Canadian women finish tumultuous year unchanged at No. 6 in the FIFA rankings

The Canadian women will finish 2024 unchanged at No. 6 in the FIFA rankings, looking to put the drone-spying scandal at the Paris Olympics finally behind them.

Canada lost its Olympic title and head coach Bev Priestman in Paris, with Priestman sent home and ultimately severed from the program along with assistant coach Jasmine Mander and analyst Joey Lombardi after a Canadian staffer was caught filming a New Zealand training session.

All three are serving a one-year FIFA ban, with Canada Soccer still probing just how deep the culture of cheating was ingrained in the men's and women's programs.

The U.S., which won the inaugural CONCACAF W Gold Cup in March before claiming Olympic gold in Paris in August under new coach Emma Hayes, remain No. 1 having displaced World Cup champion Spain at the top of the table after the Olympic triumph.

Spain and Germany each rose one place, to No. 2 and No 3 respectively, in the new rankings with England slipping two spots to No 4.

Unchanged Sweden and Canada followed with Brazil moving to No. 7, dropping Japan to No. 8. North Korea remained at No. 9 with the Netherlands moving up one place to No. 10, dropping France to No. 11 — out of the top 10 for the first time.

Canada started the year at No. 10, climbing to No. 9 in March, No. 8 in June and No. 6 in August. It finished 2024 under interim coach Cindy Tye, the under-20 coach, with a 5-1 friendly win over South Korea, which fell one rung to No. 20.

The Canadian women have been as high as No. 4 in the rankings — attained twice in 2016, once in 2017 and most recently in March 2018. They have never ranked lower than 13th, a nadir reached three times, most recently in August 2010.

In their first year without talisman Christine Sinclair, who retired from the international game in December 2023, Canada outscored its opposition 33-10 and was unbeaten in regulation time.

The Canadians finished the year with a 9-0-7 record. But three of their draws turned into penalty shootout losses to Germany (in the Paris Olympics quarterfinal) and the U.S. (in the SheBelieves Cup final and the CONCACAF W Gold Cup semifinal).

Another draw produced a shootout win over Brazil (in the SheBelieves Cup semifinal).

FIFA says 176 internationals were played since the last women's rankings in mid-August. Gibraltar, at No. 185, is the latest side to be included, increasing the number of women's teams ranked to a record 195.

No. 99 Estonia and No. 168 Saudi Arabia made the biggest jumps, each rising eight places.

Also moving up were Poland (No. 28th, up four places), Belarus (No. 50, up five), Indonesia (No. 97, up seven) and Bangladesh (No. 132, up seven).

Laos tumbled 16 places to No. 108.

The Canadians enter 2025 with an injury list that includes veteran defender Kadeisha Buchanan and striker Cloe Lacasse, both recovering from knee surgery.

Portland Thorns midfielder Jessie Fleming is ensconced as captain with young talent like Olivia Smith, Simi Awujo and Jayde Riviere playing their club football in England, along with the likes of veterans Ashley Lawrence, Adriana Leon. Sabrina D'Angelo, Deanne Rose and Buchanan.

Leon had a productive year internationally, scoring 10 times in 16 outings for Canada to up her international total to 41 goals. Six of those goals came early in the year at the CONCACAF W Gold Cup.

The landscape of women's soccer in Canada will change in 2025 with the kickoff of the new Northern Super League, a six-team women's pro circuit with teams in Vancouver, Calgary, Toronto, Ottawa, Montreal and Halifax.

The Canadian men are currently ranked a career-high 31st in the world.

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This report by The Canadian Press was first published Dec. 13, 2024

Neil Davidson, The Canadian Press