Road to the Championship

National Participation
There are 335 NCAA member institutions that sponsor Division I Women’s Soccer teams and are eligible to compete in the National Championship. All 335 programs support approximately 8,300 Women’s Soccer student-athletes across the country.

Selection Process
The championship provides for a field of 64 teams. Thirty-one conference champions qualify automatically; the balance of the field is selected at-large by the NCAA Division I Women’s Soccer Committee.

Selection Show | Monday, November 8, 2021
The 2021 NCAA Division I Women’s Soccer Championship bracket will be announced at 4:30 p.m. ET the Monday prior to the first-round of competition. 

First Round | November 12 - 14. 2021
Thirty-two, two-team First Round games will be conducted at non-predetermined campus sites. The winning team from each game will advance to the second round.

Second and Third Rounds | November 19 and 21, 2021
Second and Third-Rounds will be conducted at eight non-predetermined campus sites. At each campus site, four teams will compete in single-elimination Second Round competition. The two winning teams will then compete against each other in single-elimination Third Round competition at the same campus site. The winning team from each of the eight Third Rounds advanced to the Quarterfinals.

Quarterfinals | November 26 - 27, 2021
Four, two-team single-elimination Quarterfinals games will be conducted at non-predetermined campus sites. The winning team from each of the four Quarterfinals will advance to the championship final site.

Women's College Cup | December 3 and 5, 2021
The 2021 Women’s College Cup will be held at Stevens Stadium in Santa Clara, California. Two, two-team single-elimination Semifinals games will be held at 7:00 PM (EST) and 9:30 PM (EST) on December 3, 2021. The two winning teams in the semifinals will advance and compete in the single-elimination National Championship game which will take place December 5, 2021, 8:00 PM (EST).