Canadian men’s and women’s soccer teams in different states of mind going into 2026

The Canadian men’s and women’s soccer teams enter 2026 in vastly different moods.

While the Canadian men eagerly look for their first-ever win at the FIFA World Cup, the Canadian women will be happy with any victory.

The 10th-ranked women end the year on a five-game losing streak, mired in a 454-minute goal drought.

“The women are in a transition moment, for sure, in the sense of the player pool and some other changes that have occurred over the last little while,” said Canada Soccer CEO Kevin Blue. “But we are taking a very measured view of the path to the 2027 World Cup and the CONCACAF Championship in the fall of 2026, and continue to have confidence in the process that are coaching staff and players are following as we prepare for those competitions that are still several months away.”

In contrast, the Canadian men finish the year unchanged at No. 27 in the FIFA world rankings.

Although it is not Canada’s highest-ever ranking — Jesse Marsch’s team reached No. 26 in September, falling two places in October, then climbing one rung in November — it marks the highest-ever year-end position for the men.

The Canadians, idle in the latest ranking period, finished 2024 at No. 31, 2023 at No. 48, 2022 at No. 53, 2021 at No. 40 and 2020 at No. 72.

With just two international windows and a January camp for North American-based players before the World Cup kicks off June 11, the time together for the Canadian men is limited.

The good news is captain Alphonso Davies is back in action after sitting out some 262 days due to knee surgery. Marsch will be looking forward to the injury return of fellow defenders Moise Bombito, Derek Cornelius and Alistair Johnston.

Blue said he and Marsch have had “lots of conversations about our mutual desire for Jesse to be the head coach of the men’s national team far beyond the World Cup in 2026.”

“This is on the list of things that we are importantly and eagerly working on,” he added. 

Jonathan David and Vanessa Gilles repeated as Canada Soccer Players of the Year.

The women started the year ranked sixth in the world, having gone unbeaten in regulation time in 19 games (12-0-7 with three of those draws turning into penalty shootout losses and one becoming a shootout win) dating back to a 1-0 loss to Brazil in October 2023 (thanks to a 94th-minute strike by Debinha).

The Canadian women fell one spot in each of the March, June, August and December rankings, finishing 2025 ranked 10th after a 6-6-1 campaign.

Coach Casey Stoney, who took over the team in January, has acknowledged there is much to do.

Canada assistant coach Natalie Henderson said after Canada’s 1-0 loss to Japan on Dec. 2, “We need to raise our standards on and off the pitch.”

Henderson ran the team during the most recent international window while Stoney was back in England with her ailing mother.

Canada has been part of the FIFA women’s top 10 since March 2016, after finishing out 2015 at No. 11. Thursday marks the fourth time it has ranked 10th since then.

The Canadian women’s highest-ever ranking was No. 4, a position last achieved in March 2018. Their lowest ranking was 13th, where it languished in December 2005, September 2009 and lastly in August 2010.

At club level, Canadian forward Olivia Smith made headlines with a one-million-pound ($1.85-million) transfer from Liverpool to Arsenal, setting a women’s transfer record (since broken). The 21-year-old forward’s progress with Canada, however, was frustrated by injuries.

And there was success on the women’s soccer back home in the form of the inaugural season of the six-team Northern Super League. The Vancouver Rise, thanks to a rousing second-half comeback, defeated regular-season leader AFC Toronto 2-1 on Nov. 15 at BMO Field.

National team veterans Desiree Scott and Erin McLeod played for Ottawa and Halifax, respectively, before calling time on their long, distinguished careers.

David Rodríguez and Mother Nature were the stars as Atlético Ottawa defeated defending champion Cavalry FC 2-1 to lift the North Star Cup, capping off the Canadian Premier League’s seventh season. Rodríguez scored twice in blizzard-like conditions at TD Place, including a spectacular first-half bicycle kick that went viral.

The domestic men’s league is still finding its feet with Winnipeg’s Valour FC folding. On the plus side, expansion FC Supra du Québec begins play in 2026, keeping the number of franchises at eight. 

And while Vancouver FC finished last in the league at 4-15-9, it will rub shoulders with the region’s big boys in the 2026 CONCACAF Champions Cup after an unlikely run to the Canadian Championship final.

It was a productive year for Canadian youth teams.

The Canadian women made the quarterfinals of the FIFA U-17 World Cup in Morocco, losing to eventual third-place finisher Brazil in a penalty shootout (5-4) on Nov. 1 in Morocco. The Canadian men then lost a marathon 9-8 shootout to Ireland Nov. 14 in the round of 32 of their FIFA U-17 World Cup in Qatar

In June, Canada won the CONCACAF Women’s U-20 Championship in Costa Rica, defeating Mexico 3-2 after extra time in the final to avenge a 4-2 loss in group play. The Canadians dispatched the U.S. in the semifinals.

They move on to the 2026 FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup in September in Poland.

The 76th-ranked Canadian women won the inaugural CONCACAF W Futsal Championship, defeating No. 79 Panama 8-2 in the final. Léa Palacio-Tellier received the Best Goalkeeper Award and was later named Canada Futsal Player of the Year. Esther Brossard, who led Canada’s attack with eight goals, claimed both the Top Scorer and Best Player awards.

Drawn into a tough group with No. 2 Spain, No. 7 Colombia and No. 8 Thailand at the inaugural FIFA Futsal Women’s World Cup in the Philippines, winless Canada exited after the first round.

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This report by The Canadian Press was first published Dec. 31, 2025