US women’s football team to host rival Canada in Continental Clasico
US women’s football team to host rival Canada in Continental Clasico
The top-ranked United States women’s national football team will face long-time rival Canada in Washington, D.C. for the Continental Clasico on July 2.
The Olympic champion has played Canada more than any other opponent and beat it in a penalty shootout in both of the previous two meetings last year, the CONCACAF Women’s Gold Cup semifinal and the SheBelieves Cup championship match.
The meeting, the 67th between the two teams, will close out a three-match window for the United States, which is also playing Ireland in a pair of friendlies in late June.
“As this game will end a three-match window, we’ll get a good chance to see our whole roster in training and hopefully game action before selecting a team to start in Washington, D.C.,” U.S. coach Emma Hayes said in a statement.
The match will give former England captain Casey Stoney a chance to burnish her credentials as head coach of the Canada team after taking the reins this year in the fallout from an embarrassing drone scandal that engulfed the programme.
Canada is also set to play Argentina in a pair of friendlies next month.
July’s game at Audi Field – a stone’s throw from the White House – comes at a politically charged moment between the United States and Canada after U.S. President Donald Trump levied tariffs on its longstanding trade partner to the north.
