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Before the commencement of the historic 2024 Women’s Gold Cup, the clear frontrunners to clinch the trophy were the United States Women’s National Team and their Canadian counterparts. On paper, they emerged as the strongest national teams to uphold North America’s prowess in women’s soccer. This Wednesday, the Canadian Women’s National Team (CANWNT) and the United States Women’s National Team (USWNT) will face off in the competition’s second semifinal.

USA and Canada clash for final place

A showdown awaits between the four-time FIFA World Cup champions and the gold medalists from the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games, as both squads are determined to secure a spot in the championship match of the inaugural version of the tournament organised by CONCACAF. On the other side, Brazil faces Mexico, where they too are aiming for victory.

For Twila Kilgore’s team, it’s evident they did not want to be in the same bracket as the Canadians. Initially, it was anticipated that they would advance to the quarterfinals as group leaders, but the US ended up in second place. While they successfully navigated past Colombia in the previous round, a new challenge now lies ahead.

This challenge is a familiar one, as it was the CANWNT who dashed their hopes of clinching a fifth Olympic gold medal at Tokyo 2020, eliminating them in the semifinals of the 2021 tournament. The US team settled for bronze that year, and faced numerous challenges in the subsequent FIFA Women’s World Cup in Australia-New Zealand.

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Canada overview for W Gold Cup

The Canadian team entered the 2024 Women’s Gold Cup with the mission of regaining lost ground after their failure to advance past the group stage in the Women’s World Cup, which caused significant disappointment in the North American territory. Looking ahead to the Paris 2024 Olympics, similar to the USWNT, they aim to continue making steady progress, with a clear objective set for this Wednesday.

The journey of the ‘Maple Leaf’ squad has been intriguing, as they dominated the group stage of the tournament by defeating El Salvador (6-0), Paraguay (4-0), and Costa Rica (3-0). However, this did not prevent them from facing a tougher challenge than expected in the quarterfinals where they had to go up against Costa Rica once again. This time they were taken all the way into extra time before securing a 1-0 victory.