A Big Week/Month for Canadian Soccer

The Vancouver Whitecaps don’t play again until June 22nd, when they host the Colorado Rapids. However, over the next 12 days there are some great soccer events taking place to occupy your time. Also, I hear there is some basketball game going on or something that is interesting....or whatever.

Both the Canadian Men and Women National teams start(ed) important tournaments this week. For the women, it is the Women’s World Cup in France, while for the men, it is the CONCACAF Gold Cup.

Expectations for both squads are high. As the fifth-ranked team in the World, the Women will be looking to show better than they did on their home soil four years ago, when they were ousted by England in the quarterfinals. Meanwhile, the Men are coming off topping the Nations League qualifying and it would be difficult to argue that the nation has ever had as strong of a team as they do now.

The Women began their World Cup this afternoon with a 1-0 defeat of forty-sixth-ranked Cameroon. The Canadians dominated the match and will probably be disappointed they did not score more. However, Buchanan had a fantastic header goal off a corner kick that was deserving of a game winner.

Their next match is on Saturday, at 12pm versus New Zealand. They conclude their opening round June 20th, at 9am against Netherlands. If they win the group they will play June 25th against, likely England or Japan, or maybe Argentina.

Not lost in these matches is Christine Sinclair’s pursuit of Abby Wambach’s all-time goal scoring record. Sitting just three back of Wambach’s 184, at 181, Sinclair will look to take the crown as the best (most prolific?) goal scorer in women’s soccer history.

The Men’s team played a closed-session tune-up match against Trinidad and Tobago today, coming away with a 2-0 victory, thanks to a brace by Scott Arfield.

The Men open their 2019 Gold Cup on Saturday, at 4:30pm against Martinique. Saturday should be a great day for soccer with the Women at noon and the Men at 4:30. After Martinique, Canada will play June 19th, at 7:30 against Mexico. They conclude their group stage with Cuba on June 23rd.

Mexico should be a good measuring stick for the Canadian team, to see how they measure up with the best in CONCACAF. However, if they lose to Mexico, Canada should end up second in the group, leading to a matchup most likely against Costa Rica on June 29th.

It should be. an exciting June for Canadian soccer and a good test for both the Men’s and Women’s teams, against some of the best in their region and the world. Will you be watching both? What are your expectations for the squads?