Canada women drawn with Costa Rica, Jamaica and Cuba at CONCACAF Championship

• Share on Facebook
• Share on Bluesky
• Share on X
• Copy Link

The other group features the top-ranked U.S., No. 25 Mexico, No. 50 Trinidad and Tobago, and Panama, which is unranked because it has been inactive for more than 18 months.

Olivia and Noah take top Sask. baby names in 2025

1h ago

CFL season to start on Victoria Day weekend in 2027, adds eight-team playoffs

1h ago

DOOR OF HOPE

Meadow Lake's only food bank floods again, intensifying push for new building

4h ago

Heiner-Moller will use the group phase to prepare for the knockout phase when the stakes are considerably higher.

The top three finishers qualify automatically for the 2019 Women’s World Cup in France while the fourth-place team will meet Argentina in a playoff to see who joins them.

The group winner will cross over to face the runner-up in the other group, meaning Canada will face Mexico if the rankings hold. The Canadians are 10-0-2 against Mexico since a 2-1 loss in 2004 that denied the Canadians a berth in the Athens Olympics.

That remains Canada’s only loss in 23 meetings (20-1-2) with Mexico.

The Canadian women have never lost to Costa Rica in 12 meetings (11-0-1), defeating the Central Americans 6-0 last time out in Toronto in June 2017. Canada is 6-0-0 against Jamaica and 1-0-0 against Cuba.

“I don’t mind us going into that tournament with that history,” said Heiner-Moller, a native of Denmark. “We are definitely going in there as favourites to win the group and favourites to also qualify, everyone knows that.

“But I do have the biggest respect for all the teams in the World Cup qualifiers and I’m not underestimating one single opponent.”

The Americans have won the regional championship seven times, with Canada emerging victorious twice (1998 and 2010).

The Canadian women beat seventh-ranked Brazil 1-0 on Saturday in a friendly at Ottawa’s TD Place. Brazil won a closed-door match between the two — also in Ottawa — 1-0 Tuesday evening thanks to an 86th-minute goal by Ludmila.

Star midfielder Jessie Fleming missed the games with a twisted knee, but is expected to be ready for the CONCACAF tournament. Forward Deanne Rose is also managing an injury.

Follow @NeilMDavidson on Twitter

Neil Davidson, The Canadian Press