Recap: Huitema goal sees Canada qualify for 2020 Olympics

The Canadian women’s national team qualified for the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo on Friday evening, with a 1-0 victory of Costa Rica.

The first half was uneventful, and overshadowed by streaming issues (leaving many fans either unable to watch, or watching a Honduran Twitch stream), but Canada grinded through it.

Canada started the second half strong, and in the 72nd minute, finally found their breakthrough.

A few minutes after coming onto the pitch, Deanne Rose got on the end of a through ball from Janine Beckie and fired a cross over to Jordyn Huitema. Huitema’s first effort came back off the post, but she pounced on the rebound, giving Canada the 1-0 lead that they craved, and would hang onto for the remaining 20 minutes or so.

The win seals a spot at the 2020 Olympic Games for Canada. Back-to-back bronze medalists, Canada will look to finish even higher up on the podium for the first time in Tokyo, Japan this summer.

In 2016 they became the first Canadian women’s team to win medals in back-to-back Olympic Games, and will look to make it three-in-a-row in a few months time.

As for the rest of this tournament, Canada will play against the winner of the United States vs Mexico game (which will be played later on Friday night) on Sunday.

Both Canada and the winner of USA/Mexico will automatically qualify for the Olympics, but the game will still serve as a strong test for Canada, with bragging rights also on the line.