Nigeria faces off against Canada in a battle to gain an early advantage in Group B of the 2023 Women’s World Cup.
NIG-W vs CAN-W Match Details
Date: Friday, 21 July 2023
Time: 08:00 (IST) / 12:30 (ACT)
Venue: Melbourne Rectangular Stadium, Melbourne
NIG-W vs CAN-W Match Preview
While it was not another AFCON title in the bag for Nigeria but their run to the semi-finals of the competition last year earned them the ticket to the 2023 Women’s World Cup held in Australia and New Zealand. This will be their ninth straight participation in the tournament since its official recognition in 1991. But they only managed to reach the knockouts twice in eight editions of the current format. The latest one came in the 2019 edition when they reached the last-16 stage to be beaten 3-0 by Germany. The Super Falcons will face a tussle this time around to repeat it as they share their group with joint-hosts Australia and Olympic gold medalists Canada, whom they start their campaign with, or even unknown opponents in the Republic of Ireland. Nigeria have a decent squad in hand with captain Onome Ebi becoming the oldest African player ever at the tournament at 40 marshalling the backline while the attack will be headed by one of the best around, Asisat Oshoala. The Barcelona striker scored 21 goals in 28 league matches as well as five in Europe in the best return of her career. However, their payment dispute with the board with coach Randy Waldrum having his voice with the players could potentially distract them from the ideal mentality for on-field duties. There were also cries of boycott of the group opener but the game will go ahead as planned.
Canada also shares the dispute with the board in common with Nigeria. Earlier, the team sat out practice sessions and threatened to boycott the SheBelieves Cup back in February for pay parity and budget cuts by the federation which affected their travel and accommodations. There was once a state when the Olympic Gold medalists was not sure to board the plane to Australia and New Zealand. While the issues still linger in the background, Beverly Priestman’s side will try their best to play their football and achieve their objective on the pitch. If the squad can get together, there will be no reason they cannot achieve success. After all, Canada beat Brazil, record holders of the Women’s World Cup and rivals USA and Sweden to take home the gold in Tokyo. Their solidity at the back was the key factor for their triumph. That came into effect in the recent goalless draw against Euro bests England in a closed-door friendly. Even though defeats to Japan and Brazil might look ugly, Canada is a tournament team and will always turn up on the big occasion as they chase their glory days in the Women’s World Cup in 2003 when they finished in fourth place. In 2019, they could not go further than the round of 16, beaten by eventual bronze winners Sweden, so they will hope to go further than that. They have not won against Nigeria in the last two meetings and also the past two in the Women’s World Cup so there are scores to settle in the opener.
Recent Form
NIG-W: WWWLL
CAN-W: DLLWL
NIG-W vs CAN-W Head to Head
Played: 5
NIG-W: 2
Drawn: 1
CAN-W: 2
NIG-W vs CAN-W Predicted Lineups
NIG-W: Chiamaka Nnadozie; Michelle Alozie, Oluwatosin Demehin, Onome Ebi, Rofiat Imuran; Esther Okoronkwo, Toni Payne, Halimatu Ayinde, Echegini, Rasheedat Ajibade; Asisat Oshoala
CAN-W: Kailen Sheridan; Ashley Lawrence, Kadeisha Buchanan, Vanessa Gilles, Allysha Chapman; Julia Grosso, Sophie Schmidt, Jessia Fleming; Huitema, Christine Sinclair, Adriana Leon
Check out here more details:
NIG-W vs CAN-W Dream11 Team Prediction
GK: Sheridan (7.5)
DEF: Alozie (8), Lawrence (8.5), Buchanan (8), Imuran (9),
MID: Fleming (8), Payne (8.5), Echegini (8), Grosso (7)
FW: Sinclair (9), Oshoala (9)
Vice-captain: Ashley Lawrence
Captain: Christine Sinclair
NIG-W vs CAN-W Prediction
NIG-W 1-2 CAN-W
These two have shared wins in five meetings with the other being a draw. A close game is expected here as both will be focusing on their defense to keep it solid. Nigeria have obtained wins in every Women’s World Cup meeting but Canada’s Gold medalists squad could find just a bit more quality to sneak a victory.
