The Canadian Women’s National Team (CanWNT), ranked 9th in the world, just visited the hot, humid city of Cuiabá, Brazil. They competed in a mid-April FIFA Series mini-tournament featuring Zambia (64th), South Korea (19th), and the Brazilian hosts (6th). After soundly defeating the Zambians and Koreans, they fell 1–0 at the final hurdle against the team in canary yellow.
The CanWNT are building toward the 2027 World Cup, which will also be held in Brazil. The biggest question surrounding the team after they failed to get on the scoresheet in their last five matches of 2025 was, “Where are the goals?” Answers emerged in their first match of 2026, a 4–1 thumping of Colombia (20th), but scoring concerns soon returned with goose eggs against the United States (2nd) and Argentina (30th).
In Cuiabá, the Canadians showed they are continuing to make progress under coach Casey Stoney. They bagged seven goals against Zambia and South Korea, but their failure to find the net against Brazil means they have zero goals in their last six matches against top-10 opposition. Not since a 1–1 draw with Spain in October 2024 have they scored against such an opponent.
Canada 4–0 Zambia
The lopsided win over Zambia featured a first-half brace for Nichelle Prince and a second-half brace for Annabelle Chukwu. All four goals came in open play.
Prince, who also scored against Colombia in March, has sent a message to Stoney that she should be considered as a potential starter in World Cup qualifying. Stoney has other weapons who can play on the wing — Holly Ward, Mimi Alidou, Cloé Lacasse, and Arsenal superstar Olivia Smith, to name a few — but Prince is demonstrating the all-important “nose for the net.”
Chukwu, a 19-year-old sophomore at the University of Notre Dame, is the youngster many are hoping can help fill the gaping Christine Sinclair–shaped hole that was left in the CanWNT roster in December 2023. While playing for Canada’s U-15 to U-20 national teams, Chukwu far surpassed Sinclair’s record of 27 youth goals with an amazing 39 of her own.
The first of Chukwu’s two goals against Zambia, a straightforward header off a skillful set-up by Smith, was her inaugural goal as a member of the senior team. But she had the muted celebration of someone who has already scored plenty of goals, many of them more thrilling than this one, for her country and university.
Canada 3–1 South Korea
Canada opened the scoring against South Korea in the 23rd minute. A clever passing sequence between Evelyne Viens, Sydney Collins, and Cloé Lacasse ended with one of Viens’s trademark no-nonsense finishes.
Soon after, Canada got their first taste of adversity at the FIFA Series when inattentive defending by centre-back Jade Rose put South Korea’s Son Hwa-Yeon in position to break through on goal. Rose’s last-ditch attempt at a tackle resulted in a red card and a Korean free kick from the top of Canada’s box. Rose walked off the field, the free kick found the net, and Canada were down to ten players in a 1–1 match with more than an hour left to play.
Despite the red card, Canada remained dominant. A free kick from Jessie Fleming and a corner kick from Janine Sonis both found the head of Vanessa Gilles on their way into South Korea’s net to seal a 3–1 win. While Canada seeks new paths to producing open-play goals, it is reassuring to know they can still benefit from the silver-platter set-piece deliveries of Fleming and Sonis as well as the aerial prowess of Gilles.
The shorthanded CanWNT, continuing to make strides under Stoney, held 52% possession and allowed only one shot on target (South Korea’s free-kick goal). However, South Korea’s 5–1 loss to Brazil and 1–1 draw with Zambia suggest the Asian side is in a rough patch.
Canada 0–1 Brazil
Canada’s true test came against Brazil on April 18. The recent goals by Prince, Chukwu, Viens, and Gilles were proof they could score, but could they do it against the world’s 6th-ranked nation?
Les Rouges did not match the aggressiveness of the Canarinhas, which was best represented by the number of fouls: only 5 for the visitors and a whopping 23 for the home side. And those 23 fouls were just the tugs and bumps that were penalized by the referee, who, surrounded by vocal Brazil supporters, was generous to the hosts.
In the second minute of the second half, Viens was dispossessed by an apparent foul that was not called, and Brazil’s ensuing attack led to their lone goal. Canada’s saving grace was that their opponents were not clinical with their other 22 shot attempts.
The Canadians were frustrated and overwhelmed by foul play, dark arts, crowd noise, imbalanced officiating, the 100% humidity at the edge of the Amazon rainforest, and the constant waves of pressure applied by breakneck Brazilian attacks.
The conditions were tough, and Stoney’s side once again failed to find attacking flow or clinical finishing (they had ten shot attempts) against a strong opponent. Brazil secured a clean sheet despite being down a player for the last 17 minutes because of a well-deserved red card.
Digging Deep
Canada’s last win over a top-10 side was the 2–1 comeback victory against France at the 2024 Paris Olympics, amid the global humiliation of the drone-spying scandal. Canada dug deep to overcome a six-point deduction in the group stage, culminating in their defeat of Les Bleus, a world powerhouse, on French turf.
Stoney will continue fine-tuning Canada’s attacking patterns in upcoming international windows, but addressing the team’s mentality is also key. Recapturing the grit they showed at the Paris Olympics will be vital if they are to return to Brazil in 2027 and make a deep run into the World Cup’s latter stages, where top-10 opposition awaits.
(Images: CanWNT)