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Canadian women’s national team to return to competition in February

Canada will compete in the 2021 SheBelieves Cup featuring four of the best countries in the world.

By Michael Singh
Canada v United States: Final - 2020 CONCACAF Women’s Olympic Qualifying
Kadeisha Buchanan #3, Stephanie Labbe #1 and Shelina Zadorsky #4 of Canada stands during the National Anthem.
Photo by Omar Vega/Getty Images

TORONTO, Canada—Finally—the Canadian women are back!

Canada Soccer announced on Monday that the Canadian women’s national team will be one of four nations competing in the 2021 SheBelieves Cup, set to take place Feb. 18 - 24 at Exploria Stadium in Orlando, Florida.

The sixth edition of the tournament fields a competitive group as Canada will take on the United States on opening day (Feb. 18 @ 7 p.m. EST), before games against Japan on Feb 21 (6 p.m. EST) and Brazil on Feb. 24 (4 p.m. EST) to close out the tournament.

All four nations competing in the 2021 SheBelieves Cup reached the knockout phase of the last FIFA Women’s World Cup France 2019 and have secured their spot in Tokyo 2021.

This will be Canada’s first time taking part in the SheBelieves Cup, a competition that has been won three times by the reigning champs and current world no. 1: United States.

It will also mark the debut of newly-appointed head coach Bev Priestman after she took over from Kenneth Heiner-Moller in October.

“I’m excited to get the team together for the first time to kick off an important 2021 season, as we build towards the Tokyo Olympic Games this summer,” said Bev Priestman, Canada Soccer’s Women’s National Team Head Coach in a press release.

“The SheBelieves Cup gives us the opportunity to face some of the top football teams in the world in a tournament setting. It will be a great opportunity to get ourselves ready for the Tokyo Olympic Games, facing different styles of play and tight turnarounds.”

Canada is scheduled to take the pitch for the first time since competing in last year’s Tournoi de France in early March. A Canadian camp scheduled for England in October was called off due to the climate of the pandemic.

Thinking about the likes of Christine Sinclair, Ashley Lawrence, Kadeisha Buchanan, Jordyn Huitema, Janine Beckie...the list goes on and on...but which Canadian star are you most looking forward to seeing back in action!? Let us know in the comments!

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