CONCACAF | |
---|---|
Short name | CSA |
Founded | May 1912 |
Headquarters | 237 Metcalfe Street Ottawa, Ontario |
FIFA affiliation | 1912–1926; 1948–present |
CONCACAF affiliation | September 18, 1961 (original member) [1] |
President | Charmaine Crooks |
Website | www |
The Canadian Soccer Association (French : Association canadienne de soccer; branded as Canada Soccer) is the governing body for soccer in Canada. Headquartered in Ottawa, Ontario, the federation is a full member of FIFA and governs Canadian soccer at the international, professional, and amateur levels, including: the men's and women's national teams, Canadian Premier League, youth organizations, beach soccer, futsal, Paralympic and deaf national teams. The Canadian Soccer Association also administers and operates the Canadian Championship.
The Dominion of Canada Football Association, today known as the Canadian Soccer Association, was founded in Winnipeg, Manitoba in July 1912. [2] [3] The organization joined FIFA on December 31, 1912. On June 21, 1926, the DCFA resigned from FIFA, only to rejoin on June 20, 1948. The governing body of the game retained that name until it was changed to The Football Association of Canada on June 6, 1952. The association later changed its name to the Canadian Soccer Football Association in 1958 and then at last to the Canadian Soccer Association in 1971.
Canada Soccer has hosted several global soccer tournaments, including the 1976 Olympic football tournament, the 2015 FIFA Women's World Cup, and will co-host the 2026 FIFA World Cup along with Mexico and United States. The association has also hosted the FIFA U-20 World Cup (2007), the FIFA U-16 World Championship (1987), and the FIFA U-20 Women's World Cup (2002, 2014).
Canada Soccer is a non-profit organization governed by a board of directors consisting of 14 directors: a President, Vice President, six elected directors, and six appointed or independent directors. [4] [5] Each of the six elected directors is elected from one of six geographic regions. The board must include at least three men and three women. The president of the board is Charmaine Crooks, a five-time Olympian and Olympic Silver Medallist in track & field, and the vice president is Kelly Brown.
Canada Soccer is administered by the General Secretariat, which is led by general secretary Peter Montopoli and deputy general secretary Earl Cochrane. [6] The general secretary is the chief executive of Soccer Canada, and is appointed by the board of directors. [4]
Canada Soccer is a member of the worldwide soccer body FIFA and the North American soccer body CONCACAF and also has a relationship with the International Olympic Committee.
Canada Soccer's objectives, as described in its by-laws, are to: [4]
The Canada men's national soccer team represents Canada in international soccer competitions at the senior men's level. Their most significant achievements are winning the 1985 CONCACAF Championship to qualify for the 1986 FIFA World Cup, winning the 2000 CONCACAF Gold Cup to qualify for the 2001 FIFA Confederations Cup and qualifying for the 2022 FIFA World Cup. A Canadian club team also won a gold medal in the 1904 Summer Olympics.
The men's national soccer team have played at the FIFA World Cup on two occasions, in 1986, and 2022. They have yet to make it through to the knockout stages. By qualifying for the 2022 FIFA World Cup, Canada ended a 36-year drought. Canada with Mexico and the United States will jointly host the 2026 FIFA World Cup in the first 48-team event.
Canada have played at the CONCACAF Gold Cup on eighteen occasions, most recently in 2021. They co-hosted the tournament in 2015, where they finished 4th in their group, and did not advance to the knockout stage.
The Canada women's national soccer team represents Canada in international women's soccer competitions at the senior women's level. Its most significant achievements are winning the 1998 CONCACAF Women's Championship to qualify for the 1999 FIFA Women's World Cup, and winning the 2010 CONCACAF Women's World Cup Qualifying to qualify for the 2011 FIFA Women's World Cup. The Canadian team also won a gold medal in the 2020 Summer Olympics.
The women's national soccer team has played at the FIFA Women's World Cup on eight occasions (missing only the inaugural 1991 edition), most recently in 2023. The team reached international prominence at the 2003 FIFA Women's World Cup, losing in the third place match to the United States. Canada hosted the 2015 FIFA Women's World Cup, and reached the quarterfinals.
The team has played at the CONCACAF W Championship on ten occasions, most recently in 2022. It hosted the tournament in 1994 and 1998.
Canada has played at the Summer Olympics on four occasions, most recently at the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo, where they were crowned champions for the very first time.
The men's youth team most significant achievements are winning the 1986 CONCACAF U-20 Tournament to qualify for the 1987 FIFA World Youth Championship, and winning the 1996 CONCACAF U-20 Tournament to qualify for the 1997 FIFA World Youth Championship.
The women's youth team most significant achievements are winning the 2004 CONCACAF Women's U-20 Championship, winning the 2008 CONCACAF Women's U-20 Championship to qualify for the 2008 FIFA U-20 Women's World Cup, and winning the 2010 CONCACAF Women's U-17 Championship to qualify for the 2010 FIFA U-17 Women's World Cup.
Canada Soccer Association oversees and promotes the development of many youth national teams:
Despite a long history of professional soccer in the country, Canada have struggled to build and sustain domestic soccer leagues. They have gone through many different iterations, finally landing on the Canadian Premier League that was founded in 2019.
The Canadian Premier League (CPL) is the top division of soccer in Canada. It is the only fully professional, and only fully national league in the system. Founded in 2019, the CPL is composed of eight teams and is sanctioned by the CSA. There are also three Canadian teams which play in Major League Soccer, the first-division league sanctioned by the United States Soccer Federation, reflecting a longstanding practice of major Canadian sports franchises competing in American leagues.
CSA does not have a sanctioned second-division men's soccer league, however they do have a third-division sanctioned league: League1 Canada which was founded in 2022. League1 Canada is contested by clubs from four divisions; these are Ligue1 Québec, League1 Ontario, League1 British Columbia, and League1 Alberta for both the men's and women's divisions. In 2022, Toronto FC II and Whitecaps FC 2 began play in MLS Next Pro, a USSF-sanctioned third-division league.
At the professional level, Canada's domestic cup is the Canadian Championship. Founded in 2008, the Canadian Championship is an annual tournament contested by Canadian professional teams and the champions of each League1 Canada division. The winner is awarded the Voyageurs Cup and a berth in the CONCACAF Champions Cup. [7] Canada's best performance in the CONCACAF Champions Cup came in the 2014–15 competition, when Montreal Impact reached the finals. [8] Toronto FC also reached the final in 2018 where they fell in penalties to C.D. Guadalajara. [9]
As of 2023, [update] Canada does not have a professional women's league. [10] The CSA previously had an affiliation with the U.S.-based National Women's Soccer League (NWSL) where some Canada women's national soccer team players were assigned to NWSL clubs. [11] This affiliation ended after the 2021 season when the allocation system was abolished, [12] although many Canadians continue to play in the American league. [13]
In 2022, former national team player Diana Matheson and current national team captain Christine Sinclair announced a new Canadian women's professional league targeted to start play in 2025. [14] Matheson and Project 8 Sports Inc. are leading this effort while Sinclair is involved in an advisory role. [14] Vancouver Whitecaps FC, Calgary Foothills WFC, and AFC Toronto City have been announced as inaugural teams. [15]
League | Division | Federation | # of men's teams |
---|---|---|---|
Canadian Premier League | 1 | CSA | 8 |
Major League Soccer | 1 | USSF | 3 |
MLS Next Pro | 3 | USSF | 2 |
League | Division | Federation | # of men's teams | # of women's teams |
---|---|---|---|---|
United Women's Soccer | 2 | USSF | — | 2 |
League1 British Columbia | 3 | CSA | 8 | 8 |
League1 Ontario | 3 | CSA | 22 | 20 |
Ligue1 Québec | 3 | CSA | 12 | 12 |
In July 2022, an independent review summarized in a 125-page report by McLaren Global Sport Solution, commissioned by Canada Soccer, concluded that Canada Soccer mishandled sexual harassment allegations in 2008 against then Canada U-20 women's soccer coach Bob Birarda, who was later found guilty of three counts of sexual assault. It said Canada Soccer was "described by many as being dysfunctional and inefficient" in 2007 and 2008, and concluded among other things that "harassment was not a priority issue amongst the senior Canadian Soccer Association leadership team" at the time. [16]
In 2022, Canada Soccer's then newly appointed Secretary General Earl Cochrane said: "We are going to be leaders in this safe sport – through policy, practice, programs." [17]
Role | Member | Notes |
---|---|---|
President | Charmaine Crooks | [18] |
Vice-President | Paul-Claude Bérubé | [18] |
General Secretary | Kevin Blue | [19] |
Treasurer | Steve Reed | [20] |
Member | Dale T. Briggs | [21] |
Member | Kelly Brown | [21] |
Member | Brian Burden | [21] |
Member | Charisse Bacchus | [21] |
Member | Charlie Cuzzetto | [21] |
Member | Stephanie J. Geosits | [21] |
Member | Dominique Grégoire | [21] |
Member | Orest Konowalchuk | [21] |
Member | Pierre Marchand | [21] |
Member | Dino Rossi | [21] |
Member | Don Story | [21] |
Member | Brittany Timko Baxter | [21] |
No. | Name | Tenure |
---|---|---|
1 | Fred Barter | 1912 |
2 | Tom Watson | 1913 |
3 | Edward Bailey Fisher | 1914 |
4 | Hugh Craig Cambell | 1915–1919 |
5 | Tom Guthrie | 1919 |
6 | Dan McNeil | 1920–1921 |
7 | John Easton | 1922–1925 |
8 | John Russell | 1925–1931 |
9 | Tom Holland | 1931–1932 |
10 | Charles Smail | 1932–1934 |
11 | Len Peto | 1935–1938 |
12 | Tom Elliot | 1939–1940 |
13 | Fred Crumblehulme | 1946–1947 |
14 | Robert Walker | 1947 |
15 | Otis Todd | 1947–1949 |
16 | Charles Pinnell | 1949–1953 |
17 | Ernest Campbell | 1953 |
18 | Jock Hendry | 1954–1956 |
19 | Arthur Arnold | 1957 |
20 | Victor Hagen | 1958–1960 |
21 | Patrick Nolan | 1961–1962 |
22 | Dave Fryatt | 1963–1964 |
23 | Bill Simpson | 1965–1968 |
24 | Aubrey Sanford | 1969–1971 |
25 | John Barnes | 1972–1973 |
26 | Bill Stirling | 1973–1981 |
27 | Jim Fleming | 1982–1985 |
28 | Fred Stambrook | 1986–1991 |
29 | Terry Quinn | 1992–1997 |
30 | Andy Sharpe | 2001–2005 |
31 | Colin Linford | 2006–2007 |
32 | Dominic Maestracci | 2008–2012 |
33 | Victor Montagliani | 2012–2017 |
34 | Steve Reed | 2017–2020 |
35 | Nick Bontis | 2020–2023 |
36 | Charmaine Crooks | 2023– |
In Canada, soccer is the most popular sport in terms of participation rate. According to FIFA's Big Count, almost 2.7 million people played in Canada in 2006. Professional soccer in Canada is played in the Canadian Premier League and Major League Soccer. Canada also has many semi-professional and amateur soccer leagues. Canada's men's and women's national soccer teams are ranked 33rd and 6th respectively in the FIFA World Rankings as of February 10, 2022.
The Canada women's national soccer team represents Canada in international soccer competitions. They are overseen by the Canadian Soccer Association, the governing body for soccer in Canada.
Christine Margaret Sinclair is a Canadian professional soccer player who plays as a forward for the Portland Thorns of the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL) and, from 2000 until her retirement from international football in 2023, was a member of the Canadian national team. An Olympic gold medallist, two-time Olympic bronze medallist, CONCACAF champion, and 14-time winner of the Canada Soccer Player of the Year award, Sinclair is officially the world's all-time leader for international goals scored for men or women with 190 goals, and is one of the most-capped international soccer players with 331 appearances.
The Mexico women's national football team represents Mexico in international women's football. The team is governed by the Mexican Football Federation and competes within CONCACAF, the Confederation of North, Central American and Caribbean Association Football. It has won three gold medals in the Central American and Caribbean Games and a gold medal in the Pan American Games, as well as a silver and bronze in the Women's World Cup prior to FIFA's recognition of the women's game. In addition to its senior team, Mexico also has U-20, U-17, and U-15 teams. The U-17 team reached the final of the 2018 FIFA U-17 Women's World Cup, and the U-15 cohort earned the bronze medal in the 2014 Youth Olympic Games.
Maribel Domínguez Castelán is a Mexican former footballer who played for the Chicago Red Stars during 2013 season of the National Women's Soccer League, and was captain and leading scorer of the Mexico women's national football team. She is known internationally as Marigol for her record of 46 goals scored in 49 matches for the Mexico women's national team.
The Canadian soccer league system, also called the Canadian soccer pyramid, is a term used in soccer to describe the structure of the league system in Canada. The governing body of soccer in the country is the Canadian Soccer Association (CSA), which oversees the system and domestic cups but does not operate any of its component leagues. In addition, some Canadian teams compete in leagues that are based in the United States.
Diana Beverly Matheson is a Canadian former professional soccer player who played for the Canada national team from 2003 to 2020 and multiple professional women's teams over the course of her career. She is best known for scoring the bronze medal-winning goal for Canada in the 92nd minute against France at the 2012 Summer Olympics. She also won a bronze medal at the 2016 Rio Olympics and gold medal at the 2011 Pan American Games with the senior national team.
Carmelina Moscato is a Canadian soccer coach and former professional player. She is currently an assistant coach for Racing Louisville FC of the National Women's Soccer League. She played as a centreback for UPC Tavagnacco in the Serie A, for Piteå IF and Dalsjöfors GoIF in the Damallsvenskan, for Chicago Red Stars, Boston Breakers and Seattle Reign FC in the NWSL, and for Western Sydney Wanderers in the Australian W-League. She also represented the Canadian women's national team. She served as the Commissioner of League1 Ontario Women's Division from September 2019 until December 2020. She also served as the Director of Women's Football for the Bahamas Football Association.
John Herdman is an English professional football manager who is the head coach of Toronto FC in Major League Soccer. He previously served as the head coach of the Canada men's national soccer team.
Soccer is not traditionally a major mainstream sport in Canada, but the sport is growing especially in places like Nova Scotia. Up to 85,000 girls participate in soccer, which is 41% of all youth in the country. The 2015 FIFA Women's World Cup was hosted in Canada.
Adriana Kristina Leon is a Canadian professional women's soccer player who plays as a winger for English Women's Super League club Aston Villa and the Canadian national team.
Samantha June Mewis is an American former professional soccer player who recently played as a midfielder for Kansas City Current of the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL), as well as the United States national team. She played college soccer for the UCLA Bruins. Her club career started in 2013 when she signed with Pali Blues of the W-League and she has since won three NWSL Championship titles with Western New York Flash and North Carolina Courage. She retired from professional soccer on January 19, 2024.
Kadeisha Buchanan is a Canadian professional soccer player who plays as a centre-back for English Women's Super League club Chelsea and the Canada women's national team. Born in Toronto and raised in Brampton, Ontario, she is the youngest of seven girls in a single-parent home. Buchanan was only 17 when she made her debut for the national team on January 13, 2013.
Ashley Elizabeth Marie Lawrence is a Canadian professional soccer player who plays as a full-back or a midfielder for Women's Super League club Chelsea and the Canada national team. She has been described as "one of the best attacking full-backs in the world."
Deanne Cynthia Rose is a Canadian professional soccer player who plays as a forward for Women's Super League club Leicester City and the Canada national team.
Kailen Mary Iacovoni Sheridan is a Canadian professional soccer player who plays as a goalkeeper for National Women's Soccer League club San Diego Wave and the Canada national team.
Jordyn Pamela Huitema is a Canadian professional soccer player who plays as a forward for National Women's Soccer League club OL Reign and the Canada national team.
Victoria Serena Pickett is a Canadian professional soccer player who plays as a midfielder for North Carolina Courage in the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL) and the Canada national team.
Jade Elizabeth Rose is a Canadian soccer player who plays as a defender for the Harvard Crimson in the Ivy League and the Canadian national team.
Amanda Marie Allen is a Canadian professional soccer player who plays as a forward for Orlando Pride of the National Women's Soccer League and the Canada national team.
The national team is currently ranked seventh in the world and is the only country inside the top 20 without its own domestic league.