Canada on a roll, looking for fifth straight win at FIFA Women’s U-17 World Cup

After watching from the stands as Brazil blanked host Morocco 3-0 at Rabat’s Olympic Stadium in the opening match of the FIFA Women’s U-17 World Cup, Canada gets to play the South Americans there in Saturday’s quarterfinal.

“We’ll be at the bench that we sat behind,” said Canada coach Jen Herst. “So it’s a nice full-circle moment for us.”

The young Canadians have outscored their opposition 18-2 in winning four straight at the Football Academy Mohammed VI. Now in the business end of the expanded 24-team tournament, the venue is far grander and the stakes much higher.

“It’s been a great run,” Herst said. “I think one of the keys is we’ve been enjoying ourselves … both on and off the pitch.”

“We have this great unity and togetherness … I think having those tight bonds, that connection off the field is what you then see on the field in terms of how we fight for each other. But even the connection that we have in possession you can see that this team is a connected team.”

That connections has been shown in the Canadian goal celebrations, which have been both numerous and creative.

Saturday marks Canada’s fifth trip to the quarterfinals in eight trips to the under-17 championship. The Canadian women have made it to the semifinals just once, in 2018 when they finished fourth after losing 1-0 to Mexico in the semifinal and 2-1 to New Zealand in the third-place game.

Canada also made the quarterfinals in 2008, 2012 and 2014.

Herst is expecting a typically technical, creative Brazilian side on the ball, with lots of shots and crosses. Out of possession, the Brazilians like to man-mark.

Julia Amireh, Melisa Kekic and Daniela Feria-Estrada have each scored three goals for Canada. Giovanna Waksman and Gi Iseppe have three apiece for Brazil.

Canada romped to a 6-0 win over Zambia while Brazil blanked China 3-0 in round-of-16 play Wednesday. The Canada-Brazil winner will face either defending champion North Korea or 2014 winner Japan in the semifinal.

Herst says the quality of the tournament has been shown by the fact that the United States and Spain failed to survive the round of 16, losing penalty shootouts to the Netherlands and France, respectively.

“Going forward we’re expecting it to be tough, now we’re getting down to the business end,” she said. “Brazil are a very tough side. They’re very unique in how they play and very much themselves.”

“And it’s only going to get tougher from there as well,” she added. “And we’re hoping to go all the way.”

Brazil is making its fourth trip to the quarterfinals but has never managed to go farther.

“We’re very happy. For the first time in the history of the U-17 (side), we’ve made it past the first knockout round,” said Brazil coach Rilany Sila, a former Brazilian international defender who played club football in Brazil, Iceland, Portugal, Spain and Sweden. “We want to make even more history. That’s four games down, three to go.”

Canada advanced to the knockout round here by topping Group D with wins over Nigeria (4-1), Samoa (6-0) and France (2-1). Brazil placed second in Group A, defeating Morocco, drawing Costa Rica (1-1) and losing to Italy (4-3).

Canada missed out on the 2024 FIFA U-17 tournament but made the seven previous editions. CONCACAF only sent two teams to the 2024 FIFA championship, with CONCACAF’s Dominican Republic hosting the tournament, and Canada finished third in qualifying after losing 2-1 to Mexico after extra time in the semifinal.

Led by interim coach Gary Moody, the young Canadians qualified for the 2025 FIFA tournament in April, going unbeaten in topping its CONCACAF qualifying group by beating Nicaragua (5-0), Panama (2-0) and Puerto Rico (3-2).

Brazil finished second, behind Paraguay, with a 2-0-3 record in the final stage of South American qualifying. 

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This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 31, 2025.