Canada kicks off World Cup journey with 0-0 game vs Nigeria
Team Canada began their FIFA Women’s World Cup journey Thursday night with their first game against Nigeria. The Canadian team enters the tournament ranked seventh, despite being the reigning Olympic champions from Tokyo 2020.
At the pre-match press conference Captain Christine Sinclair compared this year’s World Cup to the Olympics: “We were overlooked heading into the Tokyo Olympics and showed what we can do. We can beat any team in the world. It’s contagious (winning), you want to do it again and it’s just motivated us to prove to the world what we can do again.”
READ: Everything you need to know about Canada at the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup
The Canadians are playing in the B pool along with no. 10 ranked Australia, no. 22 Ireland, as well as their first opponent, no. 40 Nigeria.
The highest drama of the game came when Sinclair appealed for a penalty in the early minutes of the second half after being clipped by Nigeria’s Francisca Ordega. While there was initially no call on the field, referee Lina Lentovaara awarded Canada a penalty kick after video review.
A solid shot from Sinclair was blocked by Nigerian goalkeeper Chiamaka Nnadozie. Had she scored, it would have been Sinclair 191st career goal.
Team Canada played its first game without regular starter midfielder Jessie Fleming, who is sidelined with injury. Coach Bev Priestman has said the injury is not tournament-threatening, but that Canada is resting Fleming for now.
While not the result they had hoped for, an early tie has served Team Canada is the past. They opened their Olympic tournament with a 1-1 draw against Japan at the Tokyo Games before going on to win it all.
Canada plays next on Wednesday, July 26 against Ireland, who lost to Australia earlier this week.