Canada set for CONCACAF W Championship opener

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For Canada, the road to two major tournaments begins this week in Monterrey, Mexico.

The Canadian women’s soccer teams kicks off the CONCACAF W Championship on Tuesday. Eight teams from the region are vying for four automatic berths to the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup in Australia and New Zealand, as well as spot at the 2024 Paris Olympics.

Here’s what you need to know about the competition.  

The eight teams are divided into two groups. Canada is in Group B with Costa Rica, Panama and Trinidad and Tobago, while Group A features the United States, Mexico, Jamaica and Haiti.

The top two teams in each group not only advance to the semifinals, but also automatically qualify for next year’s World Cup. The Canadians open the tournament on Tuesday against Trinidad and Tobago. They then take on Panama on Friday before wrapping up the group stage against Costa Rica on July 11.

Canada, ranked sixth in the world, is by far the highest-ranked team in the group. Costa Rica is the next closest at 37th, followed by Panama (57th) and Trinidad and Tobago (76th).

“I think this group will take every game as it comes,” head coach Bev Priestman told the media on Monday. “I think we have to know that when it really matters, this group can rise to anything, and I'm really, really excited. I just want the ball to roll on day one.”

The Canadians have qualified for every World Cup since 1995 and will be looking to appear in their eighth straight edition of the tournament. Costa Rica is the only other team in the group to ever qualify for the World Cup, having made their tournament debut in 2015 (for a closer look at Canada’s group opponents, click here).

“I think we have to be confident enough that we can go and qualify for a