Championship title in the USA
DFB goalkeeper celebrates historic success
11/23/2025 – 7:21 a.mReading time: 1 min.
Gotham FC with Ann-Katrin Berger are champions of the NWSL – and the title came about in a very special way.
Ann-Katrin Berger has celebrated remarkable success in the USA with Gotham FC. The German national goalkeeper won the championship in the National Women’s Soccer League (NWSL) with her team – as the first team ever to qualify for the knockout rounds from eighth place.
In the final in San Jose, Gotham beat the Washington Spirit 1-0. Berger again remained without conceding a goal. She had already kept her box clean in the semi-finals. The 35-year-old, who was recently unable to play for the German national team due to a knee injury, played a central role on the way to the title.
“This is so surreal,” said goal scorer Rose Lavelle after the game. The US international scored the decisive goal in the 80th minute. “We know we didn’t reach our potential in the regular season. The playoffs were about showing the best of us.”
For Berger, who has been playing for the club from the New York area since 2024, it is the first title with Gotham, which had already won the championship in 2023 – back then in sixth place in the main round. In the current season, the team eliminated Kansas City Current (2:1), Orlando Pride (1:0) and Washington.