Canadian fans will be hoping that the team saved its best for last.
Canada wraps up its Women’s World Cup group stage slate with its toughest match yet: Facing co-host Australia with both teams desperate for a result.
Thanks to Nigeria’s upset win over Australia on Thursday, Group B is in a logjam at the top with three countries vying for two spots in the knockout stage.
Australia is favoured to win the match at +120 on FanDuel, with the odds of Canada taking the three points at +220 and a draw at +220.
Here are the five things to know before Monday’s crucial kickoff:
1. What does each team need?
Canada comes into the final games of Group B sitting in second place, tied with Nigeria on points and goal differential, but trailing in goals for.
With a win or a draw against the Aussies, Canada will advance to the Round of 16. In fact, even with a loss it could move on, but only if it finishes with a better goal differential than Nigeria.
With three points so far, Australia likely needs a win against Canada to advance. Or, if it can only muster a draw, it will need Nigeria to lose by at least two goals.
Nigeria is in the same boat as Canada, but already has the tiebreaker advantage having scored one more goal.
Ireland is playing for pride, having lost its first two World Cup games ever. The Girls in Green should not be taken lightly, though.
With both Group B contests kicking off at the same time, there will be a lot of scoreboard watching in the stadiums.
2. The Sam Kerr situation
Australia looks like it will be getting a boost for Monday’s match with Sam Kerr declaring herself fit to make her tournament debut.
“I’m going to be there, I’m going to be ready,” the Chelsea superstar said at a news conference on Saturday. “The plan has always been the same – miss the first two games and then reassess.
“I’m feeling good. I was out on the pitch today, as good as I can be.”
Kerr missed Australia’s first two games with a calf injury suffered in pre-tournament training, but appears set to play. Whether she starts the game or comes off the substitute bench remains to be seen, but she is one of the world’s most dangerous players in the women’s game and will cause headaches for the Canadian defence.
3. Who starts for Canada?
Manager Bev Priestman shook things up in Canada’s second game, leaving captain Christine Sinclair on the bench while inserting both Evelyn Viens and Jessie Fleming – who was returning from injury – into the starting XI.
Kadeisha Buchanan, who was dealing with an illness, and Sinclair, who was evaluated for an undisclosed injury after the Ireland game, have both been passed fit.
So, with no injury concerns, who makes the starting XI for Monday’s crucial game?
Bringing on Sinclair and fellow veteran Sophie Schmidt at halftime against Ireland provided a big boost for the team, which had been struggling against the feisty Girls in Green.
At 40 years old, Sinclair isn’t capable of playing effectively over a full 90 minutes, so Priestman must decide if it’s better to use the world’s all-time international goal scorer early, or save her for the second half again.
4. Can Canada keep up the momentum?
With that big halftime substitution against Ireland – bringing on Sinclair, Schmidt and Shelina Zadorsky for Viens, Julia Grosso and Buchanan – Canada came to life and played its best football of the tournament so far.
The challenge now is to keep that level of play up while also facing its toughest opponent yet.
With those three substitutes, Priestman injected 365 international caps of experience into the game and it showed.
Schmidt made an excellent pass for the assist on Adriana Leon’s game-winning goal and Sinclair was terrific on the ball, making several dangerous passes.
The halftime adjustments had the team and the fans buzzing, now it’s just a matter of carrying it over.
“I reminded them at halftime that we’re Olympic champions and that we’ve got to take a step forward and be brave and get after this,” Priestman said after the Ireland game.” I think the quality, the experience that came about in the second half, that’s the type of performance that we need moving forward. These moments build character and experience that you can build upon now.”
5. Aussies right at home
Canada got a little taste of this during its game against Ireland in Perth, where the crowd was very much behind the Girls in Green, but Monday will be a whole different animal.
As tournament co-host, Australia should have nearly the full support of the crowd at Melbourne Rectangular Stadium behind it.
That kind of atmosphere can weigh on a visiting player and small mistakes can be magnified by that pressure.
The Canadian players will have to do their best to tune out the noise – literally – to get the result they need and advance.