Canada's Women's World Cup Ends with Tears and Hope

Three minutes cost Canada in the biggest game the women’s team has ever played. The defence slipped and gave way to England early in the first half, and Canada could not recover.

But the past two weeks earned Canada a generation of new supporters and, with that, a greater future. A 2-1 loss in the quarterfinals of the Women’s World Cup doesn’t erase that progress.

"It's left a legacy. ... I'm sure there are hundreds of young girls in these stadiums now that can see the future,” Canada coach John Herdman told TSN after the match. "They know what sport can do for them. And there will be hundreds of coaches out there pushing them to this limit.”

The numbers tell a similar story. With every one of their games, Canada smashed records. On Saturday night, they one-upped themselves again. There were 54,027 in attendance, a new high for any Canada national team.

The game drew massive ratings on television, too. An average of 3.2 million viewers watched the quarterfinal matchup, "breaking the record for most-watched FIFA Women’s World Cup match ever," per Bell Media.

Even though the hosts did not produce the most exciting football—Canada did not score more than a goal in any game—they did capture the attention of their country.

In the end, they just could not produce the offence they needed to overcome a couple of key mistakes.

Defender Lauren Sesselmann lost control of the ball early on against England, and Jodie Taylor pounced on the mistake and scored. A couple of minutes later, Canada conceded on a set piece, Lucy Bronze sending a looping header beyond goalkeeper Erin McLeod.

Ben Nelms/Getty Images

Canada hadn’t trailed a game all tournament until then. But the Canadians did not wilt. They kept on gunning for the equaliser. Christine Sinclair, as she always does, cut the deficit in half after a penalty-box scramble, a scruffy goal made from a determined team. 

More chances came, but a second goal did not.

It was probably Sinclair's final World Cup match too, and she did it the way she always does: keeping Canada in the game, scoring and setting up plays, sending long balls, standing over free kicks and being the protagonist. She now has 155 international goals and is among the greats of the women’s game.

Via Paul Carr of ESPN:

"

Christine Sinclair cuts England's lead to 2-1 with her 155th international goal, 3 behind Mia Hamm for 2nd-most in soccer history. #CAN

— Paul Carr (@PCarrESPN) June 28, 2015"

And as her team-mates broke down in tears, lying on the pitch, it was Sinclair picking them up and bringing them together, being a leader until the end. They came together in a huddle one more time, and then they went to thank the fans. The pain of the loss hit them first, but the support from the crowd never went away. They knew what they had achieved.

"You look around the stadium and you see all the Canada jerseys, all the red, all the young kids we’ve inspired. I think in the grand scheme of things this tournament is a huge success,” Sinclair told TSN after the match.

"Hopefully some of these kids, 15 years from now, are on this team."