Canada's women's soccer squad shows fight, desire in 1-0 loss to Brazil

Casey Stoney believes Canada's women's soccer team showed a new facet of themselves on Saturday.

Little went their way in a 1-0 loss to Brazil, the finale of their 2026 FIFA Series campaign. The way the players continued to battle, though, is crucial as the team builds toward next summer's World Cup, Stoney said.

"I think they showed fight, they showed desire. They kept going until the end," said Canada's head coach. "We were really trying to get a goal, we were really close to getting a goal, and I felt the team deserved a goal for all the work they put in and obviously the chances that we had created.

"So what I think we've shown is a slightly different side to us in terms of having to play the way we've played today with the ball, but we still created chances."

Playing in front of a home crowd, seventh-ranked Brazil controlled play through much of the match but couldn't get a ball past Canadian goalkeeper Kailen Sheridan across the first half.

Out of the break, Canada's Evelyne Viens saw a near breakaway stymied when she was called for a soft foul after getting tangled up in midfield.

Asked whether it was in fact Viens who was fouled on the play, Stoney was blunt. "Absolutely," she said. "Yes."

The ball went the other way and Brazil's Kerolin Nicoli blasted a shot on net. Sheridan made the stop and defender Kadeisha Buchanan booted the ball out, but Aline Gomes collected it and sent a shot soaring into the top-right corner of the net in the 47th minute for the game's lone goal.

Canada falls to host Brazil in finale of FIFA Series

Canada nearly responded in the 64th minute off a free kick. Jessie Fleming swung the ball in and Viens headed it toward the goal, with the ball skimming off the post.

The South American