KEY TAKEAWAYS: CanWNT shows good character in 1-1 draw vs. defending World Cup champions Spain
For the first time since the Olympics, the Canadian Women’s National Team were back in action on Friday, as they took on Spain at Estadio Francisco de la Hera in Almendralejo, Spain.
There, despite going up against the defending World Cup champions, Canada put up a good fight, too, grinding out a 1-1 draw thanks to a 49th-minute goal from Marie-Yasmine Alidou, with Spain’s goal coming through Cristina Martín-Prieto in the 89th minute.
It was a tough match for Canada, who spent most of the game chasing Spain without the ball, but they were clinical when their biggest chance of the game came and did well to keep Spain’s attack quiet despite facing an onslaught of chances.
Thanks to that, they were able to keep their current undefeated streak alive, as they haven’t lost in regular time since a 1-0 loss to Brazil on October 28th of 2023, a period that spans 19 games after this result (they did ‘lose’ three games over that span, but all of them were penalty shootouts after they drew in regular time).
With that, it gives them something to build on as they officially kick off their 2027 World Cup cycle. While they might look at this game and feel like it was far from their best performance, which is not what you want to see from a friendly, for them to still grind out a result shows good character.
Yet, that’s a key strength of this Canadian team, as they showed this summer at the Olympics, where they advanced from their group despite a six-point deduction - they know how to grind out results, and will stick together even in tough moments.
Now, as this game shows, they have a lot of work to do if they’re to cause more problems for the top sides, but they can also take pride in the fact that they can go against those teams and show a good account of themselves, giving them a good framework to build off of.
With that in mind, here are three takeaways from this one.
Lesser-used faces step up to help secure a result:
The beauty of a new cycle starting for teams is that it’s a chance to look at newer players, ones who might not have had the opportunity to feature in the last cycle for differing reasons.
Despite not calling in as experimental of a side as some might’ve expected them to, Canada still had a few of those players in their ranks in this game, and they ended up playing a big role in helping secure this result.
To begin, in the first half, there was the play of Olivia Smith, who got the start in this game after missing out on Canada’s Olympic squad. She didn’t see much of the ball in this one - she had just 19 touches in the first half, but she was still very lively, creating two chances, including a glorious breakaway for Evelyne Viens right before half-time. 
Unfortunately, she didn’t get the chance to show more in the second half, as she was subbed off at the break, but it was an encouraging cameo, as one can only imagine what she can do in future games where she sees more of the ball, especially when seeing the form she’s been in for Liverpool.
The good news for Canada? The move to take out Smith ended up paying dividends for them, as the fresh legs of Marie-Yasmine Alidou had an immediate impact, as she scored just four minutes after coming on for Smith. A late inclusion in this squad after an injury to Cloé Lacasse, she made the most of her opportunity to earn minutes, slotting home her first goal for Canada with a nice finish after a nice pass from Viens.
Speaking of Viens, her assist was a nice piece of work from her, as she did well to redeem herself after missing that aforementioned breakaway in the first half. Instead of dwelling on it, she stuck with it, and created Alidou’s goal on her own, winning the ball high up the field and then dribbling it forward before feeding her teammate for the marker.
GOAL 🇨🇦
— OneSoccer (@onesoccer) October 25, 2024
Marie-Yasmine Alidou opens the scoring for the #CanWNT vs. Spain, getting her 1st goal in just her 3rd cap as she finishes off a transition play started by Evelyne Viens forcing a turnover and driving toward goal 😎
🔴 Watch LIVE on OneSoccer pic.twitter.com/pavXNG7m9i
Often someone who has struggled to earn starts for Canada, as a lot of her 36 appearances have come off the bench, and then has often seemed to have a small margin for error when she does make those starts, it was a good moment from the in-form Roma attacker.
Lastly, at the back, Sabrina D’Angelo ended up being a surprise hero, as she came off the bench at half time for usual starter Kailen Sheridan. A deserved reward after some good form to start the year for Aston Villa, D’Angelo ended up arguably being Canada’s player of the match, as she made five saves, several of them big ones, to help Canada hang on to this result.
If anything, it was tough for her to have to concede the goal, which she could do nothing on, as it felt underserved given the effort she had put in up until that point.
Regardless, it was a good showing from her, Viens, Alidou and Smith, who could earn more key opportunities going forward off the back of this.
Given that they entered this camp with just 63 caps between them before this game (Viens with 35, D’Angelo with 16, Smith with 10 and Alidou with 2), all sitting in the bottom eight of caps among those in this squad, it was a good audition from each of them, showing why many have been pushing for them to earn more minutes in recent months. 
Backline showcases importance once again:
At this point, it’s well known - the strength of this Canadian team lies at the back.
They continue to prove that time and time again, and for good reason - Kadeisha Buchanan and Vanessa Gilles are among the best centre backs in the world, fellow centre back Jade Rose has the potential to one day get there, and full back Ashley Lawrence is an excellent 1v1 defender who supports that group quite well.
But while the strengths of this backline are well known, it can be easy to forget, which is why a game like this can be so important in terms of reminding everyone of their abilities.
On a day when Spain looked dominant offensively, reflected in the fact that they finished with 73% of possession, 32 shots (including 17 in the box), five big chances and 61 touches in the box, that Canada kept them to just one goal is a huge credit to the work they put in at the back.
On a positive note, this once again shows how good this #CanWNT/#CanXNT defence plus goalkeeping group are. They put in a HUGE effort despite going up against a side that had 73% possession and 32 shots (10 SOT)
— Alexandre Gangué-Ruzic (@AlexGangueRuzic) October 25, 2024
Their defensive effort gave them a shot at winning despite those #s
Certainly, they were helped by some luck - Spain hit the woodwork twice, and could’ve potentially scored a couple more on another day - but credit has to be given to Canada’s backline for making life as tough as possible for Spain’s attackers, and for both of Canada’s goalkeepers (Sheridan in the first half, D’Angelo in the second half), for standing tall on the rare occasions the backline did get beat. 
In particular, Buchanan shone, as she continued an excellent start to the 2024-2025 season. Currently in excellent form for Chelsea, where she’s been a big piece under new manager Sonia Bompastor (with whom Buchanan won a Champions League at Lyon), she found a way to carry that over into this game.
That’s reflected in the statistics from this match, as she finished with an astonishing 13 clearances (including one off the goal line), four blocks, three tackles and won seven out of 15 duels in a commanding performance.
¡𝗔𝗟 𝗣𝗔𝗔𝗔𝗟𝗢!
— Selección Española Femenina de Fútbol (@SEFutbolFem) October 25, 2024
😱 ¡La tuvo de nuevo @alexiaputellas!
🇪🇸 0-0 🇨🇦 |17'
📺 @La1_tve#JugarLucharYGanar pic.twitter.com/FfAYICFjjk
Along with what Gilles (nine clearances, four blocks, two interceptions, one tackle, 3/5 duels), Rose (four clearances, two blocks, three interceptions, two tackles, 3/6 duels) and Lawrence (three clearances, one interception, three tackles, 5/8 duels), it ended up being a good day for Canada’s backline by the numbers and the eye test.
And that’s huge, as it gives something for Canada to build around going forward. Still looking to take big steps forward offensively and in possession, they can experiment while knowing that they’ve got a steady backline to support them, which can go a long way for a team.
It’s always much easier to build a team when the spine is solid, and for this Canadian team, that spine continues to be their defensive group. 
Canada struggles to deal with Spain’s high press:
Unfortunately for Canada, while Spain was excellent on the ball and did well to put their opponents under pressure, it’s worth noting that Canada did themselves no favours in that regard, either.
Just look at their percentage of passes completed, as they only completed 67% of the 288 passes they attempted in this game, including just 27% of the 45 long balls they attempted.
In particular, they struggled to build up out of the back, as they made several unforced errors in possession, gifting Spain the ball on multiple occasions.
That ended up having a huge impact on the game, especially in the second half as Canada started to tire, as they invited Spain to play right on top of them, which is a dangerous proposition.
To have success against a side like this Spanish one, it’s important to manage the ball, as Spain wants to play aggressively and on the front foot. Canada couldn’t do that, and they paid the price in the end, as their unforced errors came back to bite them.
GOAL 🇪🇸
— OneSoccer (@onesoccer) October 25, 2024
Cristina Martín-Prieto finds the equalizer for Spain vs. #CanWNT in the dying embers of this one, and we're all level at 1-1 🥲
🔴 Watch LIVE on OneSoccer pic.twitter.com/dT475aRXYo
Of course, credit has to be given to Spain for the work they did to win the ball back - while Canada struggled in possession, Spain made them uncomfortable with their high press, which they did well to use for most of the game.
At the same time, Canada will feel they could’ve adjusted to that press better than they did - either they could’ve found a way to play more directly and be more efficient with their long balls, or they could’ve adjusted their build-up to compensate for some of the struggles they had.
In particular, it felt like they were constantly getting outnumbered in possession, which perhaps could’ve prompted a tactical change - given that Canada’s front three had less than 50 touches combined in the first half, dropping one of them for another midfielder could’ve helped Canada play through that pressure (although it’s worth noting the Smith for Alidou swap did help slightly in that regard).
Yet, this feels like this is going to be a big thing they’ll want to improve going forward, as it’s not the first time in the past few years that they’ve struggled to play through an opponent's press.
It’ll be intriguing to see what they feel the best way to fix it is - is it a personnel change? Is it a tactical one? Or is it both?
But it’s also worth noting that they’ve got solutions to help them out - Gabrielle Carle is a good left-footed option at wing back, as she’s a key piece for the Washington Spirit in their build-up play (which is why it was surprised she didn’t feature at all in this one), while Julia Grosso’s ability in possession could make a lot of sense to use if Canada were to switch to a 3-5-2 from the 3-4-2-1 they’ve used on the ball recently. Along with the possibility of inserting some more speed up front to stretch the game out, those are all avenues Canada might want to explore going forward.
Because of that, look for Canada to potentially experiment with a few of those possibilities in the camps to come, as it’ll help this team massively to be able to control more of the ball against top sides.
Given that doing so could help them both offensively and defensively, it seems like a no-brainer, and a game like this shows why that’s the case.
