023, the twelve teams split into three groups of four, with the best runner-up joining the three group winners in a two-round knockout tournament. In
2023, the format remained the same but the tournament was moved to run concurrently with the season due to player concerns about injuries.
2024 onward In 2024, the NWSL Challenge Cup transitioned to a single pre-season match between the winners of the previous season's
NWSL Shield and
NWSL Championship, a similar structure to other
super cup trophies worldwide such as the
FA Community Shield. Should a team win both the Championship and Shield, the Challenge Cup is a rematch of the previous season's championship match. == Records and statistics ==