AGR: CanWNT looking for new answers to familiar questions in final games of 2025
It’s a familiar story for the CanWNT - the goals have dried up for them at the wrong time, as they enter their last two games of 2025, a pair of friendlies against Japan in Nagasaki and Ishaya, having failed to score in their previous three games.
First, they were held off the scoresheet in a 3-0 defeat to their rivals, the US, back in July, before following that up with a pair of 1-0 defeats to Switzerland and the Netherlands in October.
For a team that opened the Casey Stoney era by scoring 24 goals in their first eight games with their new head coach in charge, it’s been a stark return to the previous era of this team, one where goals were hard to come by.
To get an idea of how much they’ve struggled, consider this: the last time they went back-to-back games without scoring was in June 2021, and the last time they went three consecutive games without scoring was in February and March of 2020.
It's now 3 consecutive defeats for the CanWNT 🇨🇦, a losing run they haven't experienced since 2019 😬
— OneSoccer (@onesoccer) October 28, 2025
So what comes next for Casey Stoney's side? 👀 pic.twitter.com/4Q422gCCMi
What that shows, though, is why they’ll be eager for the goals to start falling again in this December window, as they look to avoid going four games without scoring, something that last happened to them in the mid-1990s.
When seeing that, however, the question will be asked - why has Canada had trouble in front of the goal? 
Namely, the big reason is a lack of opportunities - in their last three games, Canada has taken just 26 shots (8.6 per game), hitting the target with just eight of them. They’ve had some quality chances, sitting with 3.73 xG across those games, but they haven’t generated them at a high enough rate - by comparison, in their previous seven games before the start of this slump, they were averaging almost 16 shots per game.
Because of that, their xG of 1.24 per game from the last three games stands out when you realize they were averaging closer to 2.5 xG per game earlier in the year.
Granted, there are valid reasons to consider when analyzing this slump, such as the fact that Canada did have an easier slate of opponents earlier in the year. Of the eight games they played to start the year, just three sit in the top 30 of the latest FIFA Rankings: 16th-ranked China, 29th-ranked Mexico, and 30th-ranked Argentina.
By comparison, their last three games have come against teams a lot higher ranked, as the US sit second, the Netherlands are 11th, and Switzerland is 24th, which helps explain Canada’s offensive struggles. Just to further back up that point, consider this - not only have Canada’s shot and xG generation numbers gone down in those last three games, they’ve also failed to hold 50% possession in either game - by comparison, they dropped below 58% possession just once in their first eight games under Stoney, and that was when they held 51% of the ball in a 3-1 win vs. Haiti in Montréal.
What that shows, though, is why this test against Japan, who sits eighth in the world, is so important for this team’s attack, as they’ll look to prove that they can keep the ball and generate chances against a top 10 team.
As they continue to prepare for the 2027 World Cup, a big objective remains to improve their attack, which has sometimes struggled in those bigger games against better teams.
In their last two major tournaments, which were the 2024 Olympics and 2023 World Cup, Canada scored just seven goals in eight games across both competitions, as they failed to get out of the group in 2023 and crashed out in the quarter-finals in 2024.
Then, even in a tournament in which they were successful, the 2021 Olympics, they scored just six goals in six games en route to a gold medal, highlighting that Canada’s goalscoring issues have occurred for a while now - even if it hasn’t always stopped them from winning.
Of course, one could point to all of those tournaments and suggest that Canada’s struggles are personnel-based, which is a valid argument, but it’s a reminder of the challenges that teams can face in international football - you have to make the most of what you’ve got.
Plus, it’s not as if Canada’s completely devoid of players who can put the ball in the back of the net, either.
When looking at the players included in Canada’s latest squad, Evelyne Viens has scored 70 goals for club and country since the start of 2022, while Adriana Leon has over 40 goals for club and country since 2021 (including 29 in 65 games for Canada over that span) - just those two alone are two good examples of players who can find the net. And many will be quick to point out that this newest inclusion in Canada’s squad, Delaney Baie Pridham of Ottawa Rapid in the Northern Super League, also scored a lot of goals this year - 20 of them, to be exact (although she won't be eligible to feature in this window).
#CanWNT ROSTER DROP 🇨🇦
— OneSoccer (@onesoccer) November 21, 2025
Here's the squad heading to Japan for a pair of friendlies to end 2025 👥
Watch both matches live on OneSoccer! pic.twitter.com/3EnVl0tM7v
Where Canada has struggled, however, is finding a way to get the most out of their team’s attack in tougher games. To that point, Leon has just two career goals at major tournaments, with one coming at the 2021 Olympics and the other at the 2023 World Cup, while Viens has just one goal, coming at the 2024 Olympics, which helps demonstrate the problem.
Speaking of Viens, however, she remains an incredibly underused player in this Canadian set-up - she’s played just 1543 minutes across 42 appearances, an average of 36 minutes per appearance. She was hoping to finally get a bigger role under Stoney, but injuries have prohibited that from occurring, as she’s played just 249 minutes in six games this year (although she did score twice and add an assist in those limited minutes). 
Perhaps, finally having her back and healthy could allow her to earn a bigger opportunity for this camp, which could be good news for the Canadian attack, given how prolific she’s been over the last few years. Maybe, Canada can find a way to deploy both Viens and Leon together, paired with speedy wingers such as Holly Ward and Janine Sonis - or some other similar combination, one that includes Pridham, for example.
Is Evelyne Viens making a great shout for a starting spot as the #CanWNT's no. 9 up top? 🇨🇦
— OneSoccer (@onesoccer) June 4, 2025
Two goals tonight vs. Haiti brings her international tally to 8 ⚽️ pic.twitter.com/ZdtzH5Aa0s
At the same time, it’s not as if Canada’s offensive woes will be easily fixed by one or two players, which is why they must use this opportunity to continue experimenting in search of the right solution. While someone like Viens can be a key cog in an eventual solution, it’ll be up to Canada to ensure they surround her with the right players while deploying them in the right system.
Because of that, look for some change in the attack across these two games in Japan, after Canada used just 16 players across the last three games in which they failed to score, which further shows why they’ll be eager to mix things up in Japan.
With no competitive games coming until late in 2026 and just under two years until the next World Cup, Canada has plenty of time to solve their scoring woes before the games that matter start rolling in, but it’s not as if they can afford to let this time go to waste, either, even if they're without key players such as Olivia Smith and Cloé Lacasse this camp.
After starting the year on a high note, they’ll look to now end it similarly - maybe, the key to them finding the right offensive formula will be to channel some of what worked earlier in the year, while making small tweaks to help ensure Canada is more prolific against better teams.
Any foundation that they build in this window can be built on in the future, even as different pieces return to the fold - Smith, in particular, seems set to take a big step forward in 2026, as she looks to replicate her excellent form at the club level while putting a string of unfortunate injuries sustained with Canada behind her - showing that this window could have value now and in the future for this Canadian side, if tackled properly.
