International Women’s Day 2024

Story by Justin Hancock Lefebour

As Canada Soccer celebrates International Women’s Day 2024, we take a moment to recognise the remarkable contributions and achievement brought by the women in our sport. Women have played an integral role in shaping the landscape of our sport across Canada. Their dedication, resilience, and passion have not only elevated the game, but have also inspired generations of aspiring athletes.

As we reflect on the progress made and the journey ahead, let us take a look at some of the great moments of our Women’s National Team who have helped shape who we are today.

Amongst the Women’s National Team’s biggest fans is Charmaine Crooks, who became the first woman and the first person of colour named Canada Soccer President in 2023. A former Olympic Silver Medal winner in athletics, Crooks was appointed as a Member of the Order of Canada in 2012. She has spent more than 10 years on the Canada Soccer Board of Directors, served as a Match Commissioner at the 2018 FIFA World Cup, and was in the stands when Christine Sinclair became the world’s all-time international goalscoring record holder in 2020.

The Beginning

On 1 July 1986, the first-ever roster for Canada Soccer’s Women’s National Team was assembled after the Women’s All-Star Championship in Winnipeg. The team had a few days together before they traveled to Minnesota to play two games against USA. They lost the first game 2-0, but they bounced back in the second game with a 2-1 victory. Geri Donnelly scored both goals while goalkeeper Sue Simon earned Player of the Match honours.

First Concacaf Championship

In 1998, Canada won their first Concacaf Championship just days after they qualified for their second-straight FIFA World Cup. The tournament was held at Centennial Stadium in Toronto and in the last two matches they won 2:0 over Costa Rica (to qualify for USA 1999) and 1:0 over Mexico (to lift their first Concacaf title). The last match of the tournament was played in front of a sold-out, then-record Canadian crowd of 4,971 spectators.

Canada finish fourth at the FIFA World Cup

Just one year after hosting the record-setting FIFA U-19 Women’s World Championship, Canada’s young squad turned heads after they eliminated powerhouse China PR and finished in fourth place at the 2003 FIFA World Cup in USA. Christine Sinclair scored inside five minutes of their tournament opener against eventual champions Germany, captain Charmaine Hooper scored the match winner against China PR, and Kara Lang gave Canada a 1-0 lead against Sweden before they bowed out 2-1 in the Semifinals.

First-time medalist at the Olympic Games

At the London 2012 Olympic Games, Canada Soccer’s Women’s National Team became forever heroes after they captured a Bronze Medal on Diana Matheson’s iconic last-minute goal. Their magical three-week run included a come-from-behind 2-2 draw against Sweden in the group phase and a 2-0 win over the hosts Great Britain in the Quarterfinals. After turning heads in the Semifinals, Canada won their Bronze Medal on a 1-0 victory over France with goalkeeper Erin McLeod named Canada’s Player of the Match. Captain Chistine Sinclair was the flag bearer at the closing ceremonies after her stellar performance in which she scored a tournament-best six goals.

To a Greater Goal: Canada welcomes the world in 2015

Canada hosted the record-setting FIFA Women’s World Cup Canada 2015 from coast to coast with six host cities spread across five time zones. Canada 2015 set a tournament record with more than 1.35 million cumulative spectators across 52 matches, at the time the largest FIFA tournament ever held outside the men’s FIFA World Cup. Canada featured an inspiring group of women who were unfortunately knocked out in the Quarterfinals, but not before they set a Canadian record for the largest in-stadia crowd for a Canadian National Team game of any sport played in Canada (54,027 fans at BC Place).

Canada gets a taste of Gold in Tokyo

In the 2021 Olympic Final viewed by more than 4.4 million Canadians, Julio Grosso scored the shootout-winning kick that captured Canada their first Olympic Gold Medal in women’s football. After back-to-back Bronze Medals, Canada were the only women’s program in the world to reach the podium three tournaments in a row from 2012 to 2021. They did it as the only undefeated squad in Tokyo and after a 3-2 win on kicks against Sweden in the Final. Along the way, they beat Brazil 4-3 on kicks in the Quarterfinals and beat the Americans 1-0 on a Jessie Fleming goal in the Semifinals.