Canada announces preparation camp roster ahead of Women’s World Cup

2023-06-08

Benedict Rhodes, CanPL.ca Contributor (@BTFR17)

Bev Priestman’s pre-tournament Canada squad ahead of this summer’s Women’s World Cup was announced on Thursday, with the 25-player roster set to travel to Australia later this month before being trimmed to a final 23 on July 9. The goal of the camp is also to acclimatise to the significant time zone change, and the weather Down Under.

The squad will travel to the Gold Coast, Australia for a camp beginning June 28, where the players will look to make Priestman’s final World Cup roster, which will be announced on July 9. From there, Canada will play a friendly match against England on 14 July 2023, behind closed doors. From there, they play their World Cup group stage opener a week later against Nigeria.

“With the preparation camp being only weeks away, I’m so excited to name this squad and see what this squad can bring as we move that much closer towards the Women’s World Cup,” said Priestman in a press release. “Picking this roster brought some incredibly difficult decisions and conversations, which I think speaks volumes to how competitive and exciting the group is.”

“I must acknowledge the hard work of the players, the clubs and our dedicated support staff to have some long-term injured players available for this camp as I know all parties have done everything possible to get to this point.”

As Priestman mentions, there are a couple of players in the squad currently on the mend after suffering injuries — Nichelle Prince and Desiree Scott. Both are important players when fit and firing, so if either player (or both) is ready to go for the World Cup, they likely will go, with their potential replacement among the unfortunate two players cut from the final squad.

“If I could name 23, I definitely would have,” Priestman said to reporters in a press conference on Thursday afternoon. “As a coach, and even for the players, the more clutter you can get rid of before you take off to Australia, then I would. That gives you an indication that, particularly Desiree Scott and Nichelle Prince, they’ll be the two probably that are the tightest with the timelines we’re talking about.

“The reason there’s 25 and not 23 at this stage is because I want to leave it as long as I possibly can, because I think we owe it particularly to the two players.”

Jordyn Huitema celebrates a goal in a friendly against France in April with Sophie Schmidt. (Photo: Audrey Magny/ Canada Soccer)

Eight players are in contention to play in their first-ever World Cup — goalkeeper Lysianne Proulx, defenders Vanessa Gilles and Jade Rose, midfielders Marie-Yasmine Alidou and Simi Awujo, and forwards Cloé Lacasse, Clarissa Larisey, and Evelyne Viens.

One of just three goalkeepers named to the pre-tournament squad, Proulx making the final squad is almost a certainty. Larisey and Viens also seem to be penciled into the final squad, as they won’t be released by their respective clubs in Sweden until July 10 — the day after the final squad is announced — according to the press release from Canada Soccer.

On the other side, a few of Canada’s greatest ever players will likely be heading to the World Cup for the final times in their careers — including Christine Sinclair and Sophie Schmidt — with the latter player announcing months ago that she intends to retire from international duty after the tournament.

“In the final twenty-three player roster, I know we will have a fantastic blend of experienced players along with World Cup debutants who are big part of the future of this program, and that blend makes for an exciting squad to lead and for any player to be a part of,” added Priestman in the press release.

The tournament, which will be co-hosted between Australia and New Zealand will feature 32 teams for the first time. The tournament kicks off on July 20, ending exactly one month later with the World Cup final. Canada are in a group with Nigeria, the Republic of Ireland and the co-hosts Australia.

Full Canadian pre-tournament squad: