Canada's soccer team sensationally crashed out of the Women's World Cup
One of the best national teams in the world didn't even make it out of the group
Women's soccer in Canada is at a very high level. The team won gold at the last Olympic Games and is ranked as the 7th best women's national team in the world by FIFA. The Canadian team was considered one of the top favorites to win the World Cup, taking place these days in Australia and New Zealand, and fan interest in the Canadian women's Mundial was in some ways even higher than the men's championship last year.
However, the women's national team failed to live up to high expectations. After a draw with Nigeria, the Canadians defeated their rivals from Ireland, and on Monday they lost to Australia with a resounding score of 0:4. To expect to get out of the group, the hosts of the World Cup needed only a victory, and they achieved it, and in a rather dominant manner. Canada's women's team would have needed a draw to reach the 1/8 finals, but after the first half, after which they were losing 0:2, it became clear that it would be very difficult to achieve this.
But even in case of defeat, the Canadians still had a chance. They had to hope that Ireland, who lost to them, would beat Nigeria in the parallel match of the group, and with a crushing score. But a draw was recorded in that match. As a result, the playoffs from Group B went to the national teams of Australia and Nigeria. The Canadians took third place, losing to Nigeria by only 1 point.
The fiasco, of course, greatly upset the Canadian athletes. Sophie Schmidt, a national team midfielder who had announced in advance that she was ending her career with the national team after this World Cup, said after the match against Australia that she felt "gutted" and "heartbroken."
"I feel really terrible. I feel like we let down Canadians who woke up early to watch that game. Australia came out strong, executed their game plan perfectly. They built momentum."
Midfielder Jesse Fleming and defender Vanessa Gilles could barely hold back tears as they spoke to reporters.
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