2024 Concacaf W Gold Cup — Semi-finals
Canada vs. United States
March 6, 2024 at 7:15 pm PT/10:15 p.m. ET
Snapdragon Stadium in San Diego, California
Watch Live: OneSoccer

Bitter rivals Canada and the United States will renew their acquaintances on Wednesday night, with a trip to the inaugural Concacaf W Gold Cup final on the line.

Canada, who are yet to concede a goal in the tournament, qualified for the semi-final after a 1-0 extra-time victory against Costa Rica on Saturday night. Evelyne Viens scored the winning goal in a match that Canada dominated but struggled to put the ball into the back of the net. Les Rouges were the best team in the group stage, playing to a 3-0-0 record with 13 goals for and zero against, and entered the knockout round as the number one seed.

The United States started their group stage with two big clean sheet wins over the Dominican Republic and Argentina, but lost 2-0 to Mexico in their third game and entered the knockouts as the fourth seed. They were drawn against fifth seed Colombia in the quarter-finals, and beat them 3-0 with goals from Lindsey Horan, Jenna Nighswonger, and Jaedyn Shaw.

This match will be a battle of two of the top goalscorers in the competition, as Golden Boot joint-leader Adriana Leon’s five goals are just ahead of Shaw’s three.

RELATED: Viens and Sheridan the heroes as CanWNT need extra time to get past Costa Rica

Wednesday’s match in San Diego will be the first meeting between Canada and the United States since the SheBelieves Cup in February 2023, a match that was won 2-0 by the States after a first half brace from Mallory Swanson. This matchup has historically been dominated by the Americans, who have won 53 of the previous 64 all-time meetings.

The last time these two sides met in the semi-final of a major tournament, however, it was a Jessie Fleming penalty that saw Canada advance to the gold medal match at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games, and we all know how that ended.

The hosts will be the favourites at Snapdragon Stadium, but Canada has been the better team at this tournament, and will fancy their chances if they can fire on all cylinders the way they did in the group stage, albeit against a much tougher opponent.

RELATED: After fifty games as CanWNT manager, can Bev Priestman continue to set a gold standard?

3 THINGS TO WATCH

• Can Canada re-discover scoring touch?: Throughout the group stage of the tournament, no team had a better scoring output than Canada. With 13 goals in three matches, including five from Golden Boot leader Adriana Leon, Les Rouges blew out Ecuador (6-0), Paraguay (4-0), and Costa Rica (3-0) and finished the group stage as the top seed for the knockout rounds. In the rematch against eighth-seeded Costa Rica in the quarter-finals, however, Canada could not find a goal in the 90 minutes, and extra time was necessary to break the scoreless deadlock. Evelyne Viens was the hero in the end with a headed goal from a free kick in the 104th minute, but in a match where Canada outshot Las Ticas a remarkable 39-5 with many fantastic chances to score, the lack of goal production was an area of concern. The United States won’t allow anywhere near 39 shots on Wednesday night, but they will likely be more open in defence than the aforementioned teams because they will want to get people up the field to attack, as opposed to sit back and defend for 90 minutes.
• Both national teams in transitional period as young players step up: Both Canada and the United States have seen standout performances from young players as they both transition into a new era for their respective teams. Both Canada and the United States saw legends retire at the end of last year — Christine Sinclair and Sophie Schmidt for Canada, and Megan Rapinoe for the States. As the Olympic quadrennial comes to an end this summer, more changes could take place for both nations as young players start to break through and prove that they deserve those spots both now and in the future. For Canada, Olivia Smith has scored her first two senior international goals for Canada at this tournament, finding the back of the net against El Salvador and Paraguay. Jade Rose has played the full 90 minutes in three of Canada’s four matches as well, rock solid on the right side of Canada’s back three. Simi Awujo has also played some important minutes in midfield, starting once and coming off the bench twice already at the W Gold Cup. On the American side of things, 19-year-old Jaedyn Shaw leads the team with three goals at the tournament already, playing on the left side of the team’s attack. Twenty-three-year-old left-back Jenna Nighswonger has also had a big tournament, scoring her first two senior international goals — once from the penalty spot in the group stage, and a goal against Colombia in the quarter-final on Sunday. Korbin Albert is also a highly-rated prospect in midfield capable of taking a place in the starting lineup already, while Sophia Smith and Naomi Girma are also regular starters, and both just 23 years old. Olivia Moultrie has scored her first two senior international goals at this tournament as well, both against the Dominican Republic in the States’ opening game. This match could be a great first look at some of the next players that will continue to grow this rivalry over the next decade or more.
• Canadian defence will face toughest test yet: Canada’s first four matches have come against inferior opponents, so for the majority of the group stage and quarter-final, there has not been a significant amount of defending necessary, and as a result, they are yet to concede a goal. Against El Salvador, Paraguay, and Costa Rica (twice), Canada hasn’t had less than 65 per cent possession of the ball, and in the first two matches in particular, they have 75 per cent or higher. In the four matches, they have allowed just 12 shots, with only six of those coming on target, including one from Costa Rica late in the quarter-final that forced an incredible save from Kailen Sheridan to send the game to extra time. As one of the top teams in the world, the United States will be a much tougher challenge than the other three, and unlike the other three sides will try to attack and score goals in front of their home fans where the the other teams primarily sat back and just defended for 90 minutes. Canada’s back three and wingbacks will be tested, and when they come out on top Canada always has a shot to win.

PROJECTED STARTING XIs

Canada (3-4-3): Sheridan; J. Rose, Gilles, Buchanan; Lawrence, Fleming, Grosso, Carle; Leon, Viens, Lacasse

United States (4-2-3-1): Naeher; Fox, Girma, Davidson, Nighswonger; Albert, Horan; Rodman, Lavelle, Shaw; Morgan

ALL-TIME SERIES

Canada wins: 4 || United States wins: 53 || Draws: 7

Last meeting:

February 16, 2023 – Canada 0-2 United States