Global Courant
Canadian coach Bev Priestman announced her final squad for the FIFA Women’s World Cup on Sunday, acknowledging wins and losses to injuries ahead of the 32-team tournament that kicks off July 20 in Australia and New Zealand .
Due to the health concerns, Priestman waited until almost the last minute to announce her squad, just before Monday’s FIFA deadline.
“I am proud to name this dynamic and exciting roster of 23 players,” the 37-year-old coach said in a statement. “I know everyone has given everything to make this squad. It’s a great mix of veterans, experienced and new players who can all bring something different this summer.”
The seventh-ranked Olympic champion Canadians are currently in camp on Australia’s scenic Gold Coast preparing for their tournament opener on July 20 against No. 40 Nigeria in Melbourne. Canada will then head 1,700 miles west to Perth to take on No. 22 Ireland on July 26, before returning to Melbourne to complete its Group B match against No. 10 Australia on July 31.
The competition will run through August 20 in nine host cities in Australia and New Zealand. The Canadians, who have been battling Canada Soccer off the pitch to secure an employment contract, will campaign entirely in Australia under the draw.
The two biggest question marks were midfielder Desiree Scott and striker Nichelle Prince. Scott suffered a knee injury at the end of the 2022 season that required surgery while Prince was recovering from an Achilles tendon injury.
Scott, 35, a veteran of the 2011, 2015 and 2109 World Cups, did not make the selection. The tenacious defensive midfielder nicknamed The Destroyer has won 186 caps for Canada and is captain of the NWSL’s Kansas City Current.
“It is heartbroken to know that I will not be competing in the World Cup this summer despite all the efforts and final push in my rehabilitation process to do so,” Scott said in a social media post. “I was so hoping that I would go back in time, but sometimes the story just isn’t written the way you want it to be.
“This team has my heart and is my family and deserves the best version of Desiree Scott. Missing this tournament will be one of the hardest things I’ve had to do, but if my rehabilitation process has taught me anything, it’s that I’m still love this game so much and nothing worth it comes easy. I will keep working to get back to being the destroyer we all know.”
The 28-year-old Prince, a fast Houston Dash forward with 90 caps, did make the cut.
Defender Jade Rose, a rising star at just 20 years old, was forced to withdraw from pre-tournament camp due to injury.
Janine Beckie will also miss the World Cup after knee surgery. The influential and versatile striker, who tore the anterior cruciate ligament in her right knee during a pre-season game at Portland Thorns in March, has scored 36 goals in 101 appearances for Canada.
“Obviously I’m devastated by the players who missed out, especially due to injuries, but I know every player will be with us on our journey and has been crucial in getting us to this point,” said Priestman.
The injuries provided a reprieve for defender Gabby Carle, who was not originally invited to pre-tournament camp. Carle, 24, who was part of Canada’s gold medal team at the Tokyo Olympics, has won 24 caps.
Midfielder Marie-Yasmine Alidou and forward Clarissa Larisey, also invited to the camp, did not make the final selection.
Striker Deanne Rose made the final squad despite a long absence with an Achilles tendon injury, but made a brief appearance for Reading at the end of the English club season.
Defenders Shelina Zadorsky and Jayde Riviere also faced illness/injury issues this season, but recovered in time to secure their roster spot.
The injuries prevented Priestman from fielding a consistent 11 ahead of the tournament. The Canadian women last played on April 11, when they lost 2-1 to number 5 France at Le Mans.
Canada will play a final tune-up match against No. 4 England behind closed doors on Friday. The two teams could meet again in the round of 16 of the tournament.
Captain Christine Sinclair will compete in her sixth World Cup, having made her debut on the football showcase in 2003. She also played in four Olympic Games and two Pan American Games.
The 40-year-old from Burnaby, BC, is the world’s all-time leading goalscorer with 190 from 323 senior appearances, including 310 starts. Sinclair has scored in each of her five previous World Cup appearances.
Other veterans include Sophie Schmidt (221), Kadeisha Buchanan (131 caps), Ashley Lawrence (117), Jessie Fleming (115), Allysha Chapman (96), Adriana Leon (96), Prince (90), Zadorsky (89) and Quinn (89), who only goes by one name.
Schmidt, 35, has announced that she will retire from international football after the tournament, her fifth World Cup.
Buchanan, Chapman, Fleming, Lawrence and Leon each appear at their third World Cup.
Youngsters on the roster are 18-year old midfielder Olivia Smith (two caps) and 19-year old midfielder Simi Awujo (six caps).
Smith, a freshman at Penn State who plans to end her college career to turn pro, was 12 when she debuted in Canada’s youth program under Priestman in 2017. A late addition to the pre-tournament camp, Smith helped Canada qualify for the FIFA U-20 World Cup with a 5-3 victory over Costa Rica in June.
A sophomore at USC, Awujo represented the US at the youth level before switching national associations to play for Canada. In December, she was named Canada Soccer Young Player of the Year.
Neither was born when Sinclair, in her second senior outing, scored her first goal for Canada in March 2000 in a 2–1 loss to Norway at the Algarve Cup.
The team has an average age of 27 years with a combined caps total of 1,745 (of which Sinclair and Schmidt account for 544). Goalkeeper Lysianne Proulx is the only uncapped member of the squad.
Thirteen of the 23 play their club football in Europe, nine of which are in England, including Chelsea’s Buchanan, Fleming and Lawrence and Arsenal’s Sabrina D’Angelo and Cloe Lacasse.
Sinclair, captain of Portland, is one of eight NWSL players.
Seventeen of the 23 were part of the 2019 World Cup squad, joined by Awujo, Lacasse, Smith, Proulx, defender Vanessa Gilles and striker Evelyne Viens. The Canadians stepped out in the eighth finals in France four years ago, beaten 1-0 by Sweden.
Canada avenged that loss by beating the Swedes 3-2 in a penalty shootout in the Tokyo Olympic final.
CANADA WORLD CUP ROSTER
Goalkeepers: Sabrina D’Angelo, Welland, Ont., Arsenal (England); Lysianne Proulx, Boucherville, Que., SCU Torreense (Portugal); Kailen Sheridan, Whitby, Ontario, San Diego Wave (NWSL)
Defenders: Kadeisha Buchanan, Chelsea (England); Gabrielle Carle, Levis, Que., Washington Spirit (NWSL); Allysha Chapman, Court, Ont., Houston Dash (NWSL); Vanessa Gilles, Ottawa, Olympique Lyonnais (France); Ashley Lawrence, Caledon East, Ont., Chelsea (England); Jayde Riviere, Markham, Ont., Manchester United (England); Shelina Zadorsky, Kitchener and London, Ont., Tottenham Hotspur (England).
Midfielders: Simi Awujo, Atlanta, USC; Jessie Fleming, London, Ont., Chelsea (England); Julia Grosso, Vancouver, Juventus (Italy); Quinn, Toronto, OL Reign (NWSL); Sophie Schmidt, Abbotsford, BC, Houston Dash (NWSL).
Midfielders/Forwards: Christine Sinclair (capt.), Maple Ridge, BC, Portland Thorns (NWSL); Olivia Smith, Whitby, Ontario, Penn State.
Forwards: Jordyn Huitema, Chilliwack, BC, OL Reign (NWSL); Cloe Lacasse, Sudbury, Ontario, Arsenal (England); Adriana Leon, Maple and King City, Ont., Manchester United (England); Nichelle Prince, Ajax, Ont., Houston Dash (NWSL); Deanne Rose, Alliston, Ont., Reading (England); Evelyne Viens, L’Ancienne-Lorette, Que., Kristianstads DFF (Sweden).
