The Canadian women’s soccer team will face reigning world champions Spain in a friendly match in October.
Spain will host world number six Canada in a duel played at the Francisco de la Hera stadium in Almendralejo on October 25.
This will be the Canadians’ first match since the Paris Olympics, where they lost on penalties to Germany in the quarterfinals. During that tournament, coach Bev Priestman was sent home and suspended for a year by FIFA for her role in a drone spying scandal.
In announcing the friendly against Spain, Canada Soccer said details of the interim coaching staff for the October window will be announced at a later date. Assistant coach Andy Spence led the team at the Olympics in Priestman’s absence.
Spain finished fourth in Paris, beaten 1-0 by Germany in the bronze medal match.
Canada has not won any of its last three meetings against Spain (0-2-1). In the last one, at the Arnold Clark Cup in England in February 2022, it lost 1-0.
The two teams played to a 0-0 draw in May 2019 in Logrones, Spain, in a warm-up match for the 2019 FIFA Women’s World Cup. Spain also won 1-0 in March 2019 at the Algarve Cup in Sao Joao da Venda, Portugal.
Spain has become a powerhouse in women’s soccer.
She won the FIFA Under-20 World Cup in 2022 and was a finalist in 2018. Earlier in September, Spain eliminated Canada in the round of 16 of the Under-20 tournament before losing to Japan in the quarterfinals.
Spain won the FIFA Under-17 World Cup in 2018 and 2022, as well as reaching the podium three other times.
FC Barcelona players Aitana Bonmati (2023) and Alexia Putellas (2021 and 2022) have won the last three women’s Ballons d’Or.
FC Barcelona have won three of the last four UEFA Women’s Champions League titles.
“We continue to strive to diversify our opponent pool while maintaining a high level of competition,” said Daniel Michelucci, Canada Soccer’s director of national team operations, in a statement. “We are looking forward to an exciting match featuring two of the top-ranked teams in the world.”