KEY TAKEAWAYS: CanWNT cruise to confidence-building 6-0 win vs. Costa Rica

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The CanWNT have returned to winning ways, as they picked up a commanding 6-0 victory over Costa Rica in Santa Ana on Tuesday. 

With this being their lone friendly of the June window, Canada wanted to make the most of the opportunity to play, and it’s safe to say that they did that. 

While it’s easy to look at Costa Rica, who are ranked 34 spots below Canada in the FIFA Rankings, and suggest this was an expected result, it can’t be understated how important it was to run up the score this way - marking just the second time under Casey Stoney that Canada had scored more than five goals. 

ANALYSIS🎤

It was a commanding performance by the #CanWNT vs. Costa Rica - here's what stood out about their attacking play in this 6-0 victory

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For a Canadian team looking to become more dangerous offensively, this will feel like a confidence-builder, even if they might not have learned much about their ability to attack against better teams. Sometimes, you’ve got to start with a performance like this to build confidence and work up from there - so look for Canada to do that in the October window, where one has to imagine they schedule two tougher friendlies with the Concacaf Championships coming not long after that. 

Before looking too far ahead, however, here are three KEY takeaways from this one: 

Janine Sonis continues strong form for club and country: 

It’s been an excellent start to 2026 at the club level for Janine Sonis, who has been in great form for NWSL expansion side Denver Summit. Not only is she captaining the team, but she’s been putting in some strong performances at full back, while chipping in with some offence, too - she sits with four goals and one assist through their first 10 games, which is an impressive return. 

Because of that, it was hardly surprising to see that form carry over into this window - especially when considering that she’s been producing similar numbers for Canada already. 

Having started the year with one goal and three assists in Canada’s first six games, she added to that total in a big way in this game, as she scored a hat trick from left back.

GOAL🇨🇦

Janine Sonis can't stop scoring for club and country, as the in-form #CanWNT full back makes a great run at the back post and finishes home to put Canada up 2-0 right before half time

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Granted, she was helped by the fact that Canada won two penalties, which allowed her to complete the hat trick without too much trouble after scoring her first via open play, but as they say, you can’t fault someone for converting spot kicks - they count the same as any other goal, after all. 

GOAL🇨🇦

Janine Sonis has slotted home from the penalty spot to put the #CanWNT up 3-0, as she makes no mistake for her 2nd goal of the night

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If anything, considering that she put in a strong overall performance on both sides of the ball, the goals were more of a bonus for her - which is exactly what you want to see from a player in her position. It’s not as if she was cheating for offence, so to speak. 

GOAL🇨🇦

It's a hat trick for Janine Sonis, as she makes no mistake with her second penalty of the night to put the #CanWNT up 4-0 vs. Costa Rica

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For example, it stands out that she was able to generate three chances, completed 29 out of 35 passes (83%), made 15 carries (carrying the ball over 89 metres) and attempted 11 crosses, as she did exactly what you’d want out of her as a full back, which is to keep and progress the ball - and, when the opportunity arose, create chances. 

Along with her strong defensive play, which saw her complete four tackles (winning the ball back on two), one interception, one clearance, four recoveries and win four out of eight duels, it was an overall solid showing for Sonis. 

Yet, that’s a big credit to her, as it shows how she’s adapted to her new full-back role. Having started to transition into that position after playing more as a winger in recent years, she’s done extremely well to look at home there, which isn’t always easy for wingers to do.

Here's Sonis's heatmap from this game, showing how involved she was in the attack for Canada (SofaScore)

She’s proven that at the club level with Denver, who will have seen the performances she put in at full back for Racing Louisville last year and asked her to replicate that, and now Canada is seeing similar results, which is key, as it’s giving their attack another layer. 

For a team that sometimes struggles to break down low blocks, having Sonis get involved offensively from deeper positions is a game-changer, as shown by the fact that she now has seven goal contributions in seven games for Canada in 2026.

CanWNT still figuring out how to get the most out of Olivia Smith:

For just the second time since Casey Stoney arrived, she was able to lean on Olivia Smith to start consecutive matches for Canada, as she was given the start in this game after going 83 minutes in Canada’s last friendly against Brazil in April. 

That’s huge news for Canada, as they’ve not seen as much of Smith as they would’ve hoped to over the past 16 months, mainly due to injuries. 

For now, though, she’s seemed to put that behind her, and that’s good news. Ultimately, on paper, Smith is ready to become this team’s most important player, but she can only do that if she’s on the field, allowing her to find her best role in this team. 

This game shows why that’s so important, too. Surprisingly, despite Canada’s offensive outburst, they were unable to get the most out of Smith in this game, one where one would’ve thought she’d find herself among the goals. 

Granted, it wasn’t for a lack of trying - she created three chances, including two big chances, and had two shots, including one big chance - but she was unable to earn a goal or an assist despite that. Given her quality, you’d typically expect her to convert one of those chances on another day (and, of course, we know that assists can always depend on luck).

Here's Smith's heat map from this game, showing that while she got on the ball a decent amount in the final third, she wasn't able to see as much of the ball in the areas where she's most dangerous in and around the box (SofaScore)

At the same time, while Smith got into good positions, it still felt like there were some growing pains with her in terms of finding her best role in the Canadian attack. 

There were a few times when she received the ball and seemed unsure of what to do with it, whether that was to drive it forward, find a teammate, or fire off a shot. That was surprising to see, as she’s usually very decisive with her actions - you don’t score 10 goals and add four assists for a club like Arsenal in your debut season without that sort of decisive offensive thrust, which might be her most dangerous attribute.

Here's Smith's attempted dribbles and carries, showing that she wasn't able to drive the ball into the dangerous areas that she wanted to (SofaScore)

Yet, it’s a reminder for how talented she is, she’ll need some time to figure out where she fits in this Canadian team, especially given that she hasn’t played a whole lot for her country since Stoney came in. That she has just one goal and one assist in 10 appearances since the start of 2025 shows that. 

Because of that, look for Canada to take what they’ve learned from Smith finally earning these back-to-back starts, and see what they can do to get more out of her. Whether that’s adjusting what she does as a right winger, or shifting her to play as a #10 or a striker, and even adjusting the partnerships around her, it’ll be a big priority for Canada, who will know that their attack can only benefit from having the best version of Smith in it.

Here's Smith's passing map, showing that she played it safe with a lot of her play in possession (SofaScore)

With the play of Cloé Lacasse and Janine Sonis on the left side of the pitch, Canada didn’t need that version of Smith on the right side in this game, but with better opposition to come, they’ll want to have everyone firing on all cylinders - especially their talismanic youngster. 

For what it’s worth, it’s important to remember that her status as a youngster can’t be forgotten in this discussion. With Arsenal, she’s just asked to come in and support an already great attacking team, while with Canada she’s already being tasked to be a key leader. 

Sometimes, for a young player, it can take time to adjust to that sort of responsibility, which is why the onus will also be on the Canadian team to offer her the right support as much as she’ll be pushed to step up and become the player everyone knows she can be on her day.

Can this serve as a confidence builder for October, November? 

As mentioned earlier, given the nature of Costa Rica’s performance, who were sloppy defensively and extremely physical (they played over 30 minutes down a player after a second-half red card), it’s hard to take too much out of this game from a tactical perspective.

RED CARD🟥

The #CanWNT will be up a player for the rest of this match, as Costa Rica's Maria Coto is sent off for pulling the hair of Vanessa Gilles

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While Canada showed some good things on the ball, and were rather comfortable defensively (there’s a reason why they won the xG battle 5.83 to 0.12, even if the two penalties helped them massively in that regard), the reality was that they weren’t tested as much as hoped. 

Plus, for all of the good work they did on the ball, two of their goals came from penalties, one came from a corner (which arguably remains their most efficient side of their game), and two came from catastrophic Costa Rican turnovers, meaning that Canada’s possession play only technically yielded one goal. For a team wanting to be better on that side of the game, it shows that they’re still finding a way to turn good attacking patterns into goals more regularly, even if they’re seemingly getting into better areas on the ball with each passing game. 

GOAL🇨🇦

The #CanWNT have taken an early lead over Costa Rica, as Evelyne Viens capitalizes on a mistake at the back and slots home into an empty net to make it 1-0

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Because of that, it shows that the big takeaway for Canada’s attack in this game won’t be tactical, or about personnel - it’ll be about confidence. Given that they got into good positions and generated chances, that’s encouraging, as they had a few offensive actions that should’ve yielded more goals on another day (especially before the red card). 

GOAL🇨🇦

Jordyn Huitema has found a goal for the #CanWNT, as she puts her side up 5-0 with a clever finish on a corner

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Scoring six goals will hopefully give them confidence that they can carry over into their next games, where they’ll know they need to be far more ruthless with the chances they generate, especially against top teams. 

At the end of the day, this Canadian side has proven that they’re capable of beating the teams they should beat. Where they’ve struggled is beating tougher teams, especially their fellow top-10 sides. 

GOAL🇨🇦

Marie-Yasmine Alidou puts a bow on a big win for the #CanWNT, pouncing on a mistake to make it 6-0 at the death

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— OneSoccer (@onesoccer) June 10, 2026

With the work they’ve done to improve and solidify their identity, they’ve got what it takes to be a lot more competitive in these tougher matches - they’ve shown that despite 1-0 losses to top 10 sides US and Brazil this year. Now, they’ll want to show some ruthlessness in attack in their next match against that calibre of team, and an offensive outburst like this one should hopefully help give them the confidence to do that, provided that they can find a way to build on that the right way.