List of first overall NWSL draft picks

The National Women's Soccer League's first overall pick is the player who is selected first among all eligible draftees by a team during the annual National Women's Soccer League (NWSL) draft.

Two first picks have been named the NWSL Most Valuable Player: Crystal Dunn and Sophia Smith.^[1]^[2] Only one first overall pick was ever named NWSL Rookie of the Year: Naomi Girma.^[3]

Three collegiate programs have multiple players that were selected first overall: Stanford with four, North Carolina with three, and Virginia with two.

On August 22, 2024, the NWSL announced the elimination of its draft in its renegotiated collective bargaining agreement with the National Women's Soccer League Players Association.^[4] NWSL teams could pursue and sign any prospective collegiate and international players as free agents.^[5]

Key

!	Denotes player who has been inducted to the National Soccer Hall of Fame
⁺	Denotes player who won Most Valuable Player
*	Denotes player who has been selected for an Best XI or Second XI team
Bold	Denotes player who won Rookie of the Year

List of first overall picks

Draft	Selected by	Player	Country	Position	College / high school / former club	NWSL rookie statistics			Ref.
Draft	Selected by	Player	Country	Position	College / high school / former club	Caps	Goals	Assists	Ref.
2013	Chicago Red Stars	Zakiya Bywaters	United States	Forward / Midfielder	UCLA	6	2	0	^[6]
2014	Washington Spirit	Crystal Dunn * +		Forward	North Carolina	21	0	3	^[7]
2015	Houston Dash	Morgan Brian		Midfielder	Virginia	10	0	3	^[8]
2016	Portland Thorns FC	Emily Sonnett *		Defender	Virginia	15	0	0	^[9]
2017	Boston Breakers	Rose Lavelle *		Midfielder	Wisconsin	10	2	1	^[10]
2018	Washington Spirit	Andi Sullivan		Midfielder	Stanford	23	0	1	^[11]
2019	Chicago Red Stars	Tierna Davidson		Defender		13	1	0	^[12]
2020	Portland Thorns FC	Sophia Smith * ⁺		Forward		21	7	1	^[13]
2021	Racing Louisville FC	Emily Fox *		Defender	North Carolina	23	0	0	^[14]
2022	San Diego Wave FC	Naomi Girma *		Defender	Stanford	19	0	0	^[15]
2023	Angel City FC	Alyssa Thompson		Forward	Harvard-Westlake	20	4	2	^[16]
2024	Utah Royals	Ally Sentnor		Midfielder	North Carolina	21	3	4	^[17]
The NWSL Draft was abolished in the 2024 collective bargaining agreement between the league and its players' association^[4]

References

^ "Spirit Forward Crystal Dunn Voted NWSL MVP". National Women's Soccer League. 2015-09-23. Archived from the original on 2015-09-25.
^ Kriger, Rachael (October 27, 2022). "Sophia Smith wins 2022 NWSL MVP Award". The Equalizer.
^ Lauletta, Dan (2022-10-27). "Naomi Girma named 2022 NWSL Rookie of the Year". The Equalizer.
^ ^a ^b Gregory, Sean (August 22, 2024). "Why Women's Soccer Ditched Its Draft". TIME. Retrieved April 24, 2025.
^ Barrington, Talia (August 22, 2024). "'It's important we attract the best': inside the NWSL's groundbreaking deal that abolishes the draft". The Guardian.
^ Oshan, Jeremiah (January 18, 2013). "NWSL College Draft, results: Red Stars pick Zakiya Bywaters No. 1". SB Nation. Retrieved April 25, 2025.
^ Gordon, Jennifer (January 17, 2014). "Crystal Dunn selected first in NWSL College Draft". Equalizer Soccer. Retrieved April 25, 2025.
^ "Morgan Brian No. 1 pick by Houston Dash in NWSL draft". ESPN. January 16, 2015. Retrieved April 25, 2025.
^ Duke, JJ (January 20, 2016). "2016 NWSL College Draft Recap". Our Game Magazine. Retrieved April 25, 2025.
^ McCauley, Kim (January 12, 2017). "NWSL draft 2017 results: All the picks from all 4 rounds". SB Nation. Retrieved April 25, 2025.
^ Purdy, Jacqueline (January 18, 2018). "Spirit select Andi Sullivan with the No. 1 pick in the College Draft". NWSL. Retrieved April 25, 2025.
^ Yang, Stephanie (January 12, 2019). "2019 NWSL draft class goes all in on a dream". The Athletic. The New York Times. Retrieved April 25, 2025.
^ McCauley, Kim (January 17, 2020). "5 big stories from the 2020 NWSL Draft". SB Nation. Retrieved April 25, 2025.
^ Herrera, Sandra (January 14, 2021). "2021 NWSL draft results: Emily Fox, Trinity Rodman and Brianna Pinto lead list of picks in trade filled night". CBS Sports. Retrieved April 25, 2025.
^ Hruby, Emma (December 18, 2021). "San Diego Wave FC select Naomi Girma with No. 1 pick of college draft". Just Women's Sports. Retrieved April 25, 2025.
^ Gibson, Charlotte (January 12, 2023). "Angel City picks Alyssa Thompson as NWSL's first No. 1 pick out of high school". ESPN. Retrieved April 25, 2025.
^ "Utah Royals FC pick UNC's Ally Sentnor first overall in NWSL draft". ESPN. January 12, 2024. Retrieved April 25, 2025.

[1] "Spirit Forward Crystal Dunn Voted NWSL MVP". National Women's Soccer League. 2015-09-23. Archived from the original on 2015-09-25.

[2] Kriger, Rachael (October 27, 2022). "Sophia Smith wins 2022 NWSL MVP Award". The Equalizer.

[3] Lauletta, Dan (2022-10-27). "Naomi Girma named 2022 NWSL Rookie of the Year". The Equalizer.

[CBA-4] Gregory, Sean (August 22, 2024). "Why Women's Soccer Ditched Its Draft". TIME. Retrieved April 24, 2025.

[draft-end-5] Barrington, Talia (August 22, 2024). "'It's important we attract the best': inside the NWSL's groundbreaking deal that abolishes the draft". The Guardian.

[6] Oshan, Jeremiah (January 18, 2013). "NWSL College Draft, results: Red Stars pick Zakiya Bywaters No. 1". SB Nation. Retrieved April 25, 2025.

[7] Gordon, Jennifer (January 17, 2014). "Crystal Dunn selected first in NWSL College Draft". Equalizer Soccer. Retrieved April 25, 2025.

[8] "Morgan Brian No. 1 pick by Houston Dash in NWSL draft". ESPN. January 16, 2015. Retrieved April 25, 2025.

[9] Duke, JJ (January 20, 2016). "2016 NWSL College Draft Recap". Our Game Magazine. Retrieved April 25, 2025.

[10] McCauley, Kim (January 12, 2017). "NWSL draft 2017 results: All the picks from all 4 rounds". SB Nation. Retrieved April 25, 2025.

[11] Purdy, Jacqueline (January 18, 2018). "Spirit select Andi Sullivan with the No. 1 pick in the College Draft". NWSL. Retrieved April 25, 2025.

[12] Yang, Stephanie (January 12, 2019). "2019 NWSL draft class goes all in on a dream". The Athletic. The New York Times. Retrieved April 25, 2025.

[13] McCauley, Kim (January 17, 2020). "5 big stories from the 2020 NWSL Draft". SB Nation. Retrieved April 25, 2025.

[14] Herrera, Sandra (January 14, 2021). "2021 NWSL draft results: Emily Fox, Trinity Rodman and Brianna Pinto lead list of picks in trade filled night". CBS Sports. Retrieved April 25, 2025.

[15] Hruby, Emma (December 18, 2021). "San Diego Wave FC select Naomi Girma with No. 1 pick of college draft". Just Women's Sports. Retrieved April 25, 2025.

[16] Gibson, Charlotte (January 12, 2023). "Angel City picks Alyssa Thompson as NWSL's first No. 1 pick out of high school". ESPN. Retrieved April 25, 2025.

[17] "Utah Royals FC pick UNC's Ally Sentnor first overall in NWSL draft". ESPN. January 12, 2024. Retrieved April 25, 2025.

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v t e Drafts held by the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL)
NWSL Draft	2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024
Dispersal Draft	2018
Expansion Draft	2014 2015 2020 2022 2024
Supplemental Draft	2013

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