The 2024 Washington Spirit season is the team's twelfth season as a professional women's soccer team. The Spirit play in the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL), the top tier of women's soccer in the United States.
The Washington Spirit is a professional women's soccer team based in the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area, competing in the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL). Founded in 2012, the Spirit are known for their competitive spirit and strong community involvement. The 2024 season marks their 12th season in the league, with the team looking to build on previous successes and solidify their standing as one of the top teams in the NWSL.
The Spirit finished the 2023 National Women's Soccer League season in 8th place of 12 teams. The top six teams qualified for the NWSL playoffs, and the Spirit ended one point out of playoff contention. On October 17, 2023, two days following the team's final defeat against North Carolina Courage, the team released head coach Mark Parsons from his duties after one season.
On January 9, 2024, the Spirit announced the hiring of FC Barcelona Femenàmanager Jonatan Giráldez as the club's head coach, to arrive in June following the conclusion of the 2023âÂÂ24 UEFA Women's Champions League, which Barcelona won. Adrián González, formerly manager of RCD Espanyol FemenÃÂ, served as interim head coach until Giráldez's arrival and remained with the staff as an assistant coach.
In 2024, the Washington Spirit had a strong season, finishing second in the NWSL regular season with 18 wins, 2 draws, and 6 losses. After parting ways with head coach Mark Parsons, they hired Jonatan Giráldez, former manager of FC Barcelona FemenÃÂ, to lead the team. The Spirit made it to the playoffs, defeating Bay FC in the quarterfinals and NJ/NY Gotham FC in the semifinals, but lost 1-0 to Orlando Pride in the final. They also competed in the NWSL x Liga MX Femenil Summer Cup but finished last in their group. Notable players like Aubrey Kingsbury, Trinity Rodman, and Ashley Hatch remained key contributors, and the team added new talent through the 2024 NWSL Draft.
The Spirit continued to play in Audi Field, their full-time home since the team's 2022 season, and trained at the United Performance Center in Leesburg, Virginia, a facility shared with D.C. United, D.C. United's youth academy, and Loudoun United FC.
In addition to the league's national and international broadcast agreements, ten Spirit matches of the 2024 season aired on the regional Monumental Sports Network.
The Spirit finished the regular season in 2nd place and qualified for the NWSL playoffs as the second-seeded of eight teams.
The Spirit finished last in Group D of the Summer Cup and failed to advance to the tournament knockout stage.
Draft picks are not automatically signed to the team roster. The 2024 NWSL Draft was held on January 12, 2024.
Trialists are non-rostered invitees during preseason and are not automatically signed. The Spirit released their preseason roster on January 25, 2024.