"We were miles off": CanWNT suffers harsh reality check in 3-0 loss to USWNT
It was a good reminder that, for all of the good work the CanWNT has done over the last five months, they’re still not quite at their final form - and they’ve still got a long way to go to get there.
Unfortunately, it ended up being a much harsher reminder than this Canadian team would’ve hoped to receive, but it was an important learning experience regardless, as they fell 3-0 to the US in a friendly in Washington, D.C. on Wednesday.
Their first matchup against a team inside the top 15 of the FIFA rankings since head coach Casey Stoney took over at the beginning of 2025, as they took on the top-ranked US for the first time since last April, it ended up being a match to forget for Canada in the end.
Not only did they lose 3-0, marking their worst loss since a 4-0 defeat to Australia at the 2023 World Cup, but they weren’t particularly close to getting a result against their rivals, either, as the US cruised to a 2-0 half time lead before strolling to victory from there. After drawing the US 2-2 in both of their 2024 matchups, losing on penalties each time, this certainly felt like a big step back for this Canadian team, who looked far off the level required to compete against an elite US side.
In both of their 2024 tests against that same US team, Canada were competitive, and probably deserved at least one victory if not for their struggles from spot kicks. By comparison, they didn’t even feel like they were on the same field as the US in this match, who dominated every key statistic, including possession (66%-34%), shots (22-7), xG (2.84-0.6), big chances (5-1), touches in box (44-15), pass accuracy (88%-78%), and final third recoveries (20-3), in a commanding performance.
SofaScore attack momentum for USA-CAN, full-time.
— Chris Henderson (@chris_awk) July 3, 2025
USA adds a third in the second half, Canada really stunk it up after the break. Hoping against hope for some tougher challenges in the not too distant future.
POTM - Claire Hutton (SofaScore) pic.twitter.com/DO6TNBvvnp
That was also reflected by the eye test, too, as the US were dangerous every time they were on the ball, and suffocated Canada anytime they had to defend, allowing them to control every area of the game. Then, when Canada tried to change things in the second half, all of their tweaks proved to be fruitless, as the US continued to dominate right until the very end, other than a small five minute pocket at the end where Canada generated a couple of dangerous chances.
On paper, there wasn’t much to separate both squads, yet it felt like the gap was astronomical between the world’s #8 and #1 in practice, as the score showed in the end, and that naturally frustrated Canada’s new head coach, who felt this game offered her side quite the wake-up call.
“Tonight, we were miles off,” Stoney bluntly stated afterwards. “So it's almost like the games we've had in preparation for this haven't prepared us, and they haven't - this is the first top opponent we've played, and it shows where we're at.”
“My message to the players is, first and foremost, we need to get fitter; we weren't fit enough to sustain anything we did tonight. We also need to be better technically, on the ball; we had too many unforced errors and turnovers, and if you're going to do that, you've got to be even fitter. We’re missing a few key players tonight, as well, but so were they; they weren't at full strength, either.”
Despite missing some regulars, as Stoney mentioned, Canada put out a pretty strong team, too, at least in terms of what they had available. Because of that, it’ll leave her with plenty to ponder as she begins to dissect this match ahead of their next window, which will come in October.
No doubt, she also feels responsible for what happened, but she also sees it as a reminder to this team of what they’ll need to be to compete with elite teams like the US going forward, which isn’t the worst lesson to learn at this time - especially given that those lessons came in a friendly, and not in the semi-final of a Concacaf Championship semi-final, for example.
“Now, we look to October, and the message is that talk is cheap - we can keep talking about winning a World Cup, we can keep talking about what we're going to do, or we can put things into action,” she continued. “So I will go away and reflect on the game plan, the selection and the preparation, and the players need to go away and reflect on their own individual performances and see what they need to do to be better come October.”
Interestingly, having spent a large chunk of her tenure to date integrating new faces, Stoney chose to go for more of a familiar lineup in this game, as she started eight of the 11 most capped players in her current squad, with Jade Rose (31 caps), Marie Yasmine Alidou (13 caps) and Emma Regan (11 caps) the lone names outside of that list, with every other starter having had 50 or more appearances, giving Canada an average age of 26.9 to start.
The US, by comparison, started a lineup two years younger than Canada at 24.9 years of age, with just three players sitting with 50 or more caps - Rose Lavelle, Emily Sonnett and Lynn Biyendolo. Yet, that was the theme of this camp for the US, who called up just six players with 20 or more caps, as they look to integrate some younger players into the fold ahead of the 2027 World Cup.
Granted, as mentioned earlier, that’s also been Canada’s mission this year, which is why it'll frustrate them to see them lose the way they did. Instead of taking a big leap forward against a good opponent, it feels like they took a step back, and that’s never easy to stomach for a team that had been making slow and steady progress over the last few months.
At the same time, what that shows is that it can often be a lot easier for a team coming off a major tournament win, as the US are after their 2024 Olympic gold medal triumph, to make generational changes, especially given that the core of that US Olympic team was already pretty young with 12 players on that squad under 26 and just six 30 or older.
This youth movement has been in motion for a while now in the US, whereas Canada has been struggling to undergo generational change for half a decade, even despite the retirement of some key veterans over the past two years, and seeing the veteran-heavy lineup they put out for this game reflects that - they're still yet to fully embrace a youth movement as a team, at least in bigger games.
No doubt, however, that this game could spark Canada to shift gears in that quest to endure that generational shift. Up until this point, Stoney’s time in charge has been a fact-finding mission of sorts - she’s used her first four camps to cast as wide a net as possible, looking at all of the options available to her.
That’s ranged from veterans to some emerging youngsters, and now that’s given her a better idea of what this player pool is all about, while slowly starting to stoke competition within her group.
Now, though, the next step is to take that competition to the next level. Fittingly, the US offers a glimpse of what that looks like.
GOAL 🇺🇸#USWNT go up 1-0 over #CanWNT 🇨🇦 as Sam Coffey gets on the end of a free kick delivery and finishes in front of goal 🎯 pic.twitter.com/Y1RGVLlcvk
— OneSoccer (@onesoccer) July 2, 2025
In this window, it’s worth noting that the squad the US called in was almost exclusively made up of players in the NWSL, as Naomi Girma was the only non-NWSL player to earn a call.
Why is that important, one might ask? With the NWSL in season, it meant that every player on the US was in form- by comparison, Canada had eight European players and two college players in their squad, meaning almost half of their team was out of season and unfit.
Of course, that’s circumstantial due to the strange timing of this window, which has come almost two months after some players' European seasons ended, but it helps explain why the gap felt so wide between both teams on the pitch. Especially when you remember that many of the US players were also quite unproven and hungry to prove they could feature more regularly under head coach Emma Hayes going forward, showing the competition they’ve got for minutes in their squad, that further widened the gap.
What that showed Stoney, however, is that if Canada is going to get to where this US team is, they need more players playing regularly for their clubs, helping them stoke similar competition in their ranks.
It’s no coincidence that some of Canada’s best players under Stoney have included Holly Ward and Emma Regan, who aren’t just playing regularly in the Northern Super League but are starring with the Vancouver Rise and AFC Toronto, specifically. Otherwise, Adriana Leon has been a bright light as she navigates a good start to the NWSL season with the San Diego Wave, while Julia Grosso stepped up in this game despite Canada’s struggles, thanks to her regular role with the Chicago Stars - that’s a further example of what good form can do for players.
By comparison, Canada’s backline consisted of three players out of season in Jade Rose, Vanessa Gilles and Ashley Lawrence, and that showed, as they were slow to close down US attackers and struggled to build up with any sort of rhythm.
Because of that, look for Stoney and her staff to now really push this team going forward. With no more games until October, she’ll spend the next few months visiting as many players as possible, ensuring that they’re as equipped and prepared as possible to push to the next level when they return to camp with this team.
GOAL 🇺🇸🇺🇸
— OneSoccer (@onesoccer) July 3, 2025
Claire Hutton makes it 2-0 for the #USWNT as the #CanWNT 🇨🇦 fail to defend another set piece 😔 pic.twitter.com/uUC1Hd1eRC
What that means is that if they’re not playing, she’ll push them to find clubs where they can - and if they’re playing, she’ll look to make sure that they’re working and training in a way that pushes them and gets them as fit as possible.
It doesn’t matter what level they’re at, or where they’re at in their career - Stoney wants them to play, and play as often as possible.
“What we can do with the players is very limited because we don't have them in with us, but we’ll be trying to get around to clubs, and this is the first opportunity I've had to do that and build some relationships with the clubs,” Stoney offered. “There, it’ll be about speaking to players about making sure that they’re playing, and if they’re not playing, they need to change clubs; it’s very simple. I can't have the amount of players that we've got in our squad not playing significant minutes week in and week out.”
“Then, looking at individuals, we’ll see how we can support them remotely, how we can simplify things for them and support them to come back in October in a better place, physically, mentally and tactically.”
From there, Stoney hopes that’ll spark her team to bigger and better things the next time they come face-to-face with a top 15 team, such as the US.
With it still being early in her tenure, she’s far from ready to hit the panic button - nor should she - but her reaction to this defeat is telling, showing that she’s far from satisfied with where this group is at.
GOAL 🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸
— OneSoccer (@onesoccer) July 3, 2025
Yazmeen Ryan makes it 3-0 for the #USWNT vs #CanWNT 🇨🇦 as this game wraps up with another gut-punch pic.twitter.com/7TRYOrlCxC
That’s not a bad thing, either - if Canada’s to avoid falling further and further away from the elite teams in the world, they’ll need to raise their standards, deepen their player pool and evolve tactically from where they’ve been over the last decade. That Stoney is pushing them to do that after one bad result is quite encouraging.
With teams in the women’s game being deeper, more talented and more tactically adept than ever, it’s forced teams to evolve, and Canada are one of many who find themselves in a mushy middle. Heck, even the US, long the world’s #1, have had to endure such change over the past few years, and that’s pushed them to return to their perch, after it had seemed Spain had usurped them, showing that Canada shouldn’t feel bad that they’re stuck where they're are - it shows that it's not an impossible hole to dig themselves out of.
Seeing how the game has developed, there’s no true #1 anymore, like the US were for so long - there’s a group of elite teams all pushing each other at the top - and Canada will now want to find themselves among that group of teams, instead of further falling down the pecking order.
Unfortunately, they seemed far off that elite standard in this game, but sometimes you need a glimpse of reality to help spark change - this defeat could prove to be a catalyst for the next step of Canada’s evolution.
Certainly, Stoney’s words after the game indicated that that should be the case - now, she’ll look to put that plan into action going forward.
“I think it's about working with them, working with their clubs, to make sure that when they're in, if they're not getting what they need, we’ll do top-ups. We’ve got to make sure they’re physically playing,” she noted. “Playing time, it's a big thing, it is, we need more players playing significant minutes for their clubs, every single player on the US is a starter at their clubs - that's not the same as ours.”
“It’s a big ask from me, to get playing, obviously they’ve got contracts, they’ve got livelihoods, but we need as many players from playing minutes as possible, and then our performance staff will work with their clubs to make sure their programs are right so that when they come in, we’ll ramp the intensity up so the game doesn't seem such a shock when it comes around.”
