Canada have qualified for the Olympic Games for the fifth-consecutive time after they beat Jamaica across a two-match series in the 2023 Concacaf W Olympic Play-In. Canada won 2:0 away in Jamaica on Friday and then 2:1 at home on Tuesday night in Toronto to win the series 4-1 on aggregate. Nichelle Prince and Adriana Leon scored on Friday before Cloé Lacasse and Jordyn Huitema scored on Tuesday.
Canada are the fifth nation to qualify for the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, joining the hosts France, Concacaf champions USA, and CONMEBOL’s top-two nations Brazil and Colombia. Another seven nations have yet to qualify for a field of 12 nations that will participate at next year’s big event, with Canada the reigning Olympic champions from 2021.
“It feels unbelievable to get back to the Olympic Games where we belong,” said Bev Priestman, Canada Soccer’s Women’s National Team Head Coach. “We feel incredible, I thought the crowd tonight was unbelievable and they kept pushing. There were some hairy moments, but it was the crowd that goes us going again.”
“What a feeling, a sold-out crowd and we get to do this in front of our home fans,” said Canadian forward Cloé Lacasse who scored the first goal in Toronto. “I think everyone is ecstatic now that we have qualified for the Olympic Games and we get to defend that Gold Medal.”
“Coming from the first match with a 2-0 lead was great, but we knew we still had to get the job done in the second leg and that’s exactly what we did in front of our home crowd,” said Jordyn Huitema, who also scored a goal in the Toronto win. “Now we are heading to Paris and back to the Olympic Games to hopefully make history once again.”
With a sold-out crowd, Canada Soccer’s Women’s National Team played in front of their largest home crowd since the FIFA Women’s World Cup Canada 2015. With 29,212 fans in attendance, the Tuesday 26 September match also the largest crowd ever for Canada Soccer’s National Teams in the province of Ontario, eclipsing the mark set last March when the Men’s National Team qualified for the FIFA World Cup on 27 March 2022.
