Welcome back to your weekly feature from Sports Illustrated that analyzes the women’s soccer weekend from a U.S. women’s national team perspective.

The 2026 National Women’s Soccer League regular season is in the books. After 240 matches, Gotham FC topped the standings and were crowned Shield champions for the first time in their history.

But here on ‘Stock Up, Stock Down,’ we drill down on the game within the game. The competition between U.S. players and how they are battling it out to be on Emma Hayes’s roster for the upcoming World Cup qualifiers in November and beyond.

After 30 matchdays of looking back at the weekend’s action, now feels like the perfect time to zoom out and look at who the USWNT hopefuls are who made the biggest statements over the course of the season. As well as those who have fallen in favor over the last nine months. Let’s take a look at how players’ stock rose and fell over the course of 2026.

Stock Up

Kennedy Wesley

Kennedy Wesley had a great year.…