Canada vs. England

Canada’s world ranking: 8th. The skinny: With Canada having only scored three goals through four games, it’s not surprising the team’s best players reside behind their back line. Veteran goaltender Erin McLeod, 32, and youthful centre back Kadeisha Buchanan, 19, have been stellar. McLeod boasts three clean sheets in four games. Buchanan, a tackling machine who Canadian coach John Herdman calls the “Christine Sinclair of defence,” has been far-and-away the best positional player for Canada and should earn a spot on the tournament all-star team. Star striker Sinclair, meanwhile, has been mostly silent since scoring on a penalty in Canada’s 1-0 win over China in the tourney opener. While she may no longer have the speed to be a consistent scoring threat, she still possesses the highest soccer IQ on Team Canada and has created chances with her ball distribution. England’s world ranking: 6th. The skinny: England has punched its way into the quarter-finals for third straight World Cup. Karen Carney powers England’s offence from her midfield position. The 27-year-old from Birmingham City scored twice in England’s group play, which included a pair of 2-1 wins over Mexico and Colombia. Carney, nicknamed “The Wizard,” has been battling a back injury and was held out of England’s opening 1-0 loss to France. Striker Enoila Aluko may be the sleeping giant of World Cup. The 28-year-old from Chelsea scored 13 of England’s 52 goals in their qualifying road to Canada but has yet to score in this tournament. Aluko’s most-notable achievement this World Cup was when she high-fived the wrong coach during England’s opening game. “As I ran off the pitch at halftime I accidentally high-fived the France coach Philippe Bergeroo, thinking it was our head coach Mark Sampson,” she wrote in her BBC blog. “I was in my own world and wasn’t looking but by the time I glanced up and realized it wasn’t Mark I was already highfiving the wrong man. He looked at me like I had 10 heads!”