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Get to know the chances of Canada's Women’s national team at the FIFA Women's World Cup.
Overview
As the reigning Olympic champions, Canada enters the Women’s World Cup this summer with a target on their backs.
Canada plays a style of football that prioritises defending. Bev Priestman’s side knows that they have quality in attack, but with several world-class defenders and goalkeepers in their squad, they believe that they have the ability to keep clean sheets against any team in the world. When you do that, you’ll always give your team a chance to win. That was the case at the Olympics, and expect it to be the same mindset in Australia and New Zealand.
Canada qualified for the World Cup last summer by winning Group B at the Concacaf W Championship in Mexico, later falling to the United States in the final. They were then drawn into Group B for the World Cup, with the hosts Australia, Republic of Ireland, and Nigeria. Some have suggested that this is the “group of death”, with each team capable of beating every other team.
Canada will take some comfort from the fact that they played both Nigeria and Australia in friendlies in 2022, and picked up four results. They won both games Down Under in September, and won one and drew one against Nigeria on Canadian soil last April. “I’m not saying that she knew that we’re gonna draw Nigeria and Australia, but it’s great that she planned that out. I think she’s just very detailed in the way she plans,” said Kadeisha Buchanan of Priestman recently.
Just as Argentina did for Lionel Messi at the men’s World Cup, Canada will be putting everything into this tournament to get some longtime Canadian greats – Sophie Schmidt, Desiree Scott, and of course Christine Sinclair, among others – the crown jewel in what have been some incredible careers. This tournament, as well as the upcoming Olympics could be a changing of the guard period for this squad, as young players push the veterans for playing time, at what could be the final major tournaments for several players. In the case of Schmidt, she has already announced that she will retire from international duty following the World Cup.
They’ll worry about the future later, however. The focus in the short term is lifting the World Cup trophy at Stadium Australia on August 20. “We definitely have a culture and an environment that’s conducive to team chemistry, to winning, to being honest with each other, which not many national teams can beat,” said Vanessa Gilles in June.
The coach
Bev Priestman isn’t afraid to make big decisions to help her team win, and has also shown a willingness to plan for the future. Her squad for this tournament is capable of winning it all, just as they did in her first major tournament as a head coach at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics, but it also features several young players that will be crucial for the future. Priestman, who was an assistant to Phil Neville with the England team that finished fourth at the 2019 World Cup, said in June that “that blend makes for an exciting squad to lead and for any player to be a part of.”
Star player
In Canada there is no footballer more recognizable than Christine Sinclair. Arguably the greatest international footballer ever with a record 190 international goals in over 300 international appearances, Sinclair is almost bigger than the sport itself in Canada, not that the usually-reserved captain wants to be. The 14-time Canada Soccer Player of the Year has scored at four Olympics and five World Cups, and finally won her first major international honour with a gold medal at the Olympics in Tokyo. “Her humility has inspired me so much to be a better player, a better leader, and a person,” said teammate Shelina Zadorsky in June. “I appreciate still being able to continue to work with her at this stage in my life and career, and just have a friendship.”
Rising star
Jade Rose is a star in the making, and already showing flashes of brilliance at the senior international level. Named the 2020 and 2021 female Canadian Young Player of the Year, Rose made her senior national team debut in 2021, but has really established herself as a regular call up under Bev Priestman in the past year. Her best moment with the national team thus far came in Australia in September, when she put in a brilliant defensive performance against the great Sam Kerr, unfazed by the occasion at all.
Did you know?
At the Olympics in Tokyo, with the players kept in a bubble to protect them and the public from the effects of the pandemic, the Canadian players and staff held a Mario Kart tournament, playing the popular video game in the team hotel. Vanessa Gilles, who was crucial to Canada’s gold medal win on the pitch, also won that competition, later declaring herself a double Olympic champion on social media.
Standing of women’s football in your country?
Canada is one of the only top nations in women’s football that doesn’t have its own domestic professional league, although there are groups working toward changing that in the coming years. The appetite for it is there, and the need for a professional pathway instead of going overseas is long overdue. Football is the most popular sport in the country in terms of youth participation, and continuing to rise after Canada’s gold medal win at the Olympics.
Realistic aim
Coming in as the Olympic champions, the expectation for Canada is that they will get out of the group stage and put up strong performances in the knockout rounds. The squad itself believe they have all the quality needed to lift the trophy. “Our chances are high if we play our game, we focus on ourselves, we have all the details,” Vanessa Gilles said to reporters in Toronto in June. “We’re going in it to win it.”
Written by Benedict Rhodes (Canadian Premier League (CanPL.ca) for The Guardian
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