HOPES DASHED
Canadians fall just short of reaching U-17 World Cup final after loss to Mexicans,
MONTEVIDEO, URUGUAY— Captain Nicole Perez’s first-half penalty sent Mexico to the final of the FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup with a 1-0 win Wednesday that consigned Canada to the thirdplace match.
Spain defeated New Zealand 2-0 in the earlier semifinal at Estadio Charrua. The Canadian women will meet New Zealand on Saturday in the consolation final before Spain and Mexico face off to see who joins France, Japan, South Korea and North Korea (twice) on the list of under-17 world champions.
“It’s about getting over this tomorrow,” said Canada coach Rhian Wilkinson. “Tonight I’m going to let them be sad, because it hurts for sure.”
Canada’s previous best finish at the U-17 tournament was seventh in 2008 and 2012.
Despite the loss, Wilkinson’s team has at the very least matched the fourth-place finish by the Canadian senior team at the 2003 Women’s World Cup.
The only Canadian team to do better — male or female — at a FIFA world championship is the 2002 squad, featuring a 19- year-old Christine Sinclair, that finished runner-up to the U.S. at the FIFA U-19 Women’s World Championship on Canadian soil.
Canada defeated Germany 1-0 in the quarter-finals while Mexico beat Ghana 4-2 in a penalty shootout.
Both teams had finished second in their preliminary pools — Canada at 2-1-0 in Group D and Mexico at 1-0-2 in Group B.
It marked the first time the CONCACAF rivals had met at a FIFA women’s youth tourna- ment. Mexico had beaten Canada 2-1 in semifinals of the CONCACAF U-17 Championship in June.
Canada, Mexico and New Zealand were all first-time semifinalists at this level. Spain, which beat Canada 5-0 in round-robin play, reached the semifinals in 2010, 2014 (when it reached the final) and 2016.
Four of the tournament’s previous five finals (2008, 2010, 2012 and 2016) went to extra time or penalty shootouts.
Canada, Germany, Ghana, Japan, New Zealand and North Korea are the only countries to have qualified for every edition of the U-17 championship since its inception in 2008.