As the FIFA World Cup approaches, the Canadian women’s soccer team is receiving more attention and higher expectations than the men’s team did last year, according to a recent Ipsos poll. Team Canada, ranked seventh in the world, will play its first group stage match against Nigeria on Thursday in Melbourne. The month-long tournament is being co-hosted by Australia and New Zealand.
Despite the distance and time difference, 41 percent of Canadians claim that they will closely follow the matches, a higher percentage than the 34 percent who showed interest in the men’s World Cup in Qatar last year. Sanyam Sethi, Vice President of Ipsos Canada Public Affairs, attributes this increased interest to the women’s team’s recent success and rankings.
Interestingly, the survey also revealed that about one-third of respondents view the women’s soccer World Cup as more important than the Olympics, which are also held every four years. The older generation of fans seems to be driving the Canadian interest, with millennials and boomers more likely to tune in compared to gen-Xers.
In terms of Canada’s chances in the tournament, Gareth Wheeler, commentator at OneSoccer, believes that Canada will advance from the group stage but may face challenges along the way. Wheeler considers Canada as an outsider compared to the other top teams in the competition. However, he acknowledges the team’s character and experience and believes that they have the potential to shock the world and win their first World Cup.
Canada’s best performance in the women’s World Cup was a fourth-place finish in 2003. Led by captain Christine Sinclair, the world’s all-time leading international goal-scorer, the team is heading into this year’s tournament as one of the teams to watch after winning the Olympic gold medal in 2021.
The pay disputes surrounding the tournament have not dampened the players’ focus on achieving their World Cup dreams. Although Canada is one of the teams without a payment agreement in place, the players remain determined and are hopeful for progress in negotiations with Canada Soccer. The players have also made adjustments to their training camps to work around the limitations imposed by the dispute.
Overall, the majority of Canadians believe that the FIFA World Cup provides an opportunity to advance women’s sports and demonstrates gender equality in sports. However, there is still work to be done to achieve equal pay and recognition for women in soccer.
The Ipsos poll was conducted from June 20 to 21, 2023, with a sample of 1,000 Canadians aged 18 or older. The precision of the online poll is measured using a credibility interval of ± 3.5 percentage points.
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