2022 CONCACAF W Championship final

2022 CONCACAF W Championship Final

Estadio BBVA
Event	2022 CONCACAF W Championship
United States Canada 1 0
Date	18 July 2022 (2022-07-18)
Venue	Estadio BBVA, Guadalupe
Referee	Katia García (Mexico)
Attendance	17,247

The 2022 CONCACAF W Championship Final was an association football match between Canada and the United States that took place on 18 July 2022. The match determined the winner of the 2022 CONCACAF W Championship at Estadio BBVA in Guadalupe, Mexico. It was the 11th final of the CONCACAF W Championship, a quadrennial tournament that consists of the women's national teams from CONCACAF to determine the best women's football country in North America, Central America, and the Caribbean.

Both countries had already qualified for the 2023 FIFA Women's World Cup. However, the winner qualified directly for the 2024 Summer Olympics and the 2024 CONCACAF W Gold Cup, whereas the runner-up will play the third-placed team in a two-leg play-off for both tournaments as the seeded team (home team in second leg).^[1]

Background

The final was the 34th meeting between the two countries, with the United States leading the all-time series against Canada 27–6–1.^[2] However, the United States' lone loss to Canada came from the most recent result, a 1–0 loss in the semi-finals of the 2020 Summer Olympics.^[3] The United States is also the most historically successful team in the CONCACAF W Championship, since they won 8 of the 10 previous championships, with Canada obtaining the other two.^[4]

Route to the final

United States		Round	Canada
Opponent	Result	Group stage	Opponent	Result
Haiti	3–0	Match 1	Trinidad and Tobago	6–0
Jamaica	5–0	Match 2	Panama	1–0
Mexico	1–0	Match 3	Costa Rica	2–0
Group A winners Pos Team v t e Pld Pts 1  United States 3 9 2  Jamaica 3 6 3  Haiti 3 3 4  Mexico (H) 3 0 Source: CONCACAF (H) Hosts		Final standings	Group B winners Pos Team v t e Pld Pts 1  Canada 3 9 2  Costa Rica 3 6 3  Panama 3 3 4  Trinidad and Tobago 3 0 Source: CONCACAF
Opponent	Result	Knockout stage	Opponent	Result
Costa Rica	3–0	Semifinals	Jamaica	3–0

United States

The United States qualified for the 2022 CONCACAF W Championship by placing in the top two of the FIFA Women's World Rankings.^[5] The Americans were placed in Group A along with Haiti, Jamaica, and hosts Mexico.^[6] The team is managed by Vlatko Andonovski, who most notably coached the team to a bronze medal in the 2020 Summer Olympics.^[7] The United States began their run with a match against Haiti, who many experts predicted would be a 5–0 rout in favor of the US.^[8][9] However, after two goals were made by Alex Morgan by the 23rd minute, the US struggled to accurately make their shots on goal, as the shots on target accuracy would be 29%.^[10] However, their 3–0 win would soon be validated as Haiti made an upset against Mexico in a 3–0 win.^[11]

The United States won against Jamaica in a 5–0 rout, thus securing their spot in the knockout stage and the 2023 FIFA Women's World Cup.^[12] The match began with two goals by Sophia Smith in the 5th and 8th minute, and rounded out in the 2nd half with the help of Rose Lavelle, Kristie Mewis, and Trinity Rodman.^[13] In the last match of Group A, the United States was up against Mexico, who was underperforming relative to their projected placement in the tournament. However, Mexico put up a defensive fight against the United States, as they only conceded one goal in the 89th minute by Kristie Mewis.^[14] The United States would finish the group stage by sweeping Group A.^[15]

The United States played against Group B runner-ups Costa Rica in the semi-finals.^[16] The United States began with a slow start, as the first goal did not come until Emily Sonnett scored by rebounding the ball into the net in the 34th minute. The pace of the match continued the same as the first half came to a close, since the next goal came from the backheel of Mallory Pugh in the 45+4th minute. The match ended with a quick goal from Ashley Sanchez's attack in the 90+5th minute.^[17] Although Costa Rica defended the United States well, there was little to no offense from the Costa Ricans, as there was only one shot in the 3–0 loss, which was not on goal.^[18]

Canada

Jessie Fleming entered the final as one of the three top scorers with three goals in the tournament.

Canada qualified for the 2022 CONCACAF W Championship by placing in the top two of the FIFA Women's World Rankings.^[5] The Canadians were placed in Group B along with Costa Rica, Panama, and Trinidad and Tobago.^[6] The team is managed by Bev Priestman, who most notably coached the team to a gold medal in the 2020 Summer Olympics.^[7] Canada began their run with a match against Trinidad and Tobago, which ended with a 6–0 domination against the Trinbagonians. The match did take a bit for the Canadians to adapt to, as there was only one goal scored by Christine Sinclair in the first half. However, Canada rolled out in the 2nd half with five goals and had thirteen shots on target.^[19]

Canada began their next match of the group stage against Panama, which surprisingly led to a 1–0 win when experts predicted more goals from the Canadian side.^[20] The most contributing factor was Panamanian goalkeeper Yenith Bailey having five saves, with Julia Grosso scoring in the 64th minute as the only goal Bailey gave up.^[21] Nevertheless, Canada secured their spot in the knockout stage and the 2023 FIFA Women's World Cup after this match.^[22] The final match of the group stage was against Costa Rica, which ended in a solid 2–0 defensive-oriented win. Two of the three shots on target ended in goals with the help of Jessie Fleming in the 5th and Sophie Schmidt in the 69th minute.^[23] Canada would finish the group stage by sweeping Group B.^[15]

Canada played against Group A runner-ups Jamaica in the semi-finals.^[24] Canada secured the appearance in the final against the United States through a 3–0 win, that featured a healthy pace of goals. Canada's victory originated from Jessie Fleming's header in the 18th minute, Allysha Chapman's header with an assist from Adriana Leon in the 64th minute, and a goal from Leon herself in the 76th minute.^[25] Likewise to the offensive performance of Costa Rica against the United States, Jamaica showed little offense as there was only one shot in the entire game, which was not on target.^[26]

Venue

The interior view of Estadio BBVA.

The final was played at Estadio BBVA, a 51,000-seat stadium in the Monterrey suburb of Guadalupe in Mexico. The stadium – which opened in 2015 – features a pitch that is mostly used for association football; the only tenant for women's sports is C.F. Monterrey, which is a member of the Liga MX competition.^[27] The venue was chosen for the final over Estadio Universitario, due to Estadio BBVA being more modern from its opening date.^[28] International football activity outside of friendlies have never occurred prior to the 2022 CONCACAF W Championship. However, the stadium is one of the three official Mexican venues for the 2026 FIFA World Cup on the men's side.^[29]

Match

18 July 2022 (2022-07-18)

21:00

United States	1–0	Canada
Morgan 78' (pen.)	Report (FIFA) Report (CONCACAF)

Estadio BBVA, Guadalupe

Attendance: 17,247

Referee: Katia García (Mexico)

2024 CONCACAF W Champions
United States Ninth title

United States

Canada

Formation: 4–3–3 GK 1 Alyssa Naeher LB 8 Sofia Huerta CB 3 Alana Cook CB 4 Becky Sauerbrunn RB 19 Emily Fox CM 16 Rose Lavelle  90+2' CM 10 Lindsey Horan  41' CM 17 Andi Sullivan RW 9 Mallory Pugh  89' CF 13 Alex Morgan  89' LW 11 Sophia Smith  89' Substitutions: DF 12 Naomi Girma  89' FW 6 Trinity Rodman  89' FW 23 Margaret Purce  89' MF 20 Taylor Kornieck  90+2' Manager: Vlatko Andonovski

Formation: 4–3–3 GK 1 Kailen Sheridan LB 8 Jayde Riviere  61' CB 3 Kadeisha Buchanan CB 14 Vanessa Gilles RB 10 Ashley Lawrence CM 11 Desiree Scott CM 5 Quinn  57' CM 17 Jessie Fleming RW 16 Janine Beckie CF 12 Christine Sinclair  46'  68' LW 15 Nichelle Prince  68' Substitutions: MF 7 Julia Grosso  57' DF 2 Allysha Chapman  61' FW 9 Jordyn Huitema  68' FW 19 Adriana Leon  68' Manager: Bev Priestman

References

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2. "Canada vs United States H2H (Women's)". World Football. Retrieved 16 July 2022.
3. "Women's Olympic Football Tournament US vs CAN 2020". FIFA. Retrieved 16 July 2022.
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7. "Tokyo 2020 Women Results - Olympic football". Summer Olympics. Retrieved 17 July 2022.
8. "USWNT vs. Haiti: Odds and Predictions for 2022 CONCACAF W Championship". Bleacher Report. Retrieved 17 July 2022.
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12. "The 4x #FIFAWWC champions have qualified for their ninth consecutive tournament!". Twitter. Retrieved 17 July 2022.
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14. "2022 CONCACAF Championship Group A - USA vs Mexico". CONCACAF. Retrieved 17 July 2022.
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20. "Canada vs. Panama how to watch, live stream: 2022 Concacaf Women's Championship picks, predictions". CBS. Retrieved 17 July 2022.
21. "2022 CONCACAF W Championship Group B - Panama vs Canada". CONCACAF. Retrieved 17 July 2022.
22. "The Olympic champions have qualified to the 2023 tournament. We will see you in 🇦🇺🇳🇿!". Twitter. Retrieved 17 July 2022.
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24. "Canada-Jamaica, a classic duel for a CWC Final spot". CONCACAF. Retrieved 17 July 2022.
25. "Canada march past Jamaica to set up U.S. rematch in Final". CONCACAF. Retrieved 17 July 2022.
26. "2022 CONCACAF W Championship SF - Canada vs Jamaica". CONCACAF. Retrieved 17 July 2022.
27. "Estadio BBVA Bancomer". The Stadium Guide. Retrieved 16 July 2022.
28. "Concacaf announces Monterrey as host for summer's Concacaf W Championship". CONCACAF. Retrieved 16 July 2022.
29. "2026 FIFA World Cup Bid Book" (PDF). FIFA. Retrieved 16 July 2022.