Canada Soccer – Canada looks forward to the opening match at FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup Uruguay 2018
12 November 2018

Canada Soccer’s Women’s U-17 team is making final preparations for the FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup Uruguay 2018 taking place 13 November to 1 December.  The team has been training in Montevideo, where Canada’s group stage matches will be held, since the beginning of the month.

Drawn into Group D, Canada will face off against Colombia, South Korea and Spain at Estadio Charrúa in Montevideo. Canada’s first game is against Colombia on 14 November at 19:00 local (17:00 ET/14:00 PT LIVE on TSN2 and RDS2 in Canada) who have made three appearances at the tournament without having exited the group stage.  Colombia qualified for the tournament by placing second at the South America Under 17 Women’s Championship.

“We are feeling confident and comfortable here in Montevideo, so we are really looking forward to our opening match against Colombia on Wednesday,” said Rhian Wilkinson, Canada Soccer Women’s U-17 National Team Head Coach. “A lot of investment has been made in the South American teams on the women’s side, and Colombia like a lot of the teams now coming up are exciting, like to be on the ball and have skilled dribbling players, so we will have to be primed and be at our best on Wednesday.”

Canada’s roster features players born 2001 or later and all 21 are part of Canada Soccer’s Regional EXCEL Program, which brings together the best with the best at the national youth level throughout the year.  Four players already gained valuable FIFA U-17 World Cup experience in Jordan 2016 and four have also featured for the Women’s National Team.  Jordyn Huitema, named Captain for Canada at the FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup Uruguay 2018, already has 15 appearances for the Women’s National Team and is excited about the U-17’s team chemistry and how the team has come together in the lead up to the competition. 

“Going into this tournament, we are really excited and pumped. It’s a new group, and I think we have a lot of experience balanced with players who still play off instinct.  We know Colombia are very technical, and they love to play with the ball at their feet so that it will be a really defensive game and we will have to put the work into making transitions successful, but we are ready for the fight.   Every game in a FIFA Women’s World Cup is a fight so we have been putting in the work while we can, and we’ll hopefully get a result.”

Canada will face the 2010 FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup Champions in its second group stage match on Saturday 17 November at 16:00 local (14:00 ET/11:00 PT LIVE on TSN3 and RDS2 in Canada).  Korea Republic, who placed second at the AFC U-16 Women’s Championship, has made two appearances with a quarterfinal loss in 2008 before winning in 2010 and failing to qualify in 2012, 2014 and 2016. 

Canada’s final group stage match will take place against Spain on Wednesday 21 November at 14:00 local (12:00 ET/09:00 PT LIVE on TSN5 and RDS2 in Canada). The reigning UEFA Women’s U-17 Champions failed to qualify in 2008 and 2012 but were runners-up in 2014 and third place winners in 2010 and 2016. 

The top two teams from each group will progress to the Quarter-final and knockout stage of the preeminent youth tournament beginning 24 November with the Semi-final taking place 28 November and the Final and Third-place matches slated for 1 December.

“We’ve been in Uruguay for over a week and have put in many good training sessions, so now we are just looking forward to getting out there and testing ourselves against the best young women in the world,” said Wilkinson.  “This team is a lot of fun, they love the game and love learning about it, their energy is infectious and motivating. I can’t wait to get this tournament started.”

Canada marks the 10-year anniversary of the FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup as one of only six nations, and the only in Group D, to have qualified for every edition since it was launched in 2008, alongside Germany, Ghana, Japan, New Zealand and North Korea.

• The official slogan for the FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup is Same Game Same Emotion. (A slogan to unite the generations).
• The tournament’s four groups are Group A: Uruguay, Ghana, New Zealand, Finland; Group B: Mexico, South Africa, Brazil, Japan; Group C: USA, Cameroon, Korea DPR, Germany; and, Group D: Korea Republic, Spain, Canada, Colombia.
• A total of 32 matches, across four groups containing 16 teams, will be played to decide the winner of the FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup Uruguay 2018.
• Korea DPR are the reigning champions of the FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup and the tournament’s most successful competitor with two titles (2008, 2016).  Japan (2014), South Korea (2010), and France (2012) have also raised the coveted youth trophy as the world’s top U-17 women’s team.   Korea DPR was also the runner-up in 2012 and Japan was the runner-up in both 2010 and 2016. 
• Spain, whom Canada will play in its final group stage match, were runners-up in 2014 and third place winners in 2010 and 2016. 
• A total of 32 nations have competed in the FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup since it started in 2008.

• Canada Soccer’s Roster for the FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup Uruguay 2018: https://www.canadasoccer.com/canada-soccer-selects-21-young-players-for-fifa-u-17-women-s-world-cup-uruguay-2018-p161906 
• The FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup Uruguay 2018 is Canada’s sixth appearance in the penultimate competition for players born before 2004. Canada’s has placed in the top ten participating nations in each edition of the tournament reaching its highest position of seventh in New Zealand 2008 and Azerbaijan 2012.  Canada placed tenth at Trinidad and Tobago 2010, eighth at Costa Rica 2014, and ninth in Jordan 2016, with a historical total of six wins, six draws and six losses.
• Canadians have registered 14 goals at the competition, with Marie Levasseur topping the goal-scoring list with four in 2014.
• Canada qualified for the FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup Uruguay 2018 by capturing third place at the Concacaf U-17 Women’s Championship earlier this year.
• Canada has twice before placed third in the Concacaf qualifier for the FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup, in Trinidad and Tobago 2008 and Grenada 2016.  Canada won the qualifier in Costa Rica 2010 and placed second in both Jamaica 2013 and Grenada 2016.  In total, Canada has 17 wins, two draws and six losses in its qualification campaigns for the FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cups. 

Following Canada’s successful hosting of the inaugural FIFA women’s youth tournament, the FIFA U-19 Women’s World Championship in 2002, FIFA began making plans to hold both the FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup and FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup to match the youth competition format for men.  Notably, Canada Soccer Women’s National Team Captain Christine Sinclair won the golden boot for most goals at the 2002 tournament as Canada placed runners-up to the USA and launching a rivalry that thrives today. 

Canada Soccer Women’s National EXCEL Program brings together the best with the best at the national youth level, throughout the year. Operating across the U-14 to U-20 age groups, the program is designed to deliver an aligned talent structure and system that progresses more top players to Canada’s Women’s National Team. Major competitions are viewed as staging posts to assess development and allow for the development of the Women’s EXCEL Team Playing Model and tournament processes and expertise which will ultimately prepare players to progress up the system.

Additionally, the most talented U-14 to U-18 players are offered a specialised daily training environment through the Regional EXCEL Program, which deliver Canada Soccer’s national curriculum year-round through a two-tiered talent system, with three Super Centres streamlining Canada’s National EXCEL Players into training environments in British Columbia, Ontario and Quebec from smaller provincial licenced Centres. 

Canada is two-time Olympic bronze medal winners (2012 and 2016) and two-time CONCACAF champions (1998 and 2010). In all, Canada has participated in six consecutive editions of the FIFA Women’s World Cup (1995 to 2015) and three successive 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 and the only FIFA Member Association to repeat on the podium. 

Canada will compete in its eighth FIFA Women’s World Cup in France next year.  The draw to determine the group stage opponents takes place 8 December in Paris, France.

Canada Soccer, in partnership with its membership and its partners, provides leadership in the pursuit of excellence in soccer, both at the national and international levels. Canada Soccer not only strives to lead Canada to victory, but also encourages Canadians to a life-long passion for soccer. For more details on Canada Soccer, visit the official website at www.canadasoccer.com

 

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