5 of the best Desiree Scott moments ahead of CanWNT star's farewell match
On Saturday, Desiree Scott’s incredible career with the Canadian women’s national team will officially come to an end with a match against Haiti in her hometown of Winnipeg.
It will be her 188th appearance in the Canadian red and white, bringing to a close a 15-year national team career during which she has massively contributed to not only the evolution of the women’s national team, but the sport as a whole in this country.
Before Canadians officially say farewell to her this weekend, let’s take a look at some of her best moments from over the years.
Anchoring Canada to Olympic gold medal
There’s really only one place this list could begin, and that’s with arguably the most memorable result in Canadian soccer history – the Olympic gold medal game from the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games.
Scott put in a shift in that match, playing the entire 90 minutes and 30 minutes of extra time in the Tokyo heat at the base of Canada’s midfield. She played the full 90 in five of Canada’s six games at that tournament, including each of the knockout matches en route to the gold medal. She was subbed out for Shelina Zadorsky with seconds left in extra time ahead of the penalty shootout, but Zadorsky didn’t end up taking a penalty anyway.
Without her grit in midfield, Canada might not have successfully defended their way to the top of the podium, and for her efforts Scott will always be an Olympic champion.
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Goal line clearance in the London 2012 bronze medal game
That gold medal in Tokyo wasn’t Scott’s only trip to the Olympic podium, nor was it her second. Before reaching the top step in Tokyo, Canada won bronze medals at London 2012 and Rio 2016, and Scott is a big reason they won the bronze medal match in 2012.
In the 70th minute of a scoreless match, France had an opportunity to score from a corner, but Scott was able to get her body in the way to clear a shot off the goal line to keep the Canadian clean sheet intact. Twenty minutes later, midfield partner Diana Matheson scored a dramatic late winner to earn Canada’s first Olympic medal in women’s football – a pivotal moment for the sport in Canada that inspired many members of the current national team group.
Scott is one of just three players, with Christine Sinclair and Sophie Schmidt, to be part of all three Olympic medal-winning teams.
Breaking into the national team during transformative years for the CanWNT
Leading up to the 2012 Olympics, Canada found success internationally as a new generation of players, including Scott, burst onto the scene.
First was at the 2010 Concacaf W Championship, also serving as the qualifying tournament for the 2011 Women's World Cup. Having made her debut earlier that year, Scott was involved in the group that won the gold medal at the tournament, including playing 45 minutes off the bench in the final – a 1-0 win over Mexico.
While Canada was less successful at the 2011 Women’s World Cup, they won a gold medal at the 2011 Pan American Games, back when Canada still sent their best-available squad to that tournament. Scott played a key role in that tournament as well, including the full 90 minutes in a shootout win over Brazil to win the gold – something she’d do again a decade later in the quarterfinals at the Tokyo Olympics.
These years were important to a new generation of Canadian players as they got a taste for winning, setting up the next decade of Olympic success that has since defined them.
Becoming the 15th player to reach 100 caps for the CanWNT
As she secured her place in Canada’s midfield, Scott quickly climbed the list of the national team’s most capped players.
On February 11, 2016 she became the 15th player to play 100 times for the CanWNT in an Olympic qualifying match. Since then she has played 87 more times for Canada, and will make her 188th and final appearance on Saturday. That number, 188, will see her retire fourth on the all-time list, behind Sinclair, Schmidt and Matheson, with that group playing a significant number of those games together.
Kadeisha Buchanan is the closest active player to Scott, sitting on 154 caps.
First professional goal in Ottawa’s inaugural game after coming out of retirement
It was only right that a long-time builder of Canadian soccer like Scott would be involved in the inaugural season of the country’s domestic professional league, and that’s exactly what happened when she signed with Ottawa Rapid FC in the Northern Super League earlier this year.
It came as a bit of a shock, as Scott announced her retirement after the 2024 NWSL season with the Kansas City Current, but made the decision to keep going and be one of several national team players increasing the profile of the new league.
In a moment that could not have been scripted any better, it was Scott who scored the winning goal in Ottawa’s inaugural match, a 2-1 win over AFC Toronto at TD Place. Not only a significant goal for the club, it was also the first goal she had ever scored as a professional, and one that Rapid fans won’t soon forget.
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