Canada Soccer’s Women’s National Team is ready to kick off their Olympic journey at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games. Canada will face the Olympic hosts and former FIFA Women’s World Cup™ champions Japan, South American nation Chile, and Great Britain in Group E of the Women’s Olympic Football Tournament.
Canada will kick off their Olympic Games journey when they
\u200bface Japan in the opening match of the Women’s Olympic Football Tournament in
\u200bSapporo on 21 July at 19.30 local (06.30 ET / 03.30 PT). The match will be
\u200bbroadcast live on CBC and fans will also find extended coverage across Canada
\u200bSoccer’s digital channels on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook and YouTube featuring
\u200bthe hashtag #CANWNT.
For Canada Soccer’s Women’s National Team Head Coach Bev
\u200bPriestman, the objective is clear: to make history by getting back on the
\u200bpodium for a third consecutive time.
“We have world-class high-performance players that want to
\u200bwin and they have been very clear that they want to change the colour of the
\u200bmedal,” said Priestman. “Changing the colour of the medal is ultimately what we
\u200bwant to achieve. So far for us it will be how we approach the tournament, we
\u200bhave six games in eighteen days in very difficult playing conditions. We will
\u200bneed to use our depth well, but I truly believe that on any given days, if we
\u200bturn up and we are ready, we can do that.”
Canada’s team will once again be led by two-time Olympic
\u200bbronze medallist and Captain Christine Sinclair. Sinclair will be participating
\u200bat her fourth Women’s Olympic Football Tournament and thinks that the depth of
\u200bthe current squad is exciting to watch.
“We have 22 players that could be making a huge difference
\u200bon the pitch and I don’t think we necessarily had that much depth in the past,”
\u200bsaid Sinclair. “All our players are playing in top leagues around the world and
\u200bthey are ready to go. It’s a unique group, that is very enjoyable and very
\u200bcompetitive, and I wouldn’t be here if I didn’t feel we wouldn’t have a chance
\u200bto win.”
This will be the 15th international meeting between Canada
\u200band Japan since they first met on 5 May 1995 in Tokyo. The two sides have
\u200btraded wins in their last two meetings, with Canada the winners in 2018 at the
\u200bAlgarve Cup in Portugal and Japan the winners in 2019 after Canada traveled to
\u200bmeet their hosts in Shizuoka. Both Canada and Japan most recently reached the
\u200bRound of 16 at the FIFA Women’s World Cup France 2019™. In the past decade
\u200bJapan were champions at the FIFA Women’s World Cup Germany 2011 and silver
\u200bmedal winners at both the London 2012 Olympic Games and FIFA Women’s World Cup Canada
\u200b2015.
After their opening match, Canada will face Chile on 24 July
\u200bat 16.30 local (03.30 ET / 00.30 PT), before wrapping up the group phase
\u200bagainst Great Britain in Kashima on 27 July at 20.00 local (07.00 ET / 04.00
\u200bPT). From 12 nations in three groups, the top-eight nations advance to the
\u200bOlympic Quarterfinals from which winners then advance to the Semifinals and
\u200bthen a chance to win a medal. The Women’s Olympic Football Tournament runs 21
\u200bJuly through 6 August 2021, with this year’s gold medal match at Tokyo’s
\u200bOlympic Stadium.
Canada are one of just five nations in the world that have
\u200bqualified for each of the past four Women’s Olympic Football Tournaments.
\u200bCanada are also the only nation in the world to reach the podium at both London
\u200b2012 and Rio 2016 in women’s football.
OLYMPIC MEDAL WINNERS & CONCACAF CHAMPIONS
Canada are two-time Olympic bronze medal winners (2012 and
\u200b2016) and two-time Concacaf champions (1998 and 2010). In all, Canada have
\u200bparticipated in seven consecutive editions of the FIFA Women’s World Cup™ (1995
\u200bto 2019) and three consecutive editions of the Women’s Olympic Football
\u200bTournament (2008 to 2016). At Rio 2016, Canada Soccer’s Women’s National Team
\u200bwere the first Canadian Olympic team to win back-to-back medals at a summer Olympic
\u200bGames in more than a century.
Canada Soccer’s Women’s National Youth Teams, meanwhile,
\u200bhave won four Concacaf youth titles: the 2004 and 2008 Concacaf Women’s
\u200bUnder-20 Championship, the 2010 Concacaf Women’s Under-17 Championship, and the
\u200b2014 Concacaf Girls’ Under-15 Championship. Canada have qualified for seven
\u200beditions of the FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup (including a silver medal at Canada
\u200b2002) and all six editions of the FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup (including a
\u200bfourth-place finish at Uruguay 2018).