The Canadian women’s soccer team is returning to the World Cup.

Canada defeated Panama 7-0 in its semi-final match on Sunday at the CONCACAF Women’s Championship.  Christine Sinclair recorded a brace, and now has 177 international goals, moving her seven back of tying American Abby Wambach’s all-time record. Adriana Leon added two more goals, with Jessie Fleming, Janine Beckie and Rebecca Quinn also scoring for the Canadians.

The win secures Canada, ranked fifth in the world, a spot in next year’s Women’s World Cup in France. This will be the seventh straight World Cup appearance for the Canadians, who haven’t failed to qualify for the world stage since the inaugural tournament in 1991.

“I’m very happy for this team. For us, the only thing we talked about getting here was for us to qualify,” said head coach Kenneth Heiner-Møller. “Right now, everyone needs to decompress a little bit. We’ve qualified so now we need to set a new goal.”

“We pride ourselves on our ability to grow through tournaments and get better with every game, and I think that's something we've showed,” said Sinclair. “We've obviously had rocky moments throughout the course of this tournament, but we've managed to get it done.”

Panama did not start some of its key players, including captain Natalia Mills, and breakout star Yenith Bailey, who was dealing with a rotator cuff injury.  The 17-year-old goalkeeper was one of the main reasons Panama was able to upset Mexico in the group stage and earn a spot in the semi-finals.  The Panamanians, ranked 66th in the world, will still have a chance to qualify for their first-ever World Cup in the third-place match.

Canada will now play United States in the final on Wednesday, after the top-ranked Americans defeated Jamaica to earn their spot in next year’s World Cup.

FIRST HALF FRUSTRATIONS

Before Sinclair’s goal, it wasn’t the strongest first half for Canada.  Despite retaining almost 70 per cent of possession and outshooting the Panamanians 9-1, Canada was unable to crack the Central American backline.  It was reminiscent of Canada’s first game against Jamaica, where the team dominated possession but was largely unable to capitalize.

“The first half was nervy. We expected our possession on the ball would have created more chances,” said Heiner-Møller.

It led to several moments of visible frustration for the Canadian players.  After a missed connection with Allysha Chapman, Quinn appeared to be upset with her fellow defender.  Earlier on, centreback Kadeisha Buchanan, returning to the pitch after resting the previous two games, got tangled up with Lineth Cedeno.  Buchanan then got in the face of the Panamanian forward before the referee diffused the situation. 

“The first half of this game we were a little frustrated,” said Quinn.  “We weren't so certain we were going to put in a really good, dominant performance.”

Fortunately, the captain came through in the 44th minute.  Beckie made a great move around her defender down the left wing and sent a cross to the back post.  Sinclair timed her run perfectly and headed it emphatically into the back of the net.

TALE OF TWO HALVES

That late goal sparked an entirely different Canadian squad in the second half.  In the 47th minute, Fleming doubled the lead off a beautiful cross from Diana Matheson, who made her 200th appearance for the national team.   It was the seventh career international goal for the 20-year-old Fleming.

“The first half wasn’t really what we wanted it to be, but we went into the locker room and said that we needed to get a bit more pace getting into the box, a bit more aggression getting into the box and people wanting to get on the end of crosses,” said Fleming.

Two minutes later, Sinclair added her second of the game on another header, with Nichelle Prince picking up the assist.  Sinclair now has four goals in her last three games after being held off the scoresheet against Jamaica. 

Then in the 58th minute, Fleming threaded a beautiful ball to a streaking Beckie.  She did the rest, driving to the net and beating goalkeeper Farissa Cordoba.  The 24-year-old Beckie now has 24 goals in 47 appearances for the national team.

“We thought it was an in-front game, playing in front of their back four, but it was actually an in-behind game and we identified that in the break,” said Heiner-Møller. “There were a few changes, but it was more down to being comfortable and bringing that Canadian DNA.”

CANADA’S FORWARD DEPTH

Head coach Kenneth Heiner-Møller may have some difficult decisions to make when it comes to which players to start up front for the final on Wednesday.  On Sunday, Heiner-Møller started Matheson at forward alongside Sinclair and Beckie.  At the start of the second half, Prince entered the game, with Matheson sliding back to the midfield.  Prince made an immediate impact, assisting on Sinclair’s goal and injecting some much-needed pace into Canada’s attack.

Leon came into the game in the 68th minute, replacing Sinclair.  The 26-year-old wasted little time getting on the scoresheet, burying a cross from Prince in the 76th minute.  Two minutes later, the two connected again, with Leon finishing with a beautiful volley for her sixth goal of qualifiers, tied with American Alex Morgan for the most in the tournament.

Leon now has 14 career goals, with six of those coming in her last two games.  Her confidence has clearly been growing throughout the tournament, as she has been relentless in her attack.  Leon has been a starter sporadically throughout her career (26 of her 53 appearances have come with her in the starting 11), but she is certainly making a case for herself.

“I feel like we've been really dynamic this tournament,” said Leon.  “It doesn't matter who we put out on the field.  All of the attacking players are playing great.  We can all score goals and create goals.”

QUINN-TESSENTIAL

Quinn was on TSN’s list of Top 5 Players to Watch during the World Cup qualifiers, and she netted her second of the tournament in the 63rd minute.  Off a free kick from Beckie, Cordoba couldn’t handle the ball cleanly and Quinn found the rebound for her fifth career international goal. 

The 23-year-old is one of only two players to start all four games for Canada (alongside Ashley Lawrence).  In fact, Quinn has appeared in all but one of Canada’s 11 games this year, starting in nine of them.

Her versatility has been on display during the tournament, as she has played as a holding midfielder (filling in for injured Desiree Scott), as well as at centreback.  She has scored both of her goals during qualifiers as a defender.  But for Quinn, it’s all about the team’s performance.

“I've been really impressed with our connection off the field.  On the field as well, our ability to stick to our structures and our diversity of play has been awesome. We've been growing this for years as a team, so it's really good to see it come to fruition.”​