The Women’s World Cup is officially underway, and Canada is lucky to have an incredible team to root for in this competition. With an Olympic gold medal under their belts, the Canadian women’s team is ready to win it all. Ahead of their upcoming first match at 10:30 p.m. against Nigeria (thank the more than 12-hour time difference between Toronto and Australia and New Zealand, where the tournament is located, for that late kickoff time), we’re giving you the scoop on all the players from the GTA that you can cheer on throughout the competition. A whopping 15 out of 23 players on Canada’s team are from Ontario, including seven from within the GTA.
Quinn
Hometown: Toronto
The only player from Toronto,ย Quinnย has been making waves on and off the pitch. As the first out trans and non-binary person to win a gold medal in the Olympics, the midfielder has been advocating for trans rights within sports. They’ve also been outspoken about the pay gap between the men’s and women’s soccer teams and helped fight for an equal pay agreement with Canada Soccer. And playing for Ol Reign, they’ve helped the teamย win the NWSL Shield as the best team during the 2022 regular season.ย
Kadeisha Buchanan
Hometown: Brampton
Another star from the GTA, Kadeisha Buchanan might just be one of the best centre backs in the world right now. Get ready to see her shut down strikers throughout the World Cup. The athlete is a three-time winner of Canadian Player of the Year (she snagged the award in 2015, 2017 and 2020), and also earned the FIFA Young Player Award at the 2015 World Cup, when she helped the team make it to the quarter finals. She’s been called the “Christine Sinclair of defence” by coach John Herdman โ we can’t imagine higher praise than that!
Adriana Leon
Hometown: Maple and King City
Forward Adriana Leon is a goalscorer through and through โ she was Canadaโs joint goalscoring leader in both 2021 and 2022. She won gold with Canada at the Tokyo Olympics, scoring the team’s single goal in a 1-1 draw against Great Britain in the preliminary round and again in penalty shootout against Brazil in theย quarter finals. Leon was injured at the SheBelieves Cup in 2021, which turned out to be aย broken fifth metatarsal in her left foot (she underwent surgery to fix it). Since then she’s bounced back, continuing her tenure with Manchester United and recently joining the Portland Thorns on short-term loan (where she’s gotten to play alongside Team Canada captain Sinclair).ย
Nichelle Prince
Hometown: Ajax
Nichelle Prince, who plays forward for the team, will certainly lead the team in goals and assists during this tournament โ just like she led all Canadians in the NWSL in both goals and assists this past season. Prince was part of the gold medal-winning team at the Tokyo Olympics, starting in five of six games (including the final and semifinal). Prince also recently recovered from an injury (a ruptured achilles tendon in 2022), just in time to hopefully help lead Team Canada to victory at the World Cup.ย
Jayde Riviere
Hometown: Markham
Jayde Riviere was just a teenager when she played in her first World Cup with Team Canada โ and now she’s back for the 2023 World Cup and ready to go. Riviere has now gone pro with Manchester United FC, but before that, she played withย University of Michigan and helped them win the Big Ten Conference in 2021,ย along with blocking so many goalscoring attempts as fullback that she helped them with six clean sheets in her freshman year.ย
Olivia Smith
Hometown: Whitby
Just 18 years old, forward and attacking midfielder Olivia Smith is definitely one to watch. She was Canada’s youngest debutant in 2019 at age 15, and that same year she was awardedย Canada Soccerโs Young Player of the Year. And as of 2023, she’s Canadaโs second-best international youth goalscorer with 24 goals, behind only Sinclair with 27. After the World Cup, Smith has plans to move on from college soccer into the pro European league, though she hasn’t disclosed which team yet.
Kailen Sheridan
Hometown: Whitby
We’re proud to say that a GTA player will be protecting the net at the World Cup this year. Goalkeeper Kailen Sheridan was the 2022 NWSL Goalkeeper of the Year, and played a few matches during the Tokyo Olympics, helping the team win a goldย medal.ย Now, she’s the team’s starting goalkeeper, and is widely considered among the best goalkeepers in the world. We can’t wait to watch her play (and save)!