Orlando Pride vs. Kansas City Current: Preview, How to Watch, TV Info, Live Stream, Lineups, Match Thread, and More

The Orlando Pride (8-4-3, 27 points) head out on the road in a battle of the top two teams as they take on the first-place Kansas City Current (13-2-0, 39 points) tonight at CPKP Stadium (4 p.m., CBS, Paramount+). This is the second and final time these two teams will face off in the regular season.

Here’s everything you need to know about tonight’s game.

History

The Current joined the NWSL in 2021 after the team’s ownership group bought the Utah Royals and relocated the club to Kansas City. It’s the second NWSL team in the city — FC Kansas City played there from 2013 to 2017 before moving to Utah — and the team was known as NWSL Kansas City for its inaugural season.

The Pride and Current have played nine games against each other in the regular season and once in the playoffs. Orlando has a 3-3-3 record in the regular-season series, 4-3-3 in all competitions, and 2-1-1 in Kansas City.

The two teams last met on May 16 at Inter&Co Stadium. Temwa Chawinga was the difference, scoring the game’s lone goal in a 1-0 win by the Current.

The first game in 2024 was on July 6 in Kansas City, Barbra Banda gave the Pride the lead, but the hosts responded two minutes later through Chawinga. Despite a second yellow card for Carrie Lawrence dropping the Pride to 10 players just before halftime, Marta converted a second-half penalty, lifting her team to a 2-1 win.

On Sept. 13 in Orlando, the teams combined for 27 shots, but neither converted as the game ended in a scoreless draw. The final meeting of last season came on Nov. 17, 2024, in the NWSL semifinals in Orlando. Debinha gave the Current the lead and Haley McCutcheon equalized just before halftime. Banda made it 2-1 in the second half and Marta doubled the advantage late in normal time. Vanessa DiBernardo got one back deep in stoppage time from the penalty spot, but it wasn’t enough as the Pride won 3-2 to advance to the NWSL Championship in the Current’s home stadium.

The first time the teams met in 2023 was on April 23 at Children’s Mercy Park in Kansas City. It was scoreless after an hour before the Current got a quick flurry of goals by Debinha and CeCe Kizer, lifting Kansas City to a 2-0 win. On June 23, 2023 in Orlando, the visitors took the lead through Debinha, and Kizer doubled the advantage just before halftime. Marta converted a penalty to pull one back, but the Pride fell 2-1.

The first meeting in 2022 was on May 14 at Exploria Stadium. The Pride took the lead early in the second half on a Gunny Jonsdottir goal. Bennett scored late in the second half, and the visitors appeared to win the game a minute into injury time through Kristen Hamilton. However, Kylie Strom was pulled down in the box five minutes later, resulting in a penalty. With Marta injured, the only player willing to step up to take the penalty was center back Toni Pressley, who drilled the ball into the roof of the net, pulling out a 2-2 draw.

Their second meeting in 2022 came on July 31 in Kansas City while the Pride were in the middle of their seven-game unbeaten run. The Pride opened the scoring when Erika Tymrak found the head of Celia and doubled the lead just after halftime through Julie Doyle. The Current stormed back with goals by Elyse Bennett and Kizer, pulling out a 2-2 draw.

The teams played twice during the 2021 NWSL season, with the first game occurring May 30 at Exploria Stadium. Courtney Petersen found Alex Morgan just outside the six-yard box and the striker headed in the game’s lone goal as the Pride won 1-0.

The Pride and Current met again on June 23 at Legends Field in Kansas City. The Pride had a weakened squad as then-coach Marc Skinner left some key players at home, preparing to lose them to the Olympics. It looked to be costly when Mariana Larroquette gave the hosts the lead late in first-half injury time. But the Pride responded well. Two minutes after Larroquette’s goal, Sydney Leroux’s shot took a deflection off a defender and went in to make it 1-1. Shortly after halftime, Leroux scored on a great individual effort from just outside the box. Marta then scored the goal of the game, beating Kansas City goalkeeper Abby Smith from the top of the center circle, lifting the Pride to a 3-1 win.

Overview

The Pride started the second half of the season after over a month off by facing the Utah Royals and Racing Louisville at home. Six points would’ve been huge before heading on the road to face the best team in the league. But poor finishing saw the team only claim two points from the games.

While the Utah result was disappointing, the finishing in the most recent game was worse. Julie Doyle had a first-half penalty saved and the visitors scored right after. Angelina had a chance from the spot to equalize in the second half, but a poor penalty from the Brazilian was saved as well. Fortunately, an Ary Borges own goal in second half stoppage time saw the Pride claim a point.

The Pride had a chance to separate themselves from the teams behind with games against two teams they should’ve beaten, but their failure to do so places them even on points with the Washington Spirit, one point ahead of the San Diego Wave, and two points ahead of the Portland Thorns. Facing the league’s top team away from home could see the Pride drop further down the standings.

Today’s opponent has had a great season so far. The Current have only lost twice all year and have a perfect record through six games at home. Kansas City is on an eight-game winning streak, with the team’s last loss coming in a 1-0 defeat to the Seattle Reign on May 2.

Most recently, the Current were held for 82 minutes by the Utah Royals away from home before Chawinga came to the rescue, giving the visitors the lead eight minutes from time in a 1-0 win.

This will be a game between two of the league’s top strikers as Chawinga and Banda face off. Chawinga leads the league in goals this season with 10 in 15 games — tied with Esther Gonzalez  — and Banda is third with eight goals.

Behind Chawinga in the goal tally for tonight’s hosts are Bia Zanaretto and Debhina with five each, Michelle Cooper with four, and Lo’eau LaBonta with three. The Current lead the league with 32 goals — six more than the second place Wave. But that’s not their only strength.

Defensively, the Current have only conceded 10 goals this season. The Pride sit second in goals conceded this year with 12, so these are the two best defensive teams in the league.

“It’s always a good matchup against Kansas. Both teams sit at the top, so we’re looking to repeat what we did last year,” Pride Head Coach Seb Hines said about tonight’s game. “It’s always an exciting game. The fans get behind their team and we’re there to spoil their fun. So, we’re going there to win. I think we do that every single game. So, I think we’re all looking forward to the game at Kansas.”

The Pride travel to Kansas City without three players available. Zara Chavoshi (hip), Viviana Villacorta (thigh), and Morgan Gautrat (excused absence) are all listed as out. The Current will be without Elizabeth Ball (hip), DiBernardo (maternity leave), Clare Gagne (head), Hamilton (hip), Alana Cook (knee), and Gabrielle Robinson (knee).

---

Official Lineups

Orlando Pride (4-2-3-1)

Goalkeeper: Anna Moorhouse.

Defenders: Carson Pickett, Kylie Nadaner, Rafaelle, Emily Sams.

Defensive Midfielders: Haley McCutcheon, Angelina.

Midfielders: Ally Watt, Marta, Prisca Chilufya.

Bench: McKinley Crone, Cori Dyke, Simone Charley, Julie Doyle, Oihane, Kerry Abello, Summer Yates, Ally Lemos, Simone Jackson.

Forward: Barbra Banda.

Kansas City Current (4-4-2)

Goalkeeper: Lorena.

Defenders: Izzy Rodriguez, Kayla Sharples, Hailie Mace, Ellie Wheeler.

Midfielders: Michelle Cooper, Lo’eau LaBonta, Claire Hutton, Temwa Chawinga.

Forwards: Bia Zaneratto, Debinha.

Bench: Laurel Ivory, Regan Steigleder, Nichelle Prince, Rocky Rodriguez, Haley Hopkins, Mary Long, Ally Sentnor, Bayley Feist, Alex Pfeiffer.

Referees

REF: Brad Jensen.
AR1: Tiffini Turpin.
AR2: Christian Clerc.
4TH: Kyle Armstrong.
VAR: Danielle Chesky.
AVAR: Matthew Seem.

---

How to Watch

Match Time: 4 p.m.

Venue: CPKC Stadium — Kansas City, MO.

TV: CBS.

Streaming: Paramount+.

Social Media: For live updates and rapid reaction, follow @themaneland.bsky.social on Bluesky and the Orlando Pride’s official Twitter (@ORLPride) or Bluesky (@orlpride.com) feed.

---

Enjoy the game. Go Pride!