What Angel City’s playoff qualification means to fans and players

LOS ANGELES – For the second time in club history, Angel City Football Club will play in the 2026 National Women's Soccer League playoffs, and the ACFC community is ready.

"I am so excited. I hope if they get to the top four, we'll hopefully come and see them play and I'll bring her [younger sister Alani] along. I'm excited to see them play in the playoffs," said Jeanine, a young Angel City fan. The sisters have supported ACFC with their family for two years and have supported their favorite player, Gisele Thompson.

The Portland Thorns' week 25 win over the North Carolina Courage clinched playoff spots for Angel City and three other teams.

ACFC last reached the postseason in 2023, during its second season in the league, but was eliminated in its first match following a 1-nil loss to the Seattle Reign.

At the time, only the top six teams reached the postseason. Beginning with the 2024 season, the league expanded, and the top eight teams now qualify for the single-elimination format.

Angel City joined the NWSL as an expansion side five seasons ago, debuting in 2022 and giving Los Angeles its first professional women's soccer team since the Los Angeles Sol played its lone 2009 season in the now-defunct Women's Professional Soccer league.

The club's reach extends far beyond Southern California.

"It's very inspirational. We don't have a team in Fresno, so [Angel City] is the closest thing, and we absolutely love it. We're so excited [for playoffs]. We've been in it, and we just want them to win—the culture, the community, the players. I just love it. I'm over the moon," said Angel City fan Shannon, who's followed the club with friends since its inaugural season.

She traveled nearly four hours from Fresno to Los Angeles to see Angel City's 2-0 win over Bay FC in its second-to-last home game of the season on Saturday.

For team captain Sarah Gorden, this season's team is different than that 2023 squad.

"This team is different than any other Angel City team I've ever been on. Obviously, you're seeing that with the results and the momentum," she told The Sporting Tribune.

"Our team is really different than any other team…We're calm…We do what needs to be done to win games. Whatever happens in the middle, we'll do what we have to do to win the game. So we're extremely effective, and that's what you need going into the playoffs. So I'm really excited to see how we do."

Gorden signed with the team in 2021 and is one of four inaugural season players still with the team. During Saturday's press conference, she acknowledged fans' commitment and their journey with the team.

"It's easy to play for them [fans] because they've sacrificed so much for us," said Gorden.

Angel City FC fans celebrate after the team scored a second goal during an NWSL soccer game against Bay FC, Saturday, October 24, 2026 in Los Angeles.

Saturday's match comes at the tail end of arguably one of Angel City's best runs in club history.

It marks the ninth consecutive match in which Angel City remained unbeaten. After a remarkable turnaround in the final third of the season, Angel City (14-7-8, 49 pts.) entered match week 26 in fifth on the league table.

The club's 2026 campaign has featured four new club records. Maiara Niehues and Sveindís Jónsdóttir lead the team in scoring with nine goals each- the most scored by an Angel City player in a single regular season. Goalkeeper Angelina Anderson has set a personal best and club single-season record with ten shutouts so far.

The young talent has also had breakout runs. Rookie Taylor Suarez made league history, scoring just 21 seconds after entering the match to set the NWSL record for the fastest goal by an in-game substitute when the team faced Seattle Reign FC on September 15 , and she earned her fourth goal in a five-match span against Denver. Defender Evelyn Shores set the season-high with eight assists.

"We are very proud of the players and all of our staff for reaching this milestone. We are in a good run of form at a great time, and this team is hungry for more," said ACFC Sporting Director Mark Parsons in a press release announcing the team's playoff push . "We can't wait to keep this going for our fans and for the city of LA."

The win over Bay FC highlighted the club's mentality to finish the season strong.

"We just made sure to do our best to really focus on this game; the job's not finished yet. We really want to go into the playoffs with a lot of good momentum from having really good performance in these last two games of the regular season," said Anderson.

The final match of the 2026 regular season will take place at Dignity Health Sports Park in Carson, home of MLS' LA Galaxy, on November 1st at 2 PM PST. Angel City will host a "Celebración de Culturas" as it takes on the Boston Legacy.