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Brazil’s 2-1 win against the U.S. women’s national team on Tuesday will be remembered for several things: a soldout crowd at PayPal Park in San Jose, Calif., that U.S. head coach Emma Hayes is not afraid of testing her squad under pressure, and a stunning equalizer from Brazil’s Kerolin Nicoli in the 24th minute.The former North Carolina Courage star darted in from left field and curled Brazil’s first goal of the night into the far right corner, reminding people which country gave the world the concept of “jogo bonito” — ‘the beautiful game’ in Portuguese.
Before joining Manchester City in January, Kerolin honed her skills in the National Women’s Soccer League (NWSL), earning the league’s Most Valuable Player honor in 2023. The forward is one of several Brazilian standouts who spent time in the NWSL before moving on to other leagues. However, the broader trend of her compatriots coming to play in the United States tells a different story: they are not only choosing the NWSL, they’re thriving in it.
The surge isn’t coincidental. It’s driven, in part, by one of the greats of the women’s game.
“The leader attracts the pack,” Fabio Sá, head of U.S. based content company Minute Media’s global strategy, tells . “Marta, the female version of Pelé, came here and she succeeded here. I think that that speaks volumes.”
Marta, whose full name is Marta Viera de Silva, joined the Orlando Pride from Sweden’s Rosengard after the NWSL team’s inaugural 2016 season. Last November, she finally won the league championship, a long-awaited trophy after years of missed opportunities. While many expected her to retire after that — especially as she called time on her international career last April, before winning a silver medal at the Paris Olympics in her final act — the then 38-year-old chose to stay with the Florida club for two more years, setting up at least a milestone 10th season for her in the NWSL.
“It means a lot to me that I’ll reach 10 seasons with the Pride wearing the No 10 jersey most of my career. It means something to me,” she said in a statement in January.
Regarded by many as the greatest women’s footballer ever, Marta has been named FIFA World Player of the Year/The Best Women’s Player six times and finished as runner-up in the voting once. She is the Brazil national team’s record scorer with 119 goals in 204 appearances.
Born in Dois Riachos, a small town in Alagoas state, in the far east of Brazil, Marta was discovered at age 14 by pioneering coach Helena Pacheco. After a stint with the youth team at Centro Sportivo de Alagoalo in her home state, she launched her professional career with Vasco da Gama in Rio de Janeiro, then Santa Cruz in Belo Horizonte. From there, her journey took her to Sweden, and then the United States.
According to Rafaela Pimenta, the Brazilian superagent to top male soccer players including Erling Haaland and Paul Pogba, Marta’s achievements in the NWSL have played a significant role in attracting others from Brazil to the league, but it’s far from the only factor.
“First of all, there’s tradition. In the NWSL, people know how to do women’s football, and more importantly, they want to. They’re not doing it because they have to, which is still the case at some European clubs. There’s a genuine passion here,” says Pimenta, who currently doesn’t represent any Brazilian players. “The league is trusted. It’s stable. There’s a sense of legality and professionalism that gives players confidence.”
The U.S. also offers players opportunities to build their brand.
“This may not be the main reason someone chooses to come here, but it matters,” Pimenta says. “This is a job, and the ability to monetize your career is a big part of it.”
For a long time, soccer was considered not suitable for women in Brazil. They were barred by law from playing the sport from the 1940s until 1979. Despite their men winning the FIFA World Cup a record five times, women did not have the same opportunity to represent their country until the team played its first game in 1986.
Eventually, the sport grew domestically to what it is today, and icons of the game such as Formiga, who played in previous iterations of professional U.S. women’s leagues in the early 2000s, and Marta emerged. However the delayed systematic development has had an impact, and even the younger generation turned elsewhere for opportunities.
The USWNT’s Brazil-born dual national Catarina Macario had always played on the boys’ team when coming up through the academies of Flamengo in Rio, Cruzeiro in Belo Horizonte and Santos, near São Paulo. In part, it was the lack of soccer opportunities in Brazil that brought her family to the U.S. when she was 12 years old, according to a 2021 interview with ESPN. After three years of college soccer at Stanford University in California, Macario moved to French club Lyon in 2021 to try her hand in Europe. She’s now in her second season with Chelsea, champions of England’s WSL (Women’s Super League).
The domestic women’s soccer scene in Brazil is growing and in 2027 it will host the FIFA Women’s World Cup — a moment that will have an undeniable impact on the game in the country. However, the more widespread established opportunities still lie elsewhere.
The NWSL has intentionally positioned itself as a global destination for world-class talent.
In 2024, the league took concrete steps in that direction, expanding the number of international roster spots from five per team to seven. This effectively lowered the barriers for clubs to recruit top international players. The new collective bargaining agreement with the players’ union, approved in 2024, also increased the base salary cap from $3.3million for the 2025 season to at least $5.1m by 2030, with all-guaranteed contracts and a player’s base pay supplemented by a new revenue-sharing agreement.
“Our focus is to build a league that attracts and supports the best players in the world,” Tatjana Haenni, the NWSL’s chief sporting director, tells . “To do that, we know we have to be the best holistically. That means competitive matches against high-quality opponents, world-class facilities and in-game atmosphere, comprehensive player benefits and a commitment to continuous investment in resources that enhance player development, performance and overall experience.
“When that type of environment exists and is available to athletes, you’ve created a league where top players from around the world want to compete.”
Manchester United forward Geyse arrived at NY/NJ Gotham FC on loan in March as the latest Brazilian to move to the NWSL. She joins 15 other players from Brazil in the 14-team league, including those on loan.
Orlando leads the way with four, including Marta. Adriana, Rafaelle and Angelina all joined in 2023 – though Adriana has since been transferred again to Saudi Arabia’s Al Qadsiah for a $500,000 fee, the largest in the club’s history and among the top three ever for an NWSL player. Former Paris Saint-Germain midfielder Luana came in last season to keep the Brazilian presence in the franchise strong.
Gotham FC and Kansas City Current follow closely with three Brazilians. Houston Dash, North Carolina Courage, Racing Louisville and Chicago Stars all boast Brazilian players on their rosters.
“When it comes to women’s soccer, it’s clear that there’s a deep appreciation for it here,” Geyse tells . “One of the things I find most important is that they have independent women’s clubs, separate from the men’s teams. It’s encouraging to see that in the U.S., they’re fully behind us.”
After growing up playing soccer on the white sand beaches of Alagoas — Marta’s corner of the world — the 26-year-old joined Gotham on loan in March after a difficult time in England. She had joined United from Spain’s Barcelona in August 2023, making 19 league appearances (out of the 22 matches) in that first season. However, she could not get consistent game time during her second season, playing only nine times before her transfer.
Geyse arrives in the NWSL highly decorated. She won the 2022 Copa América Femenina with Brazil, followed by a standout 2022-23 season with Barcelona, adding both the Spanish league title and the UEFA Women’s Champions League. Her subsequent transfer saw United’s women’s team pay a record fee. She then lifted the FA Cup with United last year. Her loan for the rest of the NWSL season includes an option to make the move permanent.
“I’m happy here,” she says over a video call from her new home in New Jersey. “ I’m enjoying it. There’s sun and you can see the blue sky. I have teammates who speak Portuguese. The most important thing is to feel closer to the family, to have people who really trust me and my potential, and what I can add to the team.”
Her teammate Bruninha, who joined Gotham in 2022 from Santos, where Brazilian soccer icon Neymar Jr. plays for the men’s side, shares Geyse’s sentiments about the NWSL. After a quiet debut season, she was influential as Gotham won the 2023 championship.
“Many players have talked to me about the NWSL, especially those who built their career here and told me about how competitive it was, the style of play, the stability,” she tells . “Also knowing that Marta is here and she feels good playing here, she feels at home, it means something for us Brazilians.”
For Brazilian players, often known for their technical ability, the NWSL offers a perfect playing environment.
“The Brazilian player, male or female, is a virtuoso,” Natalia Astrain, a former Barcelona Femeni and Kansas City Current coach who is now an analyst with NBC, Telemundo and ESPN, tells . The combination of skill, soccer IQ and strength which is a hallmark of players from the South American nation, translates seamlessly to the NWSL, she adds.
“(Brazilians) are not just talented, they’re tactically tuned in and ready to compete. But what I really admire about Brazilian women players is their physical potential. They’re strong. They’re excellent in one-on-one situations,” Astrain says. “Here in the U.S., the league is very physical and competitive, and Brazilian players often adapt well to the NWSL — their physicality gives them an edge.”
This article originally appeared in The Athletic.
Orlando Pride, Gotham FC, Brazil, Soccer, NWSL, UK Women's Football
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