The next year is set to bring a wave of soccer fiesta to the United States of America. Excitement is at its zenith as the country prepares to co-host the 2026 FIFA Men’s World Cup alongside neighboring nations Canada and Mexico. With such a monumental tournament taking place on home soil, it goes without saying that each host nation would practically put everything else—especially the domestic leagues and other sporting events—on pause. However, National Women’s Soccer League commissioner Jessica Berman begs to differ!

The 48-year-old American lawyer is rather adamant about seeing the league function just the way it does even though a prestigious competition will be played by their Men’s National Team. “I do not expect us to shut down for the full period of the Men’s World Cup,” boldly claimed Berman during an exclusive chat with ESPN.

Though no decision has been made by either FIFA or the NWSL stakeholders, she hopes that the apex authority of the beautiful game doesn’t disrupt the women’s domestic scene. “We’re figuring it out. We should have clarity in the next couple months about what we’re going to do. Everything’s on the table right now. I don’t have an answer to the ‘what.’ We’ll do something. What it is, where it is, how it happens, is still in the works,” added Jessica.

Notably, NWSL’s other delegates in the men’s side, i.e. Major League Soccer (MLS), will be closing all of their domestic operations. Of course, they have an obvious reason to do so, considering the majority of their players will be called up by their respective nations. The Don Garber-led domestic league typically runs from March and ends somewhere around the end of November.

However, with the World Cup happening in the States, one can expect the MLS to increase its typical calendar length. Additionally, compensating for the time lost by starting the 2027 season quite early is another option. Last but not least, they’ll be making grueling, congested fixtures for their 30 domestic teams—a route that many teams won’t agree with.

“Part of the challenge we have is to figure out the literal logistics of how we run our business with the backdrop of the Men’s World Cup in so many of our markets, and that’s the process we are going through right now,” Berman added, trying to make the NWSL’s case.

Then again, something has to be done in order to balance both the international as well as the domestic fronts. As for the NWSL, they have their own right to make such a plea, but of course, with some expectations from Berman and Co. as well!

Is Jessica Berman right to take a stand for NWSL?

Technically, the NWSL commissioner isn’t completely wrong to make such a plea. For starters, the 2026 FIFA World Cup will run from June 11 to July 19. Apparently, it is the longest tournament in history due to the expansion call taken for increasing the participants from 32 to 48 teams. This automatically calls for an additional round to be conducted, making the event longer than anticipated.

Though the NWSL kicks off a month before the MLS, halting the women’s game completely will see them sustain a loss of somewhere between 2 matchdays, leaving more than 15 matches pending. Not to mention that the 2026 edition sees the NWSL welcome two new teams, further increasing their fixture calendar. That also explains why Berman and her delegates have been working hard to take another significant step in the growth of the league.

Another point that works in Jessica’s favor is that the men’s tournament has no direct connection to the women’s game. At the same time, there’s no specific FIFA rule stating that women’s competitions must be suspended. To add context, during the last edition of the Men’s World Cup, held in Qatar from November 20 to December 18, 2022, France didn’t halt its women’s domestic competitions either.

That said, if Gianni Infantino and Co. end up rejecting Berman’s stance, it would likely be for a specific reason. Part of it could stem from how eager U.S. Soccer is to ensure the success of what will be their first time officially hosting the World Cup. Understandably, they wouldn’t want fan attention diverted away from the tournament by overlapping domestic events. Of course, there could also be other unknown factors at play.

So for now, nothing concrete can be said. Either way, we’d love to hear your thoughts in the comments.