The Road to the Championship
National Participation
There are 350 NCAA member institutions that sponsor Division I Women’s Soccer teams, but only 337 programs are eligible to compete in the National Championship, due to 10 programs still in the re-classification process. The 350 programs support approximately 9,800 women’s soccer student-athletes across the country.
Selection Process
The 2026 NCAA Division I Women's Soccer Championship provides for a field of 64 teams to compete in a single-elimination tournament. Thirty-one conference champions qualify automatically; the balance of the field is selected at-large by the NCAA Division I Women’s Soccer Committee.
Selection Show - Nov. 16
The 2026 NCAA Division I Women’s Soccer Championship bracket will be announced on the Monday before the first round of competition.
First Round - Nov. 20-22
Thirty-two single-elimination first-round games will be conducted at non-predetermined campus sites. The winning team from each match will advance to the second round.
Second and Third Rounds - Nov. 26 - 29
Second and third rounds will be conducted at eight non-predetermined campus sites. At each campus site, four teams will compete in a single-elimination second-round competition. The two winning teams will then compete against each other in a single-elimination third-round competition at the same campus site. The winning team from each of the eight third rounds will advance to the quarterfinals.
Quarterfinals - Dec. 4 & 5
Four single-elimination quarterfinal games will be conducted at non-predetermined campus sites. The winning team from each of the four quarterfinals will advance to the championship final site in Cary, North Carolina.
Women's College Cup - Dec. 10 & 13
The 2026 NCAA Women's College Cup will be held at First Horizon Stadium at WakeMed Soccer Park in Cary, North Carolina. The two winning teams from the semifinals will advance and compete in the single-elimination national championship match.