Confederation: CONCACAF
First International: 1986
Most Caps: Christine Sinclair
Rivalries: United States and Brazil
Since rising to prominence in the 2003 World Cup, the Canadian Women's Soccer team has proved its skills in multiple international events around the globe. Despite the 0-2 loss in its first international match in 1986, the team continued to excel in
CONCACAF
, where it lost to archrivals United States in the final of the 1991 tournament. However, Canada claimed its first CONCACAF title seven years later in 1998 after beating Mexico 1-0, courtesy of Liz Smith's goal in the 42nd minute of the match. After the 1980s, the Canadian Women's National Soccer team has reached the semi-finals at least once in the
World Cup
,
Olympics
,
CONCACAF
and
Pan American Cup
. Despite its struggles to compete with the top teams in the world, Canada has improved in stature and international ranking in recent years. Get your Canada Women's National Soccer Team tickets at StubHub.
The most notable player in the history of Canadian Women's Soccer is probably Christine Sinclair. Since playing her first match in 2000, she has scored more international goals than any male or female soccer player in the world. Christine was named Canada's female soccer player every year from 2004 to 2014. Similarly, her teammates Diana Matheson and Sophie Schmidt also had a major impact on the fortunes of the Canadian team.
In the 2003
World Cup
, the Canadian Women's National Soccer team won all of their group matches only to lose in the semi-finals. Recently, it reached the quarter-final stages and the Round-of-16 in the 2015 and 2019 World Cups, respectively. The team has also won the
CONCACAF
title two times in 1998 and 2010. In 2011, it defeated a strong Brazil team in overtime to lift the Pan American trophy.
Since the new FIFA team ranking procedures were introduced in 2003, the Canadians have continuously increased their rankings. Ranked 11th in 2003, the team clinched the 4th spot in 2017. Despite fluctuations in ranking, the women's team is regarded as one of the top 10 teams in the world.
You can easily get tickets to every match at StubHub. It's the world's largest online marketplace for sports events and games. Each ticket is fully protected by FanProtect. FanProtect allows ticket holders to get a 100% refund in case of cancellation. In fact, you can also replace your tickets for another venue if the match is rescheduled.
While the exploits of Christine Sinclair are well-known, Charmaine Hooper also scored 71 goals in 129 international matches. Charmaine also played the first international match in 1986 before retiring two decades later in 2006. Silvana Burtini and Kara Lang are the other two female athletes who have scored more than 30 goals; however, Janine Beckie may surpass many of these players, as she averages one goal every two games since starting her career in 2015.
Since the 1980s, matches between Canada and the United States always bring out the best in both teams. Despite the fact that the
United States
has enjoyed a long reign as the best women's soccer team in the world, the competition is intense. In recent years, Canada has overcome its more popular rival in friendly and international matches. Besides the United States, matches between Canada and
Brazil
are also a closely contested event, making it difficult to pick a winner.