NWSL Midfielder of the Year

2025 winner Manaka Matsukubo

The NWSL Midfielder of the Year award is presented annually to the best midfielder in the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL).

Croix Bethune won the first Midfielder of the Year award in 2024. ^[1] The most recent winner is Manaka Matsukubo (2025).

As of 2025, ^[update] the NWSL's individual end-of-year awards are voted upon in two rounds: in the first round, players (50%), owners/general managers/coaches (25%), and media (25%) vote to determine the nominees; in the second round, players (40%), owners/general managers/coaches (25%), media (25%), and fans (10%) vote among the nominees to determine the winner. ^[2]

Winners

Season	Player	Nationality	Club	Other finalists	Ref.
2024	Croix Bethune	United States	Washington Spirit	Vanessa DiBernardo, Kansas City Current Lo'eau LaBonta, Kansas City Current Marta, Orlando Pride Ashley Sanchez, North Carolina Courage	[1]
2025	Manaka Matsukubo	Japan	North Carolina Courage	Kenza Dali, San Diego Wave FC Debinha, Kansas City Current Claire Hutton, Kansas City Current Olivia Moultrie, Portland Thorns FC	[3]

Wins by team

Club	Wins
North Carolina Courage	1
Washington Spirit	1

Wins by nationality

Nationality	Wins
Japan	1
United States	1

See also

• Women's association football portal
• Association football portal
• Sports portal

• List of sports awards honoring women
• NWSL Players' Awards
• NWSL awards
• NWSL records and statistics
• Women's soccer in the United States

References

1. "Washington Spirit midfielder Croix Bethune named 2024 NWSL Midfielder of the Year" (Press release). National Women's Soccer League. November 21, 2024. Retrieved November 21, 2024.
2. "NWSL Announces 2025 NWSL Award Finalists, Opens Fan Voting Round". National Women's Soccer League. November 10, 2025. Retrieved November 19, 2025.
3. Henderson, Cydney (November 19, 2025). "2025 NWSL Awards live updates: Full list of winners, highlights". USA Today . Retrieved November 19, 2025.