The end of the season has arrived for the Orlando Pride. A difficult 2026 campaign will conclude Sunday on the road against Seattle Reign FC.
The Pride is 11-15-3 with 36 points and hopes to go out on a high note at Lumen Field against Seattle (13-11-5, 44 points). Kickoff is at 5 p.m.
“We’re excited to get to play one more game,” said Orlando interim head coach Yolanda Thomas. “You know, it’s been a hard year for us. It’s been disappointing outcomes, but this group has really pulled together. We know it’s a really tough journey to make and then go play a game, but we want to make sure that we finish on a high.”
It’s been a roller coaster for the Pride, who advanced to the NWSL semifinals last season after winning the championship in 2024. Head coach Seb Hines was fired Aug. 31 with Orlando staggering to an 8-12-2 mark. The Pride has gone 3-3-1 under Thomas, but the team lost leading scorer Barbra Banda for its final three games because of Ebola virus travel restrictions after she played an international match in Uganda on Oct. 8.
While the Pride have been eliminated from the postseason, Seattle needs a win to guarantee a spot in the playoffs. With the North Carolina Courage and Denver Summit chasing them down, Seattle has everything to play for against the Pride.
Orlando’s Thomas said her players relish the chance to play spoiler, even if the task won’t be an easy one. The Pride lost at home to Seattle 2-1 in March to open the season. Orlando has only won twice in 10 matches on the road against the Reign. But for Thomas, this game is more about the journey the team has been on than just a single result.
“I feel like every last game of every season we’ve been either at Seattle, or they’re here,” Thomas said. “So we talked about how we need to be ready to match the level of intensity they’re going to compete with because of what they’re fighting for. But the secondary piece of that is we’ve talked about us being on a journey.
“Obviously, through the changes and through myself taking over the lead here, we’ve been on a journey internally of what we want to accomplish, and so we want to make sure we continue to put those things together in games.”
With the offseason fast approaching, Orlando will have plenty of roster decisions to make. The squad will likely see some significant overhaul heading into 2027, and Thomas has spoken with her team about how the importance of this last opportunity to play together.
“We’re all kind of embracing it, and instead of not talking about it, we’ve talked about it,” Thomas said. “Some of us are in a position where we have contracts for a longer period. Some of us may be fighting for a contract here. Some of us may have a change, but we only have this time together.
“We have fun when we compete. We have fun when we play our best, and we really cherish the times we have together. This group will never be the same again, so let’s make sure that we enjoy the time we have.”