The Winter Olympics begin on Wednesday, and I am excited to revisit some sports I enjoy but haven’t thought about for four years, like curling and speedskating. Mostly, though, I am looking forward to the resumption of one of my favorite rivalries in sports, the United States vs. Canada in Women’s Hockey. They will face off on Thursday, February 12, in what will almost certainly determine the winner of Group A. We will most likely get to see them exactly one week later in the Gold Medal game.

My anticipation for these games has gotten me thinking about my other favorite rivalries in women’s sports. When two teams who don’t like each other face off, it is must-see TV. Even more so when the stakes are high. With that in mind, I present my favorite women’s sports rivalries.

1. USA Hockey vs. Canada

These two teams have combined to win all seven Olympic gold medals and six silver medals in women’s hockey. The only exception was 2006, when the United States lost to Sweden in a shootout in the semifinals. Canada has won four of the six gold medal games, including most recently in 2022.

I very clearly remember staying up late to watch team USA’s shootout victory in 2018, and just falling in love with that team throughout the entire tournament. I am fully prepared for that to happen again this year, even if there is a good chance the only close games are against Canada.

2. Seattle Reign vs. Portland Thorns

I was surprised to learn that the Seattle Reign have never won an NWSL title. I knew they were fierce rivals with the Portland Thorns and that Portland had won multiple times (three to be exact), so I guess I had just assumed that by the transitive property, Seattle had at least won one title.

That isn’t to say this matchup hasn’t been tightly contested. In 43 meetings across all competitions, Portland has 17 wins compared to 16 for Seattle, with 10 draws. The tightly contested nature of these matchups has certainly added to the rivalry, as has the star power. For a long time, this rivalry was epitomized by Christine Sinclair vs. Megan Rapinoe. Two of the best players and biggest stars of their generation went toe-to-toe for a number of seasons.

On top of that, this rivalry was aided by the proximity of the two cities as well as the fact that soccer is the only sport these two have faced off in since the Supersonics left Seattle and the Portland Fire left the WNBA. There were no NFL or NBA or MLB or NHL matchups between these two cities, so all of the regional animus was projected into Thorns/Reign and Timbers/Sounders.

For having so few teams, the NWSL actually has a surprising number of heated rivalries, including Angel City FC vs. San Diego Wave FC and Gotham FC vs. Washington Spirit, but Thorns/Reign takes the cake.

3. Las Vegas Aces vs. New York Liberty

Its a little sad that we’re 30 years in the WNBA and we don’t really have any sustained team rivalries. You could argue the Comets had a rivalry with the New York Liberty, who they beat three times in the finals. The league started out with an intense rivalry between the Houston Comets and New York Liberty, who met in three of the first four WNBA Finals. With recent news that the Houston Rockets ownership is looking to purchase the Connecticut Sun and move them to Houston, perhaps that rivalry can be rekindled.

After the Comets left the league in 2008, the Minnesota Lynx/Los Angeles Sparks rivalry dominated the 2010s. They met in back-to-back finals in 2016 and 2017, with both teams winning once. That was after Minnesota eliminated Los Angeles from the playoffs in 2012 and 2015. Unfortunately, this rivalry lost some of its luster with the early retirement of Maya Moore and Derek Fisher’s gross mismanagement of the Sparks. Los Angeles has some promising young players and is hoping to bring back Kelsey Plum, but they first need to make the playoffs if we have any hope of rekindling the rivalry.

That brings us to the teams that have combined to win the last three WNBA championships, including when the Aces beat the Liberty in the finals in 2023. Before that, the Aces lost to Liberty star Breanna Stewart in the finals to 2020, which only adds to the rivalry. The teams did not meet in the playoffs in 2025, but they did have three intense regular-season meetings with the Aces looking to defend their title, and both teams expected to bring back most, if not all of their stars, there is a good chance this rivalry will continue in 2026 and beyond.

4. Chelsea vs. Barcelona

These teams have met in the finals or Semi-finals of the Women’s Champions League four of the last five years, with Barca coming out on top every time. That being said, Chelsea appears to be closing the gap. When these teams met in November, it ended in a 1-1 draw. It is Barcelona’s only draw in six Champions League games this season, and Chelsea currently sits third behind Barcelona and Lyon in the Champions League table.

One of the reasons this rivalry is so intense and so important to women's soccer is that these clubs have largely been unchallenged in their domestic leagues. Chelsea has finished top of the table in nine of the last 11 WSL seasons, including each of the last six. Barcelona, for its part, has won Liga F all three seasons of its existence. Chelsea’s WSL dominance may be in jeopardy as they have lost three of their last five and are currently 12 points behind Manchester City, but they are on track to face Barcelona in the Champions League playoffs yet again.

5. South Carolina vs. UConn Women’s Basketball

These have been the two best teams in college basketball, more or less, since the day Dawn Staley arrived in Columbia.  UConn is currently No. 1 in the rankings while South Carolina is third. They have met 14 times since 2015, including twice in the National Championship game. As the overall talent continues to rise in the women’s game, I feel like the odds of one or two teams continuing to dominate are getting increasingly small. That is why we have to enjoy this rivalry now, before Geno Auriemma retires and Dawn Staley takes a job in the NBA.

Which rivalries did I miss? What is a rivalry that is underrated or up-and-coming? Let me know on Instagram.