Together We Rise: Canada Soccer announces squad for the FIFA Women’s World Cup France 2019

Canada Soccer have announced their official 23-player squad for the FIFA Women’s World Cup France 2019™. Unveiled with the theme “Together We Rise”, Canada’s official squad will compete in their seventh consecutive FIFA Women’s World Cup™ building on the program’s existing foundation and peaking towards the best possible performances on the world’s biggest stage.
 
Canada are just four years removed from a Quarter-finals finish at the record-breaking FIFA Women’s World Cup Canada 2015™, played from coast to coast across Canada. That competition provided unprecedented exposure for women’s football in Canada and around the world, attracting a worldwide television audience of more than 750 million viewers. Once again in 2019, fans will be able to watch every match live in Canada on CTV and TSN.
 
“We are going there to win it, but we have been very good at taking things one step at a time,” said Kenneth Heiner-Møller, Canada Soccer’s Women’s National Team Head Coach and Women’s National EXCEL Director. “We didn’t look beyond the Algarve Cup and we didn’t look beyond matches against England or Spain; we only looked at what was right in front of us. Right now, there are three group matches in front of us and we are focused very clearly on Cameroon, New Zealand and Netherlands.”
 

#TogetherWeRise
#CANWNT #FIFAWWC pic.twitter.com/V3zWPWIiRm

— Canada Soccer (@CanadaSoccerEN) 25 mai 2019

Across eight international matches in 2019, Canada are undefeated with five wins and three draws, along with seven goals scored and just one conceded. Canada’s scoring leader is team captain Christine Sinclair who has scored four times in eight matches, leaving her just four goals back of the all-time international record.
 
Canada’s squad is connected, passionate, and committed to excellence at this summer’s FIFA Women’s World Cup™. Canada qualified last October before finishing second at the 2018 Concacaf Women’s Championship.

 CANADA’S 23-PLAYER SQUAD
The Canada squad features nine returning players from the most recent FIFA Women’s World Cup™, a sixth-place finish on home soil in front of a record-setting 1.35 cumulative spectators. Notable returning stars include recent Canadian Players of the Year Kadeisha Buchanan and Christine Sinclair. At Canada 2015, Buchanan was both a tournament all-star selection as well as the Best Young Player award winner.
 
Of note, Sinclair will be making her fifth appearance at the FIFA Women’s World Cup™ finals, equaling the national record held by Karina LeBlanc. Along with helping Canada finish in fourth place at USA 2003, she has recently captained Canada to back-to-back bronze medal performances at the Olympic Games.
 
Buchanan is coming off her third UEFA Champions League winning season with Olympique Lyonnais. She has won eight trophies in three seasons with her French club.
 
Canada’s other returning veterans are goalkeeper Stephanie Labbé, fullbacks Allysha Chapman and Ashley Lawrence, midfielders Jessie Fleming, Sophie Schmidt, and Desiree Scott, and forward Adriana Leon. Schmidt is making her fourth appearance at the FIFA Women’s World Cup™ while Labbé and Scott are making their third appearances.
 
Of Canada’s 14 debutants, half of them were still teenagers four years ago when Canada hosted the FIFA Women’s World Cup™ in 2015. Those youngsters are goalkeeper Kailen Sheridan, centre back/midfielder Rebecca Quinn, fullback Jayde Riviere, midfielders Gabrielle Carle and Julia Grosso, and forwards Jordyn Huitema and Deanne Rose. Of those seven, Grosso, Huitema and Riviere are all 18 years old.
 
The seven other FIFA Women’s World Cup™ debutants are goalkeeper Sabrina D’Angelo, centre backs Shannon Woeller and Shelina Zadorsky, fullbacks Lindsay Agnew and Jenna Hellstrom, and forwards Janine Beckie and Nichelle Prince.
 
CANADA AT THE FIFA WOMEN’S WORLD CUP FRANCE 2019™
Following Canada’s 10 June opener against Cameroon in Montpellier, Canada will face New Zealand on 15 June in Grenoble and Netherlands on 20 June in Reims. Beyond the group phase, two or three nations from Canada’s group will advance to the Round of 16 with those initial knock-out matches to be played from 23-25 June. Beyond the Round of 16, the Quarter-finals are 27-29 June, the Semi-finals are 2-3 July, and the FIFA Women’s World Cup France 2019™ Final is 7 July.
 
CANADA AT THE FIFA WOMEN’S WORLD CUP : http://canadasoccer.com/?t=project&sid=1272
 
Fans are encouraged to be part of Canada’s journey at the FIFA Women’s World Cup™ from 10 June to 7 July by watching all the action live on TSN and RDS. Fans can also follow the Women’s National Team both on and off the pitch across Canada Soccer’s digital channels including CanadaSoccer.com, Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.
 
“Heading into an away FIFA Women’s World Cup, we hope that the echo from our Canadian fans back home will carry us through our month in France,” said Heiner-Møller. “Having that Send-Off Match was exactly what we needed and it will have a resounding effect on our players for a long time.”
 
OLYMPIC MEDAL WINNERS & CONCACAF CHAMPIONS
Canada are two-time Olympic bronze medal winners (2012 and 2016) and two-time Concacaf champions (1998 and 2010). In all, Canada have participated in seven consecutive editions of the FIFA Women’s World Cup™ (1995 to 2019) and three consecutive editions of the Women’s Olympic Football Tournament (2008 to 2016). At Rio 2016, Canada Soccer’s Women’s National Team were the first Canadian Olympic team to win back-to-back medals at a summer Olympic Games in more than a century.
 
WOMEN’S NATIONAL TEAM: https://canadasoccer.com/women-s-national-team-p144312
 
Canada Soccer’s Women’s National Youth Teams, meanwhile, have won four Concacaf youth titles: the 2004 and 2008 Concacaf Women’s Under-20 Championship, the 2010 Concacaf Women’s Under-17 Championship, and the 2014 Concacaf Girls’ Under-15 Championship. Canada have qualified for seven editions of the FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup (including a silver medal at Canada 2002) and all six editions of the FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup (including a fourth-place finish at Uruguay 2018).
CANADA SQUAD
1- GK- Stephanie Labbé | USA / NC Courage
2- FB- Allysha Chapman | USA / Houston Dash
3- CB- Kadeisha Buchanan | FRA / FCF Olympique Lyonnais
4- CB- Shelina Zadorsky | USA / Orlando Pride
5- CB- Rebecca Quinn | FRA / Paris FC
6- W- Deanne Rose | USA / University of Florida
7- M- Julia Grosso | CAN / University of Texas at Austin
8- FB- Jayde Riviere | CAN / Ontario Super REX & Markham SC
9- F- Jordyn Huitema | FRA / Paris Saint-Germain
10- FB- Ashley Lawrence | FRA / Paris Saint-Germain
11- M- Desiree Scott | USA / Utah Royals FC
12- F- Christine Sinclair | USA / Portland Thorns FC
13- M- Sophie Schmidt | USA / Houston Dash
14- M- Gabrielle Carle | USA / Florida State University
15- W- Nichelle Prince | USA / Houston Dash
16- F- Janine Beckie | ENG / Manchester City FC
17- M- Jessie Fleming | USA / UCLA
18- GK- Kailen Sheridan | USA / Sky Blue FC
19- F- Adriana Leon | ENG / West Ham United FC
20- CB- Shannon Woeller | SWE / Eskilstuna United
21- GK- Sabrina D’Angelo | SWE / Vittsjö GIK
22- FB- Lindsay Agnew | USA / Houston Dash
23- F/FB- Jenna Hellstrom | SWE / KIF Örebro
 
CANADA A-Z
Name | Age | City where they grew up | First/active start
Agnew, Lindsay | 24 | Kingston, ON, CAN & Dublin, OH, USA | Byron Optimist SC
Beckie, Janine | 24 | Littleton, CO, USA | Real Colorado
Buchanan, Kadeisha | 23 | Brampton, ON, CAN | Brams United SC
Carle, Gabrielle | 20 | Lévis, QC, CAN | AS Chaudière-Est
Chapman, Allysha | 30 | Courtice, ON, CAN | Darlington SC
D’Angelo, Sabrina | 26 | Welland, ON, CAN | Welland SC Wizards
Fleming, Jessie | 21 | London, ON, CAN | Nor’West Optimist SC
Grosso, Julia | 18 | Vancouver, BC, CAN | Vancouver’s Italian Canadian SF
Hellstrom, Jenna | 24 | Sudbury, ON, CAN | Sudburnia SC
Huitema, Jordyn | 18 | Chilliwack, BC, CAN | Chilliwack FC
Labbé, Stephanie | 32 | Stony Plain, AB, CAN | Spruce Grove Saints
Lawrence, Ashley | 24 | Caledon East, ON, CAN | Brams United SC
Leon, Adriana | 26 | Maple and King City, ON, CAN | Vaughan Azzuri
Prince, Nichelle | 24 | Ajax, ON, CAN | Ajax SC
Quinn, Rebecca | 23 | Toronto, ON, CAN | North Toronto SC
Riviere, Jayde | 18 | Markham, ON, CAN | West Rouge SC
Rose, Deanne | 20 | Alliston, ON, CAN | Alliston SC
Schmidt, Sophie | 31 | Abbotsford, BC, CAN | Abbotsford
Scott, Desiree | 31 | Winnipeg, MB, CAN | Maples Cougars
Sheridan, Kailen | 23 | Whitby, ON, CAN | Pickering SC
Sinclair, Christine | 36 | Burnaby, BC, CAN | South Burnaby Metro Club
Woeller, Shannon | 29 | Vancouver, BC, CAN | Douglas Park
Zadorsky, Shelina | 26 | London, ON, CAN | Kitchener SC