PREVIEW – The Canada v China game will be the first Pinatar Cup game for both national teams. This is also the first time both teams will be facing each other since the 2015 FIFA Women’s World Cup in Canada.
Penalty-kick wins and losses will count as draws as seen below for form.
According to the FIFA Rankings, the CANWNT is ranked sixth in the world while China PR is ranked 17th in the world.
Canada v China: Both Teams Kick-Off 2025 on Tuesday
Canada (3-2-0)
Canada did not lose a single game in regulation time last year. However, they also had trouble with their penalty shots as they lost three of the four penalty shoot-outs that they took part in. This is what Stoney said about the upcoming tournament as she coaches in her first-ever international game for Canada (Source: Canadian Press):
“It’s an exciting moment for me to select my first squad for our upcoming Pinatar Cup,” Stoney said in a statement. “This is the first step in what I hope will be an exciting journey for our team, and I’m looking forward to working with such a talented group of players. It’s time to get to work.”
For this game and also against Mexico, expect Stoney to play her best lineup possible as Canada tries to win the competition. Saying that, since there are a lot of injuries right now with the Canadian national team, there could be players that could get their big chance against China PR. Players such as Emma Regan and Shelina Zadorsky might get more playing time. This is because of the injuries to defenders such as Kadeisha Buchanan and Sydney Collins, midfielder, Quinn and forwards, Cloé Lacasse and Bianca St-Georges.
This could also be a good way to test the depth of the Canadian national team. To compete for a trophy, one must have depth throughout the roster, which the CANWNT will need to showcase in this Pinatar Cup competition. They also still have some noteworthy names on the roster such as Jessie Fleming, Janine Beckie (who will now be known as Janine Sonis after getting married), Adriana Leon, Ashley Lawrence, and their 2024 Canada Women’s Player of the Year, Vanessa Gilles.
China (2-1-2)
China (nicknamed the Kēngqiāng Méiguī or the Steel Roses) is a team last year that showed they can compete with the top teams of the world last year. This included losing 2-1 against the U.S. and drawing 1-1 against Australia. Saying that China has not been able to get a win against these top teams this year and had zero results against the top ten teams. This is what Chinese head coach, Ante Milicic, said to the reporters after China drew once and lost once to Australia last year (Source: Xinhua of China Daily):
“With their mentality and their discipline, there’s already a good strong platform, and now it’s up for us to just keep working the way we’re going. I’m very pleased with actually a little bit of progress that we’ve made in two weeks, and we’ll definitely continue to build from this,” he added.
China also won the 2022 AFC Women’s Asian Cup, a competition which has well-known teams such as Japan and Australia. So, they will be a team to watch out for with Canada. However, they have not been consistent as they lost to the Netherlands by a scoreline of 4-1.
The Chinese might be missing one of their most important players, who is also a former Racing Louisville FC winger, Wang Shuang. Also, Zhang Linyan, who plays for Wuhan Jianghan University, was not on the roster.
READ MORE: Chinese Women’s Football Team Roster (Source: Xinhua News Agency of Jinan Times)
Players to Watch Out For With Both Teams
With the CANWNT, Vanessa Gilles is a noteworthy player to watch out for. She was the only Canadian to make the top 100 players of the world in The Guardian article. Her defence is top-notch but she has also more recently been playing well on the offensive end. She scored four goals for the national team, including two of them in the Summer Olympic Games.
Adriana Leon is another player to watch out for. While she did not score goals in the Olympics, she still was able to score big goals for her national team in both the SheBelieves Cup and the Concacaf W Gold Cup.
READ MORE: Olivia Smith: A Prominent CanWNT Teenager Midfielder
A young player that seems to have caught Casey Stoney’s eye is Olivia Smith, who also plays as a midfielder for the Liverpool F.C. Women’s team. This is what Stoney said about Smith according to Megan Feringa of The Athletic:
“I was lucky enough because I was back in the UK for four months, and I watched quite a bit of Olivia and will continue to,” she said. “With players like that, it’s about giving them an understanding of what it is to perform at international level, exposing them to it, holding them accountable, but supporting them and challenging them in equal measures. Because Olivia’s an exceptional talent. What she can do with the ball is fantastic.
As for China, they have four players playing in foreign leagues that are part of the roster. Li Mengwen is one of them, a right-back for West Ham United, on loan from Brighton & Hove Albion, which are both Women’s Super League clubs. Before joining Brighton & Hove Albion, Melissa Phillips said this to brightonandhovealbion.com on the move (Source: She Kicks Magazine of OneFootball):
Another player to watch out for is Shen Mengyu, of the London City Lionesses. Mengyu played a big role in winning the Scottish Women’s Premier League Cup and Scottish Women’s Cup in 2021 for the Glasgow-based Celtic club. This is what head coach, Jocelyn Prêcheur, said about her (Source: London City Lionesses Website):
“Shen performed very well when she played in Scotland and showed lots of improvement from when I coached against her in Shanghai,” said head coach Jocelyn Prêcheur. “She’s still very young and has a lot of technical skills – she can play as a No. 6 or a No. 8 and moves around a lot inside the midfield. She will provide a lot of energy and she already knows what it is like to play at a high level.”
It looks like China has improved in recent years and should be a tough test for Canada, especially with all the injuries the CANWNT currently have.
Head-To-Head
The head-to-head will not matter much for this matchup. There are though some big games between the two national teams. In the last 11 meetings, Canada has the edge with six wins, three losses, and two draws (6-2-3) against China.
Canada has won the last six games against China head-to-head with China’s last win over Canada coming in 2010. It is also important to point out that the last time these two teams met was in the 2015 FIFA Women’s World Cup in Vancouver, British Columbia when Christine Sinclair scored the game-winning goal against China with a converted penalty kick.
The other unforgettable game is Canada’s upset win against China in the 2003 FIFA Women’s World Cup quarter-final round, which occurred at a time when China was considered one of the giants in women’s soccer.
READ MORE: AFC Toronto and CANWNT Player Profile: Emma Regan
How To Watch The Game Between the CANWNT and China
READ MORE: 2024 CANWNT Year Review: So Close, and Yet, So Far
The CANWNT will face the Steel Roses or the Kēngqiāng Méiguī (China) on February 19 at 1:00pm ET (7:00pm local) at the Pinatar Arena in Murcia, Spain. This will be the second match of the tournament with the first game taking place at 7:00AM ET (1:00pm ET) between Chinese Taipei and Mexico.
The game between Canada and China will be shown live on OneSoccer.
Women’s National Team Training
24 November 2021 (Uploaded on November 25, 2021) – Ciudad Mexico, DF, MEX
Photo Credit: Canada Soccer Flickr Account.
