The CanWNT are back.

Casey Stoney's squad will return to the pitch for the first time in 2026 on Sunday, as they 'host' 20th-ranked Colombia at Geodis Park in Nashville, Tennessee, in the opening match of this year's SheBelieves Cup.

The match will mark the fourth time in six years that Canada has been invited to the tournament, finishing runners-up last time out in 2024. The CanWNT were invited as the top-ranked nation to the Pinatar Cup in 2025, featuring alongside Mexico, China and Chinese Taipei, lifting the trophy after topping the table.

However, finishing top will be a more difficult prospect for several reasons this time around. Not least, as hosts and second-ranked United States will play a part in the friendly tournament, which, much like the Pinatar Cup, is often seen as a tune-up opportunity following the winter break and preparation for more competitive — or 'meaningful' — matches later on in the spring and summer.

How Canada enter the match

For Casey Stoney, attention will, by far, be on how her side responds to a torrid end to 2025 and the three months away that the team has had.

After an optimistic start to last year, winning the Pinatar Cup and making it to the end of June largely unscathed in terms of results, it seemed as though the bottom fell out from under the team, particularly in the scoring department.

A 3-0 loss to the United States in Washington, D.C., a day after Canada Day, was followed up by uncharacteristic losses to Switzerland and the Netherlands in October, and back-to-back defeats in Japan — all of which came and went without a goal. Despite coming close in their second match against Japan, the scoring drought now totals over nine months and 450 minutes without a single Canadian goal.

The silver lining, however slim, is that there are players in this squad who can end the dry spell. While Olivia Smith (injury) is not in camp — and more on that later — that does mean that the path has been mostly cleared for Roma's free-scoring Évelyne Viens to play significant minutes with the CanWNT finally. Add to that, both Ottawa Rapid's DB Pridham and AFC Toronto's Kaylee Hunter, numbers one and two in the Northern Super League's Golden Boot race this past season, were also included in Stoney's call.

They'll need to step up in a big way with Adriana Leon and Ashley Lawrence both dropped, following repeated comments from Stoney regarding 'veteran players' not meeting a level of performance expected of them.

Now, the other bad news: injuries.

Though the team would have been uplifted seeing the return of Kadeisha Buchanan for Chelsea, that fuzzy feeling quickly went away after Arsenal starlet Olivia Smith hit the deck hard in their 3-0 FA Cup win over Bristol City last Sunday. That injury, not the first in Smith's career, was later determined to have been a concussion, forcing Smith to withdraw from the squad, replaced by Denver Summit centreback Megan Reid. 

Goalkeepers Sabrina D'Angelo and Lysianne Proulx, defenders Shelina Zadorsky and Jayde Riviere, and forward Clarissa Larisey were also unavailable for selection due to injury. Additionally, 

How Colombia enter the match

Colombia, on the other hand, had an almost picture-opposite year to Canada.

After losing their first two matches of 2025 — albeit against heavyweights Japan and the United States — the 'Powerpuff Girls' sailed through the Copa América group stages, eventually coming within penalties to lifting the trophy over champions (and fourth-ranked) Brazil.

This year's SheBelieves Cup will also serve as Las Cafeteras' preamble to the second half of their Women's Nations League campaign, where they, alongside Argentina, currently sit third after two wins and a draw with a game in hand over current leaders Venezuela.

What they're saying

• "The mood's been great. It's been really nice to be back together as a group and I think training's been competitive. I think the players are excited to get back on the pitch and play games together." - Jessie Fleming on the camp environment
• "Colombia can be unpredictable at times, in terms of [how] they play. They've got some key individuals so it's about how we make sure in possession, we're safe in transitions, and then how we can exploit them. There's going to be key partnerships and they have struggled from crossing situations so we've done a lot of work on key areas and get the right numbers that we need to be able to score goals." - Casey Stoney on Colombia
• "I think first and foremost, it's to try and win games. We're very mindful that 70 or 80 per cent of this squad is still in preseason as well, but we'll go into [each of the three games] with a strong team. It's about balancing winning and minutes — youth, as well — but the ultimate goal is to win games so we'll pick the team based around that." - Casey Stoney on team selection 

Projected XIs

With the nature of the SheBelieves Cup, and bragging rights on the line Wednesday evening against the United States, plus an already more experimental roster, it wouldn't be surprising to see Stoney mix it up on Sunday:

Canada (3-4-3): Kailen Sheridan; Sydney Collins, Vanessa Gilles, Jade Rose; Gabrielle Carle, Emma Regan, Simi Awujo, Janine Sonis; Marie-Yasmine Alidou, Évelyne Viens, Jordyn Huitema

Game information and how to watch

📆 Sunday, March 1, 2026
⏰ 2:00 pm ET / 11:00 am PT
📺 OneSoccer, TSN, FuboTV, Telus Optik TV Ch. 980
👤 TBA
🏟 Geodis Park, Nashville (TN), United States