Casey Stoney - Can WNT Head Coach - Sept 29/26

By Kevin Connolly

Casey Stoney Conference - Canada Women's National Team Head Coach

Sept 30, 2026

A Journey to the World Cup

In under 10 months, the Women's World Cup kicks off in Brazil. With several nations already qualified, November's CONCACAF W Championships in Texas (Mansfield and Houston) will determine which nations from this part of the world will grace Brazil 2027.

National team head coach Casey Stoney takes her squad into a quarter-final match against Panama on November 28th with a World Cup berth on the line. The tournament will give 4 nations direct entry and the next top 2 nations a secondary path through the inter-confederation playoffs in December.

Ahead of the final window before the W Championships, Stoney held an exclusive press conference and Q&A with the official Canadian soccer supporters group, The Voyageurs. Stoney shared insights into the work, the highs, the lows, and the journey that Les Rouges have been on since her appointment in early 2025.

Coming on board after a tumultuous 2024, where the Women's team navigated a lack of CBA, the drone scandal in Paris, and the subsequent complete breakdown of the coaching staff, Stoney acknowledged the difficult environment that she entered. She reiterated how the group was "resilient, hardworking, and humble", even from afar, and was a huge reason why she accepted the challenge.

The Canadian Men's team is coming off their historic World Cup this summer, and finally building on the momentum that the Women's program has owned for years. Part of the build up to the successful 2026 campaign was the coaching appointment of Jesse Marsch and how he was able to integrate himself across national teams, the association, and the larger player pool. Marsch is now part of the leadership group at Canada Soccer and is supporting Stoney in her attempts to find similar success on the women's side. Something Stoney called unheard of in the international game, where the Men's and Women's coaching staffs come together to share knowledge and ideas.

That leadership group, including CEO Kevin Blue, forms a group that Stoney says she found the prospect of working alongside very intriguing. She went on to further say that their "extreme competency in leadership and executive leadership" were a big draw when she was offered the role.

Now that she is over a year into the gig, time has allowed her to attend multiple national team camps of various ages, U17 and U20 among them. This is a glimpse into Stoney's strategy around understanding the current player pool and finding pathways to expand it. She says the time with the players is critical in developing relationships, learning about them as people first, and building trust - all critical things in management that should help Stoney find sustained success.

This time has allowed her to evaluate and be a part of the overwhelmingly successful first two seasons of the NSL, Canada's first professional soccer league. Having spent years of her playing career in the early days of professional soccer in England, Stoney has a unique perspective on where things can go and how the national teams can continue to benefit from increased competition, exposure, and success. One challenge she acknowledged is the balance between NSL clubs vying for success in the win column and giving opportunities to young Canadian talent - something she says she wishes they did more. Still in the early days of existence, the league has already seen examples of players emerging, earning national team selections, and even moving to and from more established global leagues in Europe and beyond.

While these opportunities at club level are growing and some of Canada's top players are earning global recognition for their play (Olivia Smith, Arsenal, PFA Young Player of the Year), the women's international windows have shrunken for CONCACAF nations seeking top-level opponents from other confederations. This means the team has very few opportunities to test themselves as a unit rather than individually. The women's international calendar has been catching up to the men's in terms of congestion and commitments, even outside of regular major tournament cycles (i.e., UEFA Nations League). This means Canada often struggles to pit themselves against the world's top nations. Stoney cited some top teams having played over 20 competitive fixtures in the last 12 months, while Canada had played 0.

Since October 2025, the team has played 11 friendlies against various opponents and has earned 4 victories, 1 draw, and 6 defeats. Of these camps and series of friendlies, the compelling detail came from a 3-match camp held in Brazil in April 2026. Stoney cited this as an incredible opportunity to experience so many of the intangible variables of Brazil before the big dance of World Cup 2027. The players, coaches, and staff came away with invaluable learnings that they hope to leverage next year.

The team's next opportunity to impress will be against Denmark on home soil in both Montreal and Toronto on October 9th and 12th, respectively. Tickets are still available for both matches: Canada vs Denmark, Montreal ; Canada vs Denmark, Toronto .