Canada beats Mexico to qualify for 1st FIFA Futsal Women's World Cup

The Canadian Press

· Posted: May 04, 2025 9:27 AM EDT | Last Updated: 14 minutes ago

Canada booked its summons to the inaugural FIFA Futsal Women's World Cup successful melodramatic manner by defeating Mexico successful a punishment shootout Saturday to scope the last of CONCACAF W Futsal Championship.

The 2 finalists astatine the eight-team CONCACAF tourney volition correspond the portion astatine the 16-team FIFA Futsal World Cup, slated for Nov. 21 to Dec. 7 successful the Philippines.

Futsal is simply a five-a-side indoor crippled played successful 2 20-minute halves. Like hockey, teams tin marque changes connected the fly.

The semifinal astatine the Domo Polideportivo in Guatemala City, Guatemala went to a shootout aft finishing tied 4-4 pursuing 2 five-minute periods of other time.

Mexico scored 3 unanswered goals successful the archetypal fractional earlier Canada answered with 4 of its ain successful the archetypal 4 minutes of the 2nd half. Trailing 4-3, Mexico tied the crippled with 1.8 seconds remaining connected a extremity by Rubi Gomez with its nett empty.

Joelle Gosselin, Esther Brossard, Jade Houmphanh and Cynthia Gaspar-Freire scored for Canada successful the shootout. Stephie-Ann Dadaille had her changeable saved.

Goalkeeper Lea Palacio-Tellier stopped shots by Evelyn Gonzalez and Gomez earlier Gaspar-Freire roofed her punishment for a 4-3 Canada win.

Sunday's last volition spot Canada look Panama, which downed Costa Rica 3-1 successful the different semifinal.

The Canadians moved into the semifinals aft beating the U.S. 3-1 to decorativeness runner-up to Costa Rica astatine 2-1-0 successful Group B.

Stingy defence

Mexico won Group A with 3 consecutive wins and a tournament-high 13 goals. Canada, meanwhile, tied for the tournament's stingiest defence with conscionable 4 goals allowed successful excavation play.

The Canadians are coached by Alexandre Da Rocha, a erstwhile manager of the Quebec's women's futsal squad and adjunct manager with the Canadian men's futsal side.

Female futsal players person agelong campaigned for a FIFA championship. In 2022, the International Women's Futsal Players Association condemned FIFAs "public neglect towards women futsal players."

FIFA held the archetypal Futsal Men's World Cup successful 1989 with the 2028 variation featuring 24 teams. Defending champion Brazil has won six of the 10 tournaments to date, finishing runner-up erstwhile and 3rd twice.

Canada has not participated since being 1 of the 16 invited countries for the inaugural men's tournament, failing to beforehand retired of the archetypal circular aft losing to Argentina and Belgium earlier downing Japan.

That 1989 futsal squad included Paul Dolan, Pat Harrington, Nick De Santis, Eddy Berdusco, Lyndon Hooper and Alex Bunbury. Dolan was besides a subordinate of Canada's 1986 FIFA World Cup squad successful Mexico.

There person been 8 editions of the CONCACAF Men's Futsal Championship with Canada participating successful 4 of them. The Canadians' champion showing was making the quarterfinals, successful some 2021 and 2024.