The United States women will meet Canada for the second time in a month as the two sides clash in the first-ever SheBelieves Cup final on Tuesday in Columbus.
These two teams played a thrilling 2-2 draw on a rain-soaked San Diego pitch in the CONCACAF W Gold Cup final, with the U.S. winning the match on penalties to lift the trophy in its inaugural iteration. Amidst horrific field conditions, Alyssa Naeher was the hero in that shootout, despite conceding a penalty deep into extra-time, as she saved three Canada spot-kicks and scored the clinching one herself.
Now, in the first edition of the reorganized SheBelieves Cup, which features a final for the first time in its nine-year history, they meet once again. The U.S. put forth a quality performance in a 2-1 victory over Japan in the semifinals, shaking off conceding the opener 30 seconds into the match to advance, while Canada needed penalties to skate past Brazil after Vanessa Gilles scored a 77th-minute equalizer in a 1-1 draw.
The Sporting News is following the USA vs Canada match live, providing score updates, commentary and highlights as they happen.
USA vs Canada live score
| Score | Goal scorers | |
| USA | – | – |
| Canada | – | – |
Kickoff: 7 p.m. ET / 4 p.m. PT
Location: Lower.com Field (Columbus, OH)
Starting lineups (predicted):
USA (4-2-3-1, right to left): Naeher (GK) — Fox, Dahlkemper, Davidson, Nighswonger — Horan, Coffey — Rodman, Shaw, Smith — Morgan.
Canada (3-4-3, right to left): Sheridan (GK) — Gilles, Rose, Buchanan — Lawrence, Fleming, Grosso, Beckie — Leon, Huitema, Lacasse.
USA vs Canada live updates, highlights, commentary
1 hour 45 mins to kick: The emergence of Jaedyn Shaw, who became the first-ever U.S. player to score in each of her first five international starts, has given the USWNT an even deeper forward unit. Twila Kilgore addressed how Shaw can find the net so consistently despite not producing a high volume of chances.
“What makes her such a good goal scorer is her focus and calmness. She’s looking to beat the goalkeeper, not the defender in front of her, that’s almost a given at this point.” High praise, indeed!
“Smacked it with all of my life.”
— Jaedyn Shaw, April 6, 2024 https://t.co/FCuYX1NSxu pic.twitter.com/yDReqjQuTX— U.S. Women’s National Soccer Team (@USWNT) April 8, 2024
2 hours to kickoff: While getting a win was the most important part of Thursday’s game against Japan, the return of Mal Swanson and Cat Macario from long-term injuries was a massive jolt for the U.S. Swanson was exceptional in her 80 minutes of play, creating chance after chance for herself and teammates, while Macario saw the final 10 minutes after one day shy of two years away from national team duty.
Having both back is an invaluable boost for the United States, as both were in exceptional form when they went down with their injuries, and their losses proved pivotal at last summer’s Women’s World Cup.
Cat’s baaaaaackkkk! https://t.co/He9SPt5xzl pic.twitter.com/Ggm5G0cuGC
— U.S. Women’s National Soccer Team (@USWNT) April 8, 2024
USA vs Canada stats
- This will be the 66th all-time meeting between the U.S. and Canada women, dating back to 1986, of which Canada have won just four, with one of those being the semifinal at the 2020 Summer Olympics, knocking the U.S. out en route to a gold medal finish.
- With her goal against Japan in the SheBelieves Cup semifinal, Jaedyn Shaw became the first U.S. player ever to score in each of her first five international starts.
- Canada defender Vanessa Gilles, who scored the team’s only goal against Brazil in the semifinal, has three goals in Women’s Champions League action this season for Lyon, making her the top-scoring defender in the competition. Her three goals in the French top flight make her the second-highest-scoring defender in the competition, behind only her teammate Wendie Renard.
USA vs Canada lineups, team news
How many minutes Mallory Swanson and Catarina Macario can play in this match is unclear, and there is reason to believe neither will be deployed from the start, even though Swanson was electric in the semifinal against Japan.
Having just completed 80 minutes in that game three days ago, Twila Kilgore could decide that Swanson will play a substitute role against Canada, while Macario has been brought along very slowly by both club and country. Sophia Smith could have earned a start here in her place with electric play off the bench in the semifinal.
Sam Coffey has cleared concussion protocol and will be available, Kilgore said in her pre-match press conference, but Naomi Girma picked up a thigh injury in the semifinal and is “day-to-day” which seems to indicate she won’t be involved, especially for a match that’s technically considered a friendly.
USA projected starting lineup (4-2-3-1): Naeher (GK) — Fox, Dahlkemper, Davidson, Nighswonger — Horan, Coffey — Rodman, Shaw, Smith — Morgan.
USA subs (9): (Lineups released one hour prior to kickoff)
Canada head coach Bev Priestman deployed a whopping five forwards against Brazil in the semifinal, but it’s hard to see that same tactic being used against a very dangerous U.S. side here in the final. Briestman will likely have to decide between Jordyn Huitema and Deanne Rose up top while adding a midfielder in Julia Grosso or Simi Awujo to replace whoever drops out.
They are missing veteran midfielder Quinn who dropped out of the squad after sustaining a concussion on club duty with the Seattle Reign, as did midfielder Olivia Smith who has a slight injury to her knee and was unable to participate. Longtime veterans Sophie Schmidt and Christine Sinclair retired after last summer’s World Cup and are no longer available for selection.
Canada projected starting lineup (3-4-3): Sheridan (GK) — Gilles, Rose, Buchanan — Lawrence, Fleming, Grosso, Beckie — Leon, Huitema, Lacasse.
Canada subs (9): (Lineups released one hour prior to kickoff)
How to watch USA vs Canada
| TV Channel | Streaming | |
| USA | TBS (English), Universo (Spanish) | Sling, Max, Fubo, Peacock |
| Canada | OneSoccer | Fubo Canada |
The SheBelieves Cup final will be televised in English on TBS in the United States, as part of U.S. Soccer’s 10-year rights deal with Turner Sports. TBS is available to stream on Sling as well as Turner’s dedicated streaming platform Max.
There is also a Spanish-language broadcast available on Universo, which can be streamed on Fubo as well as NBC’s platform Peacock.
In Canada, the official broadcast partner of the Canadian national team is OneSoccer, who will televise the SheBelieves Cup final. That channel can be found streaming on Fubo Canada.
