The Canada women's national soccer team () represents Canada in international soccer competitions. They are overseen by the Canadian Soccer Association, the governing body for soccer in Canada.
The team reached international prominence at the 2003 FIFA Women's World Cup, losing in the bronze medal match to the United States. Canada qualified for its first Olympic women's soccer tournament in 2008, making it to the quarter-finals. Canada's most significant achievement has been winning the gold medal at the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo. The team is also two-time CONCACAF Women's Championship winners, and two-time Olympic bronze medallists.
Canada hosted the 2015 FIFA Women's World Cup, where they were eliminated in the quarterfinals by England. Canada set a new tournament and team record for attendance in the process, with 1,353,506 and 54,027, respectively.
History 1986–1999: Early years With many national federations beginning to found national women's teams, the Canadian Soccer Association held an interprovincial All-Star Championship and national camp in Winnipeg in the summer of 1986 for the purpose of assembling the first Canadian roster. The team was officially picked on Canada Day, and after three days' training, travelled by bus to Blaine, Minnesota for a two-game series against the recently founded United States national team. Playing its first international match on July 7, 1986, they were defeated 2–0. Having been advised by coach Neil Turnbull that losing both matches might prompt the early demise of the program itself, Canada won the second 2–1, with both of its goals scored by Geri Donnelly.
As was the case for most international peers, resources were scant, with the inaugural annual budget for the women's team being $12,000, in comparison to the men's team's $1.7 million. The Canadian Press dubbed the first team "long on potential, short on cash." This would be an ongoing theme for much of the program's history. However, as many Canadian players were products of the American NCAA college system, they had experience with that country's much wealthier program. The team made its first overseas journey, to Taiwan, in 1987, with each player raising or otherwise contributing $1500 to cover expenses.
After decades of largely ignoring women's soccer, FIFA agreed to host the 1988 FIFA Women's Invitation Tournament as a trial for a potential women's global championship akin to the men's World Cup. Canada was one of two CONCACAF teams invited to participate, along with the United States. They reached the quarter-finals before being ousted by Sweden.Results in RSSSF.com The tournament overall was a success, leading to FIFA establishing the Women's World Cup, with the inaugural 1991 edition in China. Canada sought to secure the lone berth afforded to CONCACAF at the first CONCACAF Women's Championship in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, but was defeated 5–0 in the final by the United States.
Canada's failure to qualify for the 1991 World Cup had an immediate deleterious impact on the team, which would not play another match for two years, leading to nominal coach Sylvie Béliveau remarking that she was "coaching ghosts." The team reunited for the next CONCACAF championship, this time dubbed the 1993 CONCACAF Women's Invitational Tournament and limited to only four teams. Canada again finished second. Canada hosted the 1994 CONCACAF Women's Championship in Montreal, with the tournament held as a World Cup qualifier. They were again runners-up, securing a place at the 1995 FIFA Women's World Cup. At year's end, the Canada Soccer awarded its first Female Player of the Year award to Charmaine Hooper, an original member of the 1986 roster and widely considered the best Canadian player of the era.
Competing at the Women's World Cup in Sweden, Canada played its first match against England on June 6, and was initially down by three goals. The team rallied late in the game, with Helen Stoumbos scoring the country's first-ever World Cup goal (at either men's or women's editions), an Olympico, in the 87th minute. A subsequent goal by Donnelly would see the game end in a 3–2 loss. After a 3–3 draw with Nigeria and a 7–0 rout at the hands of Norway, Canada exited the tournament at the group stage. As a result of this, the team would not qualify for the inaugural women's tournament at the 1996 Summer Olympics, as this was based on placing among the top seven teams at the World Cup.
Canada hosted the 1998 CONCACAF Women's Championship in Toronto, with the United States absent from the competition due to their status as World Cup hosts. Canada defeated Mexico in the final, with Liz Smith scoring the match's lone goal, and earning its first ever major championship gold. Silvana Burtini scored eight goals during the tournament, claiming both the Golden Ball and the Golden Boot.
At the landmark 1999 FIFA Women's World Cup, Canada drew its opening match against Japan, but lost 7–1 to Norway and 4–1 to Russia, exiting at the group stage for the second consecutive time. Hooper, with goals in both losses, was the country's top scorer. The 1999 World Cup marked the final appearances for much of the squad, including Donnelly, who opted to retire from international soccer.
2000–2008: Pellerud and the Sinclair ascendancy Following the disappointment at the 1999 World Cup and resultant failure to qualify for the 2000 Summer Olympics, the CSA sought to recruit a European coach for the national team, ultimately selecting former Norwegian national coach Even Pellerud. After the roster dispersed following the previous year's World Cup, he was provided with no scouting information about the nation's players, and opted to travel across the country holding practice matches to assess available players. Among those he identified was a 16-year-old Christine Sinclair, who he immediately named to the team's roster for the 2000 Algarve Cup, their first event under the new coach. Sinclair would rapidly become the team's most important player in the years ahead. Later in 2000, Canada competed in what was now called the CONCACAF Women's Gold Cup, which this time featured Brazil and China as invitees. Canada faced the United States in the semi-final, losing 4–1. Hooper and Sinclair led the team in scoring with seven and five goals, respectively. Pellerud continued to bring new young players into the roster in the next few years, with the squad for the 2002 CONCACAF Women's Gold Cup including future mainstays Candace Chapman, Carmelina Moscato, and Kara Lang, in addition to Sinclair. Canada reached the final of the Gold Cup, qualifying to the World Cup in the process, but lost 2–1 to the United States after Mia Hamm scored in extra time. Sinclair and Hooper, with seven goals apiece, tied American Tiffeny Milbrett as the tournament's top scorer.
The 2003 FIFA Women's World Cup, held in the United States for the second consecutive time, featured a Canada squad that included veteran players like Hooper, Burtini and Andrea Neil and Pellerud's younger additions, the latter now also including Diana Matheson. The team enjoyed unprecedented success at the tournament, losing its opening match of Group C to eventual champion Germany by 4–1, before defeating Argentina 3–0, and Japan 3–1 to place second in their group and advance to the knockout stage. Canada faced defending silver medallists China in the quarterfinal match. Hooper scored in the seventh minute, in what would later be called the most important moment of her international career, giving Canada a 1–0 upset victory. Canada was defeated by Sweden in the semi-final match 2–1, and faced the United States in the third-place match, where they were defeated 3–1 and finished fourth at the tournament. Hooper was subsequently named to the All-Star Team, a first for a Canadian player.
While Canada's fourth-place finish at the World Cup would have been sufficient to qualify for the prior two Summer Olympics, in advance of the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens the qualification format had been changed to involve federation qualifying tournaments. Canada enter the 2004 CONCACAF Women's Pre-Olympic Tournament as heavy favourites to qualify, but were unexpectedly ousted by Mexico in the semi-final, missing the Olympics for the third time. In light of their results the prior year, Sinclair would later admit "we'd planned our lives around going to the Olympics. Not qualifying was the biggest low."
Pellerud sought to improve training conditions and professional standards for the historically underfunded women's team, persuading Greg Kerfoot, the owner of the Vancouver Whitecaps in the men's USL First Division, to help finance a residency program that would allow players to earn a salary and focus on playing soccer full-time in the years leading up to the next World Cup and Olympics. However, this led to conflict between the coach and some players, with Hooper, Christine Latham and Sharolta Nonen alleging that they had been inappropriately pressured to play for the Whitecaps' women's team as part of the residency program. As a result, they were all suspended in advance of the 2006 CONCACAF Women's Gold Cup. Sinclair and the rest of the team expressed support for Pellerud, and an arbitrator subsequently found he had acted appropriately. The dispute marked the end of Hooper's twenty-year career with the national team, and Sinclair replaced her as captain.
Canada's results at the Gold Cup qualified them for the 2007 FIFA Women's World Cup in China. In Group C, the team lost 2–1 to Norway in its opening match. A 4–0 victory against Ghana followed, with Sinclair managing a brace. Sinclair scored another goal in the 85th minute of the final group stage match against Australia, which would have been sufficient to advance to the knockout stage had it held, but Australia equalized in stoppage time and Canada exited the tournament. Later in the year, the team won a bronze medal at the 2007 Pan American Games, in what was widely considered an unimpressive performance marked by player complaints about overtraining.
The CSA declined the opportunity to host the 2008 CONCACAF Women's Olympic Qualifying Tournament, saying they could not afford the estimated $400,000 expenditure, a decision Pellerud publicly criticized. Canada defeated Mexico in a semi-final rematch from four years' prior, earning its first Olympic berth, in what Sinclair called "sweet revenge." The 1–1 event final eventually saw the United States prevail on penalties. At the women's tournament at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, Canada defeated Argentina 2–1, with Chapman scoring Canada's first Olympic goal and Lang providing the winner. The team advanced out of the group stage before being defeated by the United States, the eventual gold medallists, in their quarter-final match, with Sinclair scoring Canada's lone goal in the 2–1 loss.
Following the Olympics, Pellerud retired from coaching the national team. In assessments of his tenure, he was credited by Matheson for having created "a competitive, professional-feeling team. Before that, it was just sporadic camps a couple of times a year." Some, such as future CSA General Secretary Jason DeVos, argued that his tactics had become outdated by 2008, in light of developments in the women's game. Pellerud himself would later say he had left "a solid foundation, so it was the right time for a new coach to come in with a new view."
2009–2011: Initial success under Morace, World Cup nadir