Canadian Women's National Football Team / Olympic Games

Canada
Canada

OS record goal scorer :	Christine Sinclair (11)
OS record player:	Diana Matheson and Sophie Schmidt (16 each)
Rank :	4th
Balance sheet
16 OS games 9 wins 2 draws 5 defeats 27:19 goals
statistics
First OS game Canada 2: 1 Argentina Tianjin ( CHN ); August 6, 2008
Biggest OS win Canada 3-0 South Africa Coventry ( GBR ); July 28, 2012
Biggest OS defeat Canada 0-2 Germany Belo Horizonte ( BRA ); 16th August 2016
successes
Olympic games:
Participation in the finals	3 ( first : 2008 )
Best results	Bronze medal ( 2012 , 2016 )
(As of August 19, 2016 )

The article provides an in-depth look at the Canadian women's national football team at the Summer Olympics . The Canadian team first took part in the women's soccer tournament at the Olympic Games in 2008 and was also able to qualify for the following two editions. It occupies 8th place in the medal table .

The national team at the Olympic Games

Overview

Olympic Games in	Participation until ...	opponent	Result	Trainer	Comments and special features
Atlanta 1996	not qualified				Since Canada was eliminated in the preliminary round of the 1995 World Cup, the team was not qualified for the Olympic Games.
Sydney 2000	not qualified				Since Canada was eliminated in the preliminary round at the 1999 World Cup, the team was not qualified for the Olympic Games.
Athens 2004	not qualified				Failed in qualifying against Mexico.
Beijing 2008	Quarter finals	United States	-	Even Pellerud
London 2012	3rd place match	France	Bronze medal	John Herdman
Rio de Janeiro 2016	3rd place match	Brazil	Bronze medal	John Herdman	Canada was the only team to survive the group stage against Australia , Germany and Zimbabwe without losing points and defeated France in the quarter-finals.
Tokyo 2020	qualified

The tournaments

Olympia 1996 in Atlanta

Toronto had also applied for the 1996 Games , but had already failed in the fourth round of voting. For the first women's Olympic soccer tournament, in addition to hosts USA, only the other seven best teams from the 1995 World Cup and Brazil qualified for the English women who were not eligible to start. Since Canada was eliminated in the preliminary round, the team was also not athletically qualified for the Olympic Games.

Olympia 2000 in Sydney

In addition to the host, only the seven best teams from the 1999 World Cup were qualified for the second Olympic tournament . Since Canada was eliminated again in the preliminary round, the team was not qualified for the Olympic Games this time either. After the World Cup, Even Pellerud took over the position of national coach and came fourth at the 2003 World Cup .

Olympia 2004 in Athens

For the third Olympic women's football tournament, the continental associations were each allocated starting places, which they then awarded in individual qualifications. The Canadians first had to compete against the hosts , Panama and Jamaica in a final tournament in Costa Rica and won the three games, only conceding a goal in the 2-1 against Costa Rica. In the semifinals they met Mexico and missed the Olympic Games by 1: 2. The game for 3rd place, which is no longer important for qualification, they then won 4-0 against Costa Rica.

2008 Olympics in Beijing

Toronto had applied again for the 2008 games , but had already failed in the second round of voting. For the tournament in Beijing , the Canadians therefore had to play against Trinidad & Tobago and then again against Costa Rica at the final tournament in Mexico . They reached the semi-finals 6-0 and 1-0. Like four years before, they met Mexico, but this time they won 1-0 and qualified for the Olympic football tournament for the first time. In the final, which is no longer important for qualification, they lost after a 1-1 draw after extra time with 5-6 on penalties against the USA.

At the start of the tournament they won 2-1 against Argentina , then achieved a 1-1 draw against the hosts and despite a 2-1 defeat against Sweden in the last group game as one of the two best third-placed players in the knockout round. In the quarter-finals, neighbor USA was the opponent. In a game that had to be interrupted for 1:40 an hour due to heavy rain, the USA only prevailed 2-1 in extra time. The Canadians had to change their goalkeeper due to an injury after the rain break, which had to be inserted after 19 minutes of play, but then got better into the game and were able to compensate for the opening goal they received before the rain break. The winning goal for the USA was scored by Natasha Kai , who was only substituted for extra time . After the tournament Even Pellerud finished his work as the Canadian national coach and took over the office in Trinidad & Tobago. He was followed by the Italian Carolina Morace .

Olympia 2012 in London

After the 2011 World Cup , which was disappointing for the Canadians, England's John Herdman took over the position of national coach from Carolina Morace. For the tournament in London , the Canadians had to play qualifying games again. The tournament on home soil won the group stage against Haiti (6: 0), Cuba (2: 0) and Costa Rica (5: 1). In the semifinals, Mexico was defeated 3-1 and the second participation in the Olympic football tournament was perfect. The final was then lost 4-0 to the USA.

At the start of the Olympic football tournament, they lost 2-1 to world champions Japan , then won 3-0 against newcomers South Africa and, after beating third-placed Sweden 2-2, qualified third in the group for the knockout round. Here they met the host, Team GB , which was composed of English and a few Scottish players especially for this tournament, and won 2-0. Opponents in the semi-finals were the USA. After 80 minutes, Christine Sinclair scored three goals , which gave the Canadians a 3-2 lead, when the Norwegian referee Christina W. Pedersen gave the USA an indirect free kick in the penalty area for the Canadians Goalkeeper Erin McLeod had held the ball in her hand for more than six seconds - an offense that is rarely punished in international football. Because the sharp free kick shot Marie-Ève ​​Nault's arm , there was a penalty, which Abby Wambach converted to 3: 3. Since no more goals were scored in regular time, it came to extra time, in which Alex Morgan scored the winning goal for the USA in the third minute of stoppage time. Since Sinclair criticized the referee's performance in the semi-finals, FIFA suspended her for four games after the tournament and fined her. So she could not take part in the Four Nations Tournament 2013 and on March 6, 2013 in the first game of the Cyprus Cup 2013 . It is the only game of the Canadians at the Cyprus Cup to date, in which they were not used. Christina W. Pedersen was never considered for a major game again. In the game for third place they met France who were fourth in the World Cup and won the bronze medal 1-0 with a goal from Diana Matheson . With six goals - more than in any tournament before - Christine Sinclair was the tournament's top scorer.

Olympia 2016 in Rio de Janeiro

For the tournament in Rio de Janeiro Canada had to play qualifying games again. They were able to defeat Guyana 5-0, Trinidad & Tobago 6-0 and Guatemala 10-0 in the group stage at a tournament in the USA in February 2016 . In the semi-finals this time, Costa Rica was the opponent who had eliminated Mexico in the group stage, and the Canadians qualified 3-1 for the Olympic football tournament, but lost again in the final against the USA. Opponents in the preliminary round were Australia , Germany and Zimbabwe , which had never been played before. The Canadians started against Australia with a goal by Janine Beckie in the first minute, but then had to continue playing after the red card for Shelina Zadorsky from the 19th minute onwards. In the 73rd minute Beckie missed the chance to increase with a penalty, which Christine Sinclair managed to get out of the game seven minutes later. It stayed that way. Against Zimbabwe, it took until the seventh minute, in which Beckie again made it 1-0. Sinclair with a penalty and again Beckie ensured the 3-0 lead before the break. In the second half only Zimbabwe scored the consolation goal. The Canadians were already qualified for the quarter-finals and the two goal scorers were spared in the game against Germany, which has never won a point. Melissa Tancredi then took on her role , who after early deficit scored two goals for the first win against the German team. Canada was the only team to survive the group phase without losing points and met the French in the quarter-finals. Here it was Sophie Schmidt who, on assist from Beckie, scored the only goal of the game. In the semi-finals, the Canadians met Germany again and lost 2-0. They won the game for third place against hosts Brazil 2-1, with Christine Sinclair playing her 250th international matches.

Olympia 2020 in Tokyo

For the tournament in Japan, the Canadians had to qualify at a tournament in the USA at the end of January / beginning of February 2020 . In the group stage, the Canadians prevailed as group winners with wins against St. Kitts and Nevis (11-0), Jamaica (9-0) and Mexico (2-0). With a 1-0 victory in the semifinals against Costa Rica they qualified for Tokyo. The 3-0 defeat in the final against the USA could be coped with. In the 11: 0 against St. Kitts and Nevis, Christine Sinclair outbid Abby Wambach's world record with her international goals No. 184 and 185 . A preparatory game in April against the Australians, who also qualified for Tokyo, was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic .

statistics

Record against the Olympic champions at the Olympic Games

• Germany : 2 games - 1 win, 1 loss - 2: 3 goals
• Norway : 0 games
• USA : 2 games - 2 defeats - 4-6 goals

Games

Canada has played 16 games in the Olympic Games so far. Of these, nine were won, five lost and two ended in a draw. Twice games went into overtime because a winner had to be determined. All were lost to goals. Canada played three times against the hosts, four times against the eventual Olympic champion (2008 in the quarter-finals and 2012 in the semifinals, 2016 in the preliminary round and in the semifinals), who was also the defending champion in the first two cases. Canada played most often (twice each) against Germany, France, Sweden and the USA.

Canada has already played against teams from all confederations except Oceania, but so far only against the European , North and South American champions . Canada met the reigning world champion once.

Diana Matheson and Sophie Schmidt played most of the games in the 16 games. The most goals (11) were scored by Christine Sinclair, who is now in second place on the list of top goalscorers .

No.	date	Result	opponent	venue	AH/*	occasion	comment
1	08/06/2008	2: 1	Argentina	Tianjin ( CHN )	*	Preliminary round
2	08/09/2008	1: 1	People's Republic of China	Tianjin ( CHN )	A.	Preliminary round	113th and last international match by Randee Hermus
3	08/12/2008	1: 2	Sweden	Beijing ( CHN )	*	Preliminary round
4th	08/15/2008	1: 2 a.d.	USA (TV)	Shanghai ( CHN )	*	Quarter finals
5	July 25, 2012	1: 2	Japan *	Coventry ( GBR )	*	Preliminary round	Last game under Even Pellerud
6th	07/28/2012	3-0	South Africa	Coventry ( GBR )	*	Preliminary round
7th	July 31, 2012	2: 2	Sweden	Newcastle ( GBR )	*	Preliminary round
8th	08/03/2012	2-0	United Kingdom	Coventry ( GBR )	A.	Quarter finals	1st game against Great Britain
9	08/06/2012	3: 4 a.d.	USA (TV)	Manchester ( GBR )	*	Semifinals
10	08/09/2012	1-0	France	Coventry ( GBR )	*	3rd place match	114th and last international match for Candace Chapman
11	08/03/2016	2-0	Australia	Sao Paulo ( BRA )	*	Preliminary round
12	08/06/2016	3: 1	Zimbabwe	Sao Paulo ( BRA )	*	Preliminary round	First game against Zimbabwe
13	08/09/2016	2: 1	Germany	Brasília ( BRA )	*	Preliminary round
14th	08/12/2012	1-0	France	Sao Paulo ( BRA )	*	Quarter finals
15th	08/16/2016	0: 2	Germany	Belo Horizonte ( BRA )	*	Semifinals
16	08/19/2016	2: 1	Brazil	Sao Paulo ( BRA )	A.	3rd place match

Note: Teams marked in bold were continental champions at the time of the game, teams marked with "*" were world champions.

Records

Christine Sinclair , 2012 top scorer

• Most goals in a tournament: Christine Sinclair - 6 (2012)
• Until August 16, 2016, only team with more than 3 games that scored at least 1 goal in each game
• The fastest goal: Janine Beckie after 21 seconds in the game against Australia on August 3, 2016
• Most single- team games: John Herdman (12 with Canada), Silvia Neid (12 with Germany), Norio Sasaki (12 with Japan), Pia Sundhage (12 with the USA)
• Youngest goalscorer: Deanne Rose with 17 years and 169 days on August 19, 2016 in the game for 3rd place

The Canadian team achieved their highest victories against the following countries at the Olympic Games:

•  Brazil 2: 1 (2016, game for 3rd place) - also 3 × 2: 1 and 1 × 1: 0 in friendly games and 1 × 2: 1 in the 2016 Algarve Cup final
•  Germany 2: 1 (2016, preliminary round) - only win against Germany after 12 defeats
•  United Kingdom 2-0 (2012, quarter-finals) - only game against Great Britain
•  Zimbabwe 3-1 (2016, preliminary round) - only game against Zimbabwe
•  South Africa 3-0 (2012, preliminary round)

The team did not suffer their biggest defeat at the Olympic Games against any country.

Individual evidence

1. ^ Games of the XXVIII. Olympiad Football Qualifying Tournament
2. ^ Games of the XXIX. Olympiad Football Qualifying Tournament
3. ↑ fifa.com: "USA decide rain thriller for themselves"
4. ^ Games of the XXX. Olympiad Football Qualifying Tournament
5. ↑ Canada vs USA - 2012-08-06
6. ↑ theglobeandmail.com: "The greatest game of women's soccer ever played"
7. ↑ cbc.ca: "FIFA suspends Canada's Christine Sinclair 4 games"
8. ↑ Canada vs Switzerland - 2013-03-06
9. ↑ Canada vs. Australia 2-0
10. ↑ Canada vs. Zimbabwe 3 - 1
11. ↑ Germany vs. Canada 1 - 2
12. ↑ Canada vs. France 1 - 0
13. ↑ canadasoccer.com: Canada Soccer cancels upcoming home international matches in British Columbia
14. ↑ canadasoccer.com: "Canada vs Australia - 2016-08-03"
15. ↑ fifa.com: "Olympic Football Tournaments in Facts and Figures"

Web links

• Women's Olympic Football Tournament - Statistical Kit - Statistics, Facts & Figures 1996 - 2012