#canWNT in 2026: Reasons for Optimism

Welcome back to the wsoccer.ca newsletter!! Hoping you’re all starting the year with positive vibes. I had a wild end to 2025 on a personal level - I moved from Ontario to the West Coast! That’s right, I’m checking in from the “best” coast, although that doesn’t mean I’m cheering for the Vancouver Rise next season. I’ve already received this question multiple times. Either way, I’m settled, so let’s get back into it. 2500 words, so I’ve added a way to skip to different sections.

I’m piggybacking on the fantastic “wrapped” RiseHigher created so go check them out if you’re unfamiliar. A 6-1-6 record, 24 goals scored, 14 goals conceded. Shoutout as well to Sarah W for analyzing the data and figuring out that 42 Canadians were called up in 2025 (vs 58 for USA, vs for 43 England, vs 36 for France). If you’re looking for a comprehensive Year in Review for each player, check out Laura’s Dissection. 

Seven players made their debuts, including phenom Annabelle Chukwu, who had a great college campaign too, and rising star Holly Ward, who showed out for her hometown club and the national team. In 2026, I’d love Hunter, Okeke, Courtnall, Small, N. Rose, and Hernandez-Gray to be the next to get their first caps, with Nikki Small being the most urgent due to being heavily pursued by Jamaica.

On a club front, many players made moves in 2025, perhaps spurred by Stoney’s comments that she expects her players to be playing regular club minutes or else. Among the best moves - Olivia Smith to Arsenal as she continues to blossom into one of the World’s best attackers. Vanessa Gilles’ transition from Lyon to Bayern also seems to be going smoothly, as she has been a regular starter when healthy. Jade Rose has had a strong first pro campaign with City. And, Sydney Collin’s transfer closer to home to Bay FC was successful as she started nearly every game alongside fellow Canadian-American dual-national Brooklyn Courtnall, and received her first call-up to the national team since 2024.

Of course, some moves were less successful than others. Alidou’s struggles at Portland are evident, although they may alleviate now that there’s a coaching change afoot in the Rose City and a midfield shakeup takes shape. My wish for 2026 is to see Ashley Lawrence’s best version of herself, as she has not quite returned to form in the way we expected following her move away from Chelsea. Tarciane is currently preferred at RB, so it’ll be tough to play her way into Lyonnes’ star-studded XI, but Lawrence has the quality. Lastly, Deanne Rose’s move to Nottingham Forest of the WSL2 raised some eyebrows, and critics appear to correct as the 26 yo is struggling to recover her best form and started only 5 times in the first half of the season. I’m manifesting a move back home to the NSL and a lights-out season in front of Canadian fans to play her way back into NT contention.

We’ve already seen a couple of moves since the transfer window opened up. Bianca St Georges signed a 3-year deal with expansion side Boston Legacy on January 1st, while 20-yo Amanda Allen signed a 2-year deal with Legacy, who have a club option for an additional year. In other news, Maya Antoine is apparently days away from signing with Roma, according to Swedish and Italian sources. On January 8th, Kailen Sheridan was announced as North Carolina’s newest keeper, after being unceremoniously dropped by San Diego in the off-season. Sheridan’s wife Dom, shared a little about the struggles of uprooting a life you had been counting on and moving their young family to another State with little notice. 

Sheridan won’t be the only keeper on the move this year, unless all three of her deputies (D’Angelo, Proulx, E. Burns) renew their current contracts, which expire in the summer. As do Zadorsky’s, Viens’, and Levasseur’s. I’m keeping a keen eye on Viens specifically, as her moves have been strategic and she’s scored wherever she lands. Scoring consistently in a top 3 league could be what she needs to finally crack Stoney’s starting XI.

Now, let’s take a look at what this year looks like on the National team front, and let me assure you that there are more reasons to be optimistic than you’d think. The 2025 and most of 2026 are a slow build toward the CONCACAF Championship taking place in November of this year. While that still feels like a while away, for me, the first 2-3 windows are key to rebuilding fans’ trust in the team, but most saliently in Casey Stoney’s leadership and style of play. 

International windows

Another year, another run at the She Beliebs Cup! Canada is in for the tournament’s 11th edition, kicking off the international calendar in what is being marketed as CONCACAF vs CONMEBOL, with Argentina and Colombia making up the remainder of the four teams. Notably, Asian and African teams were unavailable as they’ll be competing in their continental competitions in March and April, respectively. 

We kick off vs Colombia on March 1st, a rematch of the final 2024 Olympic Group Stage match. As a reminder, Vanessa Gilles’ 61st-minute left-footed goal secured the 1:0 win, and she subsequently gave one of the most memorable interviews in recent memory.

One of the biggest benefits of participating in the SBC again is the opportunity to make up for the disastrous performance the Canadians put out against the States last July in DC. While this is easily the biggest test they’ll face in only the second game of the year, a good showing will help assuage those creeping doubts about whether we are even a top 10 team.

And then Argentina. Truthfully, f*ck Argentina. I like Meaghen Johnson’s suggestion that we should call up Chappy just to bring the aggressive edge needed in that match. Last time out, we actually lost 1:0 to La Albiceleste, in Langford in April 2025, which broke an epic undefeated streak. They committed 23 fouls in that match and held 31% possession, which tells you all you need to know.

Dates: Nov 24 - Dec 5

The above images outline the 2025-2029 cycle. This upcoming Championship is important for two main reasons: qualification for the 2027 World Cup and the 2028 Olympics.

Canada automatically qualified for the Knockout phase due to being the second-highest-seeded team. The Championship will be played as a single-elimination tournament starting with the quarter-finals. 

The remaining CONCACAF teams have already started the qualifying round, which runs through the April window. 6 group winners will advance to the knockout stage. Canada will play the 7th-seeded team in the quarter-finals, which could be the likes of Costa, Haiti, or Panama (T&T, Puerto Rico, and Guatemala are other potential opponents based on who qualifies), all of whom we’ve had success against in the recent past.

One win and we’re in!  To the World Cup 2027 at least. I know things are dire, but one win against lower-ranked CONCACAF competition is 100% doable even on an off day. And that’s really all we need.

Even for the Olympics, the pathway to qualification became much easier when it was decided to increase the number of teams from 12 to 16. PLUS, the US automatically qualify meaning that as long as they win their quarter-final, the semi-finalists will also all qualify for the 2028 Olympics. Previously, only the finalists would have qualified (plus likely bronze-medallists as well if the US makes the final). Do you feel better?

But let’s be real. Qualification is the minimum requirement for this team. Anything but an appearance in the final would be a disappointment. If the team really wanted to turn the narrative around and head into a World Cup year on a high note, they’d ideally aim to win Canada’s first continental Championship since 1998. Of course, that means defeating the Americans for the first time since the 2021 Olympics. That might feel like a stretch now, but if the team can gel over the year and find a discernible identity, it’s not impossible.

I just don’t buy the our pool isn’t deep enough argument, and I also don’t think our players aren’t good enough anymore. I can admit that more than a few need to have a big year for the national team or else they no longer warrant a call-up. To prove my premise, I spent some time crafting a top 50 depth chart. Here’s where I landed.

At every position, we’ve got my World Class talent at the top end, and a mix of international class players, and at least a few highly regarded prospects. 

First and foremost, the imminent return of Kadeisha Buchanan, who is training with Chelsea in their pre-season camp in Portugal, is by far one of my biggest reasons to be optimistic. The canWNT have dearly missed their stoic CB, who helps keep them level-headed. I still believe that we possess the best backline in World soccer (I mean Riviere, Gilles, AND Buchanan alone, come on?), but they haven’t played together in a while. Carle’s consistency has finally paid off after years of being the deputy; she’s currently Stoney’s preferred Left Back. 2025 minutes-leader Zadorsky will be out with an injury for a little while and underwent surgery in December. In her absence, I’d like to see Janet Okeke get a call. The 19 yo was a locked-in starter for NCAA Champion Florida State in the Fall. Brooklyn Courtnall could also be interesting following her permanent move to Bay FC, given that she can play centrally or on the flanks.

The midfield pool is deeply confusing, and the fact that Regan is only a few performances away from being first on the team sheet highlights that. Fleming needs a big year if the team wants to accomplish anything. That’s on and off the pitch. Awujo and Grosso must show their talent more consistently. To be fair, though, I am not sure instructions on the style of play have been clear enough. Many fans would like to see more of PSG Midfielder Flo Jourde, who played only 37 minutes in the last two camps. Kayla Briggs should be in contention for a spot following an impactful NCAA season (8G, 7A) with Michigan State, where she was voted to the All-Big 10 Team. In my opinion, Nikki Small needs to be the next NSL player to receive an NT call-up, but I wouldn’t be mad if it were her new AFC Toronto teammate, Sam Chang, or both. 

Up top, things still feel imperfect. I put Olivia Smith as our number one forward, which might resonate with some but feel premature for others. The reason I did it was that by Stoney’s standards, she’s been delivering the best performances at the highest level, both in the WSL and the UWCL. I also think she is globally the most respected attacker in our squad. I had Sonis next due to her reliability on the NT (at least in terms of assists), and the fact that she is one of our best NWSL performers as well. Leon and Viens are probably our two most natural goalscorers, and barring any dramatic events, they’re likely to make the squad this year. Holly Ward’s 2025 was so strong that it’s hard to picture her missing a window this year. I have Prince and Huitema on the bubble due to a lack of club minutes for the former and a lack of club productivity for the latter. Both are at risk of being replaced by players like young Annabelle Chukwu, who absolutely needs an extended look this year, an in-form Clarissa Larisey, Cloe Lacasse, who should be fully cleared following her injury, and NSL Golden Boot winner DB Pridham. Additionally, European-based strikers Kehrer and Davidson, Olympic legend D. Rose, and collegiate standout Nyah Rose fill out the depth chart. I didn’t even include other NSL strikers like Abdu or De Filippo.

Last but not least, Kailen Sheridan enters the year as our number one, with D’Angelo constantly pushing her, especially due to great club form with Villa. The move to NC came as a shock, but there’s no reason to think Sheridan won’t thrive on the East Coast. Hopefully, the new surroundings unlock a new level for her, and she’s able to stay more focused on the ball. The third keeper position is fascinating. Emily Burns has been selected in the last few windows, as Proulx has missed the whole first half of the season. Burns has been fantastic for surging Nantes this season and is among the Premiere Ligue’s minutes leaders. Proulx finally returned to the pitch for Juve, but it remains to be seen how much game time she’ll get. There are rumours that Juve and France #1 Peyraud-Magnin is on the way to the NWSL, so perhaps there will be an opportunity to compete for the spot. 

Here’s how this all translates into a healthy top 25 squad plus 5 training players in red, or at least it’s what I would do.

Fans aren’t happy with Stoney, on average. Not only because of the results but primarily because of the teams’ lack of discernible identity. Whether she continues down her current tactical path and really nails the concepts, or she takes a turn and tries out a different approach, whatever she does in the next 4-6 months will be crucial. 

With our CBs hopefully all being healthy at some point this year, could we see Stoney pull out a back 3/5 formation, particularly against opponents like the United States? In my opinio,n it gets three of our 5 best players on the pitch together, and it was more effective in creating overloads in wide channels when deployed.

In a men’s World Cup Year Stoney will have the benefit of a little less scrutiny as Leadership focuses on that and will lack the capacity to search for a new coach. However, after the Summer, they’ll certainly re-evaluate her performances before they run out of time before the 2027 World Cup.

Coming off the back of a promising U17 World Cup and our first CONCACAF U20 Gold Medal in 17 years, next year’s U20 World Cup squad has a good chance of making a deep run in the tournament. It takes place from Sept 5-27 in Poland. At least 7 players from the 2024 squad that had a decent showing are eligible to participate again. Among them are Annabelle Chukwu, Jeneva Hernandez Gray, and Noelle Henning, as well as Janet Okeke and Jadea Collin.

They’ll be joined by U17 standouts such as Olivia Chisholm, Bridget Mutipula, and Chloe Taylor, who all have NSL experience. Kaylee Hunter will most likely be on that squad if healthy, as well. If any of those players can put together several strong performances in the World Cup, they’ll have every chance of playing their way into the senior squad or earning an exciting pro opportunity.

And there’s your first newsletter of the year! We’re back baby!! Lots of CanWNT, NSL, Canucks abroad, and coast-to-coast coverage to follow.