NWSL federation players
Chicago Red Stars FC Kansas City Houston Dash Portland Thorns
Alyssa Naeher Sydney Leroux Morgan Brian Meghan Klingenberg
Christen Press Becky Sauerbrunn Carli Lloyd Tobin Heath
Julie Ertz Amy Rodriguez Lindsey Horan
Casey Short † Emily Sonnett
Desiree Scott Janine Beckie Christine Sinclair
2017 -- Previously-attached subsidized players
The National Women's Soccer League (NWSL) federation players are national team players who are contracted by their respective national federations to play in the NWSL. They were previously known as allocated players from 2013 to 2016, and as subsidized players in 2017. The current name came into effect in 2018. While many still refer to them colloquially as allocated (or allocation) players, this outdated terminology should be avoided to prevent confusion as the NWSL introduced allocation money before the 2020 NWSL season. The federation players originally came from the United States Soccer Federation (USSF), the Canadian Soccer Association (CSA), and the Mexican Football Federation (FMF), and they were distributed to the eight founding teams of the NWSL through a player allocation process. The initial list of players to be allocated was announced on January 9, 2013, with the allocation results for the 55 national team players announced two days later. The FMF has not allocated federation players to the NWSL since 2016.