Canada will look to bounce-back tomorrow against Malaysia
The waiting is over and Canada played their first game at the 2026 World Cup Qualifiers in Santiago today against Japan (world ranked 12). After a frantic start to the game, which featured a 5th-minute Japanese goal off the stick of Akari Nakagomi, the game settled into a back-and-forth pace with chances at both ends.
The second quarter is when Canada came alive. Marcia LaPlante was excellent in net and the defensive work from Canada led to a handful of great counterattack opportunities. Mikayla Stelling drove into the circle and dished the ball to Thora Rae, who smashed it off the post. Only a few minutes later, Chloe Walton had a glorious chance deflected away by the Japanese defender. Should those have gone in, we could have been looking at a different game-script from then on out.
But Japan proved to be the better side in today’s match as they accelerated away in the second half. Canada still threatened from time to time and defended well. But once Japan had the two-goal advantage, they protected their side and continued to drive into Canada’s circle. A penalty corner goal for Miyu Hasegawa and a field goal from captain Saki Tanaka early in the second half secured the momentum and basically put the game out of reach for the Canadians.
Canada showed flashes of attacking prowess during the game, but a goal eluded them. They showed strong defensive resiliency and stout goalkeeping, which will provide some momentum going into tomorrow’s match against 21-ranked Malaysia. A positive result in tomorrow’s match will give Canada a clear path moving forward and a great shot at keeping the World Cup qualification dream alive. That game starts at 830am PST / 1130am EST and is available to stream on FIH Watch Hockey.
