Canada Soccer’s Women’s National Team Ready for First Edition of Tournoi de France

Canada Soccer’s Women’s National Team will kick off their campaign at the newly established Tournoi de France when they face host nation France on Wednesday in Calais, France. Canada will play three matches in seven days at the international tournament which will help Canada launch its preparation for the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games this summer.
 
Canada’s first match against France on Wednesday 4 March at 17.00 local (11.00 ET / 8.00 PT) will be followed by the Netherlands on Saturday 7 March at 19.00 local (13.00 ET / 10.00 PT) before they close out the tournament against Brazil on Tuesday 10 March at 19.00 local (14.00 ET / 11.00 PT). The three matches will take place at Stade de l’Épopée in Calais, France and will be broadcast live in Canada on OneSoccer.ca. Fans will find extended coverage across Canada Soccer’s digital channels on Facebook, YouTube, Instagram, and Twitter featuring the social media hashtag #CANWNT.
 
“It’s always exciting for us to get back together, especially after our last tournament in which we qualified for the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games,” said midfielder Sophie Schmidt. “Now we know what is at stake this summer, and we are just excited to get to work. We only have so many opportunities to rehearse the tournament-style format, and this is one of them, and it’s against big teams. It’s a good opportunity to put our processes to test.”
 
The international tournament in France will give Canada Soccer’s Women’s National Team the opportunity to face three teams among the top 10 nations on the FIFA/Coca-Cola Women’s World Ranking. Both Netherlands and Brazil have also already qualified for the Olympic Games.
 
“We have three big games ahead of us, and everyone is excited to play those games, but we also want to get those results for Canada,” said full-back Ashley Lawrence. “It’s that much more exciting when we have the opportunity to play against some of the best teams in the world, because we know that is where we belong. We want to be the best, so we definitely understand the importance of these games.”
 
Canada Soccer’s Women’s National Team will also use Tournoi de France as an opportunity to further assess its player pool. While Canada were allowed to dress 23 players for the FIFA Women’s World Cup last summer, the Women’s Football Olympic Tournament roster size is 18.

“We have 22 players in camp here in France, there will only be 18 at the Olympics. So everyone in every single session and every single aspect of the session is going to be assessed,” said Kenneth Heiner-Møller, Canada Soccer’s Women’s National Team Head Coach. “Doing that in matches against world-class teams and world-class players is going to be key as well. Everyone will see game time if they are fit. It’s going to be great to watch them in a real team competition.”
 
CANADA’S OPPONENTS AT TOURNOI DE FRANCE
This will be the 15th international meeting between Canada and France since they first met in 1995. The most recent meeting between the two nations, an April 2018 Women’s International Friendly in Rennes, FRA, ended up in a 1:0 victory for France. Two years before, Canada defeated France in the Rio 2016 Olympic Games Quarter-Finals en route to their back-to-back bronze medal performance.
 
Canada Soccer’s Women’s National Team faced Netherlands in the group stage finale of FIFA Women’s World Cup France 2019™ last summer. Canada fell 2:1 to Netherlands, with Christine Sinclair’s 60’ marking her fifth consecutive FIFA Women’s World Cup goal equaling the all-time record.
 
Canada recently faced Brazil at the International Women’s Football Tournament Yongchuan in November 2019. Four years ago, Canada defeated Brazil in the bronze medal match at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games to secure back-to-back podium finishes at the London 2012 and Rio 2016 Olympic Games. Canada earned the distinction of becoming the first Canadian team to win back-to-back medals at the Summer Olympic Games since 1908 as well as the first-ever women’s Canadian team to repeat on the podium.
 
CANADA RETURN HOME IN APRIL
Canada Soccer’s Women’s National Team will come home this Spring when they face Australia in Vancouver on Tuesday 14 April. The home international soccer match will provide Canadian fans will an opportunity to see their favourite players live in action at BC Place (19.30 local kickoff).
 
Tickets are on sale now starting as low as $20 via Ticketmaster.ca (or by calling 1.855.985.5000), with complete information available via CanadaSoccer.com/tickets. Group discounts of up to 30% off the regular price are available for orders of 10 or more tickets using the Group Order Form. A special Me+3 ticket package can be purchased directly via Ticketmaster.ca.
 
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://www.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).