KEY takeaways from the CanWNT's 2024 Olympic squad reveal
With the start of the Olympics now less than four weeks away, the Canadian Women’s National Team took a big step towards that tournament this week, naming their 18-player squad (along with 4 alternates) on Canada Day.
After months of auditions, which included intense training sessions, key friendlies, competitive matches and more, head coach Bev Priestman has now named her team, one she’ll now rely upon later this month as her team begins their defence of their gold medal from the last tournament.
Off to Paris to represent 🍁 //
— CANWNT (@CANWNT) July 1, 2024
En route vers Paris pour représenter 🍁#CANWNT
It wasn’t an easy roster selection process, as the Olympics' strict roster requirements provided quite the challenge to coaches, who were only able to select 18 players and four alternates who can only be called upon if there’s an injury, a far cry from the 23 and 26 player squads teams can typically bring to tournaments, that’s something that provided Priestman with a lot of headaches in the weeks prior to this squad reveal.
Armed with a growing pool of players to pick from, that provided a big challenge for Priestman, whose job might’ve been easier a decade earlier, as she was instead left to make some tough decisions when it came to leaving some names at home.
And while there has been and will continue to be deliberation on whether she made the right choices in her squad, she’ll now look to make the most of the group she’s chosen, starting with some pre-tournament friendlies, leading right into their Olympic opener against New Zealand in Saint-Étienne on July 25th.
🚨Bev Priestman confirms Canada have two games lined up for pre-camp in Spain. Announcement coming soon.
— SHE scores bangers (@SHEscoresbanger) July 1, 2024
The staff, out of season & NCAA players, Prince and Collins travel tomorrow. The rest follow next week.
Before then, however, here’s a look at what stood out from that announcement.
Priestman takes some risks with squad selection amid fitness concerns:
With the roster restrictions in play, it’s already hard enough to name an Olympic squad. But for Priestman, her task was made even harder because some key Canadian players have dealt with injuries this year, which provided some intriguing challenges to navigate when selecting this squad.
Had this been a World Cup squad, those injuries might not have played as big of a role in the selection process, as the ability to bring a 23 or 26-player squad could’ve allowed for a couple of those players to be included even if dealing with fitness concerns.
In a smaller squad, however, there isn’t much room for injury concerns, as all 16 outfield players will be expected to play significant minutes, with the Olympics tournament known for being a grind where teams are asked to play on two days rest until the semi-finals, with those in the final earning the reward of… three days rest (which as a side note, makes the decision to have smaller squads at this tournament even more puzzling).
With those short turnarounds between games and smaller squads, depth is key, making it crucial that everyone can play a role.
And that’s a big concern with this Canadian team, as Priestman has included a few players with question marks surrounding their current fitness status, and those are Quinn, Nichelle Prince and Sydney Collins.
To begin, Quinn seems in the best position to play a key role these Olympics, as they recently returned from a knee injury they sustained in April at the end of June, playing 45, 86 and 90 minutes in their final three games for the Seattle Reign before this squad was named. After there were some worries they wouldn’t be healthy in time for the Olympics, that’s massive, as Canada’s depth in midfield is pretty thin, and Quinn is relied upon as a key piece.
Moving on to the others, however, is where things get more interesting.
First, there’s Prince, who would’ve been a lock for this squad if fully healthy, as she’s arguably been the best striker in Priestman’s system in the past 12 months. But given that she’s played just four games for club and country in 2024, picking up an injury in Canada’s Gold Cup opener in February, before playing just three games for the KC Current, in which she went 31, 33 and 45 minutes in a trio of NWSL games in May, there are some concerns of how much she can play these Olympics given that she’s not even been in any of Kansas’s matchday squads since the start of June.
I'm not as surprised to see Nichelle Prince in - by only bringing 4 CBs (which makes sense based on how the alternate system works), that created room for a 6th FW, where you can get away with having someone who might only have 30' or 45'. Viens and Huitema are strong cover at #9
— Alexandre Gangué-Ruzic (@AlexGangueRuzic) July 1, 2024
Then, there’s Collins, who was arguably the biggest surprise inclusion on the Olympic squad, given that she hasn’t played a competitive game since December when she featured in Canada’s friendly against Australia at BC Place, which also served as Christine Sinclair’s farewell match. Her last game of a breakout 2023, one where she went from an NWSL draft pick with the North Carolina Courage to becoming a key piece of Bev Priestman’s team in the fall, she was hoped to build off it in 2024, but she fractured her foot in Canada’s pre-Gold Cup camp in February, and hasn’t played a match for club or country since.
Not only that, but she hasn’t even made a Courage matchday squad once this year, either, which is a big concern, as that would indicate she’s still a while away from being fully match fit.
So overall, that’s given Priestman a few concerns, as one can wonder how much Prince and Collins can provide given their limited minutes in 2024.
In particular, the Collins inclusion is even more surprising when you see the season that Gabrielle Carle, who was named as an alternate, is currently having for the Washington Spirit, who sit third place in the NWSL with 10 wins, 1 draw and four losses, with Carle having played all but 73 minutes for them so far. Arguably one of Canada’s most in-form players with how good she’s been for the Spirit, who have relied on her to play right back, left back and even centre back, it felt like she wouldn’t just be a lock to go to the Olympics, but to start games in Paris, making it surprising to see her left out for someone who hasn’t played since December.
No idea how Gabrielle Carle's NOT on the #CanWNT/#CanXNT Olympic roster. BIG omission
— Alexandre Gangué-Ruzic (@AlexGangueRuzic) July 1, 2024
1 of🇨🇦's most in-form players, thriving on a top NWSL team, she didn't just deserve to go to🇫🇷, but should start for🇨🇦, too
To drop out for someone who hasn't played since December is🤔...
When fully healthy, there would’ve been a good battle between the two, as Collins has fit Priestman’s 3-4-2-1 quite well, but given the context of this season, Carle’s omission feels like a snub given her form.
Yet, speaking of familiarity, that’s a theme with Collins and Prince’s inclusion - they’re two players who have fit well in Priestman’s 3-4-2-1, and that familiarity is likely why they were included despite their injury concerns, even if the likes of Carle, Olivia Smith, Clarissa Larisey and others showed to be deserving of a shot ahead of them based on their form.
After a 2023 World Cup where Priestman relied on several injured players, something she later admitted she got wrong as Canada struggled, it’ll be hoped it doesn’t come back to bite them as it did down in Australia, where they were knocked out in the group stages.
Maximizing the roster:
Otherwise, it’s important to take a look at the composition of this Canadian squad, however, as Priestman has appeared to weaponize several things in her favour to maximize what she can do with her smaller squad.
To begin, she’s maximized the value of versatility, which is crucial in a team like this, where players might be asked to play different roles to help overcome a lack of cover at certain positions. For example, even if she left out a Swiss army knife like Carle, Collins can also play both at wing back and centre back like Carle, while fellow defenders Jade Rose (midfield, full back) and Ashley Lawrence (midfield) can also play different roles on top of their listed positions of centre back and wing back, respectively.
Then, moving up the pitch, their midfield group of Quinn (centre back), Jessie Fleming, Simi Awujo and Julia Grosso (winger) can all play anywhere across the midfield and even at some other positions, which is key.
Lastly, up front features a couple of versatile players, as strikers Prince, Jordyn Huitema and Evelyne Viens can all play anywhere across the front line, as can Adriana Leon, while wingers Cloé Lacasse and Janine Beckie can also play as wing backs, providing additional cover there. 
That’s key, as that gives Priestman additional cover in some thinner areas of the squad, especially in midfield and at wing back, which are two extremely physically demanding positions, ones where depth might be needed to help cover.
Otherwise, something Priestman did well was to use the alternates to her advantage.
First, by leaving backup centre back Shelina Zadorsky as an alternate, she was able to free up the space to bring an extra forward in the squad, which allowed her to bring a wild card like Prince.
"The more I thought about it, I had to pick what I thought was the right team blend and injuries. It has nothing to do with fitness."
— Rise Higher (@RiseHigherCa) July 1, 2024
That’ll be a risk if one of Canada’s centre backs get hurt in a game, as Zadorsky can only be brought into the squad between games if there’s an injury or illness, but the idea will be that a Quinn or Collins can fill in on an emergency basis for the rest of a game, before Zadorsky then slots in afterwards. With centre back being a position that doesn’t need to get as rotated as often, bringing a fourth centre back on the bench might’ve taken a spot away from being able to bring an extra forward, which now gives Priestman the flexibility to have another offensive supersub option.
Elsewhere, it’s worth noting that by including Prince and Collins in the squad, it also opens the door for Priestman to turn to her alternates if Prince and Collins are truly not fit enough to participate, which gives her some additional roster flexibility. Of course, it can be argued that it might’ve been more worth it to bring in two fully fit players instead, but given how important Prince and Collins have been to Priestman’s system, she’ll now get the chance to assess where they’re at, with the ability to swap them out if they’re unable to go.
So overall, Canada does have a bit more flexibility despite the roster limitations they’ve been tasked to deal with, which can only help them as they get set for this tournament.
Can Canada continue Olympic magic?
Now, the big goal for Canada will be to continue their magic at the Olympics, as they’ve done well in this tournament in the past, especially compared to the World Cup.
Entering this tournament after having made the podium in three straight years, earning a pair of bronze medals before they won gold in 2021, they’ve consistently proven to be a team that can make deep runs and push for hardware in this competition.
Yet, it’s worth noting that this tournament does benefit their style of play, which tends to be a bit more defensive and pragmatic. With only 12 teams at this tournament, split into three groups of four, where all of the top two teams and the two best third-place teams advance, that means teams can get to the quarter-finals by winning just one game.
Unlike at a World Cup, where you can get grouped even with a win and a draw (as Canada did in Australia), it gives an edge to more defensive teams, as grinding out a win and a draw usually all but guarantees a spot in the knockouts (unless you're Ukraine at the most recent men’s Euros).
And that’s key, as Canada’s style of play is built for the knockout stages, where strong defensive teams can thrive. Canada’s gold medal win was a prime example of that, as they scored just two goals in three knockout games en route to the gold medal, but that’s because they conceded just one goal in those games, as they pushed Brazil to penalty kicks after a 0-0 draw in the quarter-final, grinded out a 1-0 win against the US in the semi-finals, and then got to penalties after a 1-1 draw against Sweden. 
Having returned to that strong defensive identity as of late after struggling to find it at last year’s World Cup, where they conceded five goals in three games (as much as they conceded in their entire gold-medal winning tournament), having conceded just eight goals in the 15 games they’ve played since, that will give them optimism heading into this summer.
Plus, they’ve started to find a bit more juice offensively, too, which could give them a key edge that they’ve lacked in past tournaments. In those 15 games since the World Cup, they’ve been shut out just once - they were shut out twice in three games at the World Cup by comparison, scoring just two goals.
So overall, there’s no reason why this Canadian team can’t be a medal threat again. As long as they can finish second or higher in their group, which includes hosts France, Colombia and New Zealand, they should avoid some of the teams that can truly cause them problems in this tournament such as Spain and Germany in the quarter-finals, and then if you can make it to the semi-finals, anything is possible.
Because of that, this will be a massive tournament for this team. Anything but another top-four finish will feel like a disappointment, but armed with boatloads of Olympic experience (13 of the 18 players in the squad have gold medals from 2021, as do three of the alternates), a talented squad and plenty of chemistry, it’ll be hoped they’ve got the tools to continue to be a team that thrives in this tournament once again.
