Canada Soccer’s Women’s National Team will face Nigeria in a pair of international matches as the Women’s National Team Celebration Tour comes to British Columbia for the upcoming April window on the FIFA International Match Calendar. The two-match west coast series will open Friday, April 8 at BC Place in Vancouver and continue Monday, April 11 at Langford’s Starlight Stadium on Vancouver Island.
The first match in Vancouver also provides Canada Soccer with the opportunity to celebrate Christine Sinclair’s world international goalscoring record in front of her home crowd. This celebration was originally planned for April 2020, but postponed on account of the global pandemic. Since breaking the record in January 2020, the Canadian captain from neighbouring Burnaby, British Columbia led Canada to an Olympic Gold Medal at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games in August 2021.
The two-match series will also mark a farewell to Stephanie Labbé who will wrap up her professional and international career as one of the best goalkeepers in the world. The Olympic Gold Medal winner, who finished second in voting for The Best FIFA Women’s Goalkeeper in 2020-21, has already played her last club matches at Paris Saint-Germain FC and will now wear the Canada maple leaf for one last series on home soil.
"We look forward to reconnecting with our Canadian fans on the west coast for these two home matches," said Bev Priestman, Canada Soccer’s Women’s National Team Head Coach. "These two matches against Nigeria in Vancouver and Langford will also provide us with great experience as we continue to prepare for this summer's qualifiers to both the FIFA World Cup and Olympic Games."
Tickets for the two matches will go on sale this Friday, March 18 via Ticketmaster.ca. Both the Friday, April 8 BC Place and Monday, April 11 Starlight Stadium matches will kick off at 19.30 local time. Group discounts (10+ tickets) are available for the match at BC Place on Friday, April 8. Fans organizing a group of 10 or more are eligible to receive discounts of up to 30% off regular priced tickets. For more information visit CanadaSoccer.com.
British Columbia has been home to incredible moments for Canada Soccer’s Women’s National Team including group stage matches to the 2002 Concacaf Women’s Gold Cup in Victoria, qualification to the London 2012 Olympic Games in Vancouver, and the record-setting crowds at the FIFA Women’s World Cup Canada 2015. Before the global pandemic, Canada’s most recent match in British Columbia was a 1:1 draw against USA in November 2017.
Canada are currently preparing for the 2022 Concacaf W Championship which doubles as both the qualification route for the FIFA Women’s World Cup Australia & New Zealand 2023 as well as the Paris 2024 Olympic Games. The upcoming Concacaf W Championship will feature eight nations from 4-18 July in Monterrey, NL, Mexico, with Canada and USA to be joined by six other nations yet to be determined through April’s Concacaf W Qualifiers.
For their part, Nigeria have always been one of the top nations in women’s football, in fact 11-time African champions and one of only seven nations in the world that have qualified for every edition of the FIFA Women’s World Cup since 1991. Like Canada, Nigeria are currently preparing for their summer qualifiers to the FIFA Women’s World Cup Australia & New Zealand 2023: Nigeria are one of 12 nations competing in the 2022 Africa Cup of Nations from 2-23 July.
Both Canada home matches will be broadcast live on OneSoccer, with details to be confirmed in advance of the match. The final squad for the matches, which is expected to feature all of Canada’s Olympic champions, will be announced in advance of the international window which opens 4 April. Fans will find extended coverage across Canada Soccer’s digital channels on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and YouTube featuring the hashtag #CANWNT.
Already this year, Canada have posted an even record across a win, a draw and a loss at the 2022 Arnold Clark Cup in February, with notably Canada’s first-ever clean sheet victory over two-time FIFA World Cup champions Germany. Last year as part of the Women’s Celebration Tour, Canada won back-to-back matches against New Zealand in the October 2021 window, with an initial 5:1 victory in the nation’s capital of Ottawa, Ontario and then a 1:0 win three days later in Montréal, Québec.
“It’s an honour to welcome our Canadian champions and celebrate women in sport,” said Vancouver Mayor Kennedy Stewart. “Our Canadian Women’s Soccer team has demonstrated the strength of sport in Canada and I’m proud we have the opportunity to show our support and recognize their accomplishments before a home crowd.”
“We’re thrilled to welcome the Canadian and Nigerian Women’s National Soccer Teams to Langford next month,” said Langford Mayor Stew Young. “High calibre sporting events like this happening in Langford aligns with the City’s goal of becoming a National Sports Capital and provides an opportunity for residents to see international level athletes without leaving their community."
CanadaRED FAN MEMBERSHIP PROGRAM PRESALE TICKET ACCESS
The CanadaRED fan membership program is the best way for fans to purchase advance tickets for all Canada Soccer National Team home matches ahead of the public on sale.
CanadaRED+WHITE Advanced Presale Access
Fans joining the recently launched CanadaRED+WHITE fan membership program will receive priority access to purchase tickets through an advance presale window which will open at 10.00 PT / 13.00 ET on Thursday 17 March. CanadaRED+WHITE members will receive an individualized presale code facilitating a one-time ticket purchase. Click here to register for a CanadaRED+WHITE membership. Please note that fans must be registered for CanadaRED+WHITE by 20:59PT on Wednesday 16 March to receive access to this advance window.
CanadaRED Presale Access
New and existing CanadaRED members will receive access to a presale window which will open at 12.00 PT / 15.00 ET on Thursday 17 March. All CanadaRED members will receive a presale code which will facilitate the purchase of up to nine tickets in one transaction. Click here to register to become official member of Canada’s growing soccer movement.
CANADA SOCCER’S WOMEN’S NATIONAL TEAM
Canada are Olympic champions (Tokyo 2020), two-time 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 four consecutive editions of the Women’s Olympic Football Tournament (2008 to 2021). At Tokyo 2020, Canada Soccer’s Women’s National Team became the first Canadian team to win three consecutive medals at the Summer Olympic Games and just the third nation in the world to win three medals in women’s soccer.
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 eight 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).
