Current Olympic champions exit the World Cup group stage, after coming 3rd in Group B.
The Canucks won gold at the 2020 Olympics beating Sweden 3-2 on penalty kicks after a 1-1 draw after 90 minutes. They have dominated the Olympic stage, receiving bronze at the London 2012 and Rio 2016 Olympics, and recently won gold in 2020.
However, they have not had the most success in the 2023 World Cup which they have had in the recent Olympics. Canada came 3rd in Group B, with the dual-hist country, Australia, topping the group and underdogs, Nigeria, coming second, sending Canada home.
Canada did not get off to the best of starts this World Cup campaign after drawing their opening game to Nigeria 0-0. The goalless draw meant that the Canadians would have to start getting more points on the board if wanted to qualify for the knockout rounds.
The Canucks finally got three points added to the board after beating Ireland 2-1 after coming from a goal behind. This meant that Canada only needed a draw against Australia to qualify for the knockout stages. Unfortunately, this didn't go as planned for The Canucks as they got beaten by The Matilda's in their final group stage game 4-0, sending home and out of the World Cup.
Chelsea star, Jessie Fleming, and defender, Vanessa Gilles, drew back their tears as they spoke to reporters after the 4-0 defeat against Australia. "A bad night to have a bad night," said Fleming. "I just feel a lot of disappointment. We have a world-class staff back there with us and world-class fans and I don't think we represented them well enough tonight. I just think this team has so much more in us and such a better performance. That was not seen tonight." Gilles followed, "The Aussies outdid us today, there's no hiding from that."
Canada now bows their heads in disappointment as they head home, out of the World Cup. They now look ahead to the Paris 2024, where they hope to perform better there, than how they did this tournament.
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