Just two years after the highs of its shocking run to Olympic gold, the Canada women’s national team suffered its biggest disappointment in recent memory by dropping out of the group stage at the 2023 Women’s World Cup.
Canada entered the day in control of its World Cup destiny, needing just a draw from its final group stage match to advance to the knockouts. Instead, the Tokyo Olympic champions left the tournament after a devastating 4–0 rout at the hands of co-host Australia, marking the first time that a reigning Olympic gold-medal team has been knocked out at the group stage of a Women’s World Cup.
The result, combined with a scoreless draw between Nigeria and Ireland, sends Australia into the knockout stage as the Group B winner while Nigeria finishes second, sending Canada home on four points after a win against Ireland and a draw with Nigeria.
Needing a win to ensure a spot in the knockouts, the Matildas came out firing, relying on two first-half goals from Real Madrid winger Hayley Raso. Man City’s Mary Fowler followed with a 58th-minute goal while Stephanie Catley added a 94th-minute penalty to round out the scoring. Even more surprising is the fact that Australia did not have to deploy striker Sam Kerr in their final group game, allowing the Chelsea star to rest as she recovers from a calf injury.
Canada, which entered the tournament as the seventh-ranked team in the world in the FIFA rankings, will miss out on the knockout stage at the Women’s World Cup for the first time since 2011.
It’s been a difficult year for Canada on the World Cup stage. In December in Qatar, the men’s national team failed to secure a point in a strong group after surprisingly topping Concacaf qualifying.
