What is likely to be Christine Sinclair's final Women's World Cup kicks off Thursday night, as the Canadian legend leads her team against Nigeria in its first match of the 2023 Women's World Cup in Melbourne.
Canada has yet to win a Women's World Cup in its history. The closest the team got was in 2003, when it lost in the semifinals. But this Canada team enters the 2023 tournament as the reigning Olympic champions with a No. 7 world ranking by FIFA.
The Canadians have admittedly underperformed at the Women's World Cup during the history of the tournament and last time out in 2019 they reached the Round of 16 only to be ousted by Sweden at the first knockout hurdle.
Nigeria have been mired in a dispute with the country's soccer federation about World Cup bonus payments and that came on the heels of a disappointing finish at the Women's AFCON championship tournament in 2022 which saw them finish fourth.
The Super Falcons are ranked No. 40 in the world and they are expected to finish bottom of Group B on paper with the highly touted Canadians, hosts Australia (No. 10 in the world) and the Republic of Ireland (No. 22) also in the group.
MORE: All 23 players on Canada's World Cup roster
Canada vs Nigeria live stream, TV channel
- TV Channel: TSN1/4, CTV, RDS
- Live Stream: TSN+, TSN site/app, CTV site/app, RDS site/app
TSN, CTV and RDS will have coverage of the 2023 Women's World Cup across their channels from July 20 through to the final on August 20.
All three broadcasters, including the French-language outlet RDS, will stream the Canada vs. Nigeria match on their site and app with TSN also featuring it on TSN+.
The Group B contest will be televised on TSN1 and TSN4, as well as on CTV and RDS (in French).
MORE: Canada's complete Women's World Cup history
What time is Canada vs Nigeria?
The match will be played at Melbourne Rectangular Stadium with a local kickoff time of Friday, July 21 at 12:30 p.m. in Australia.
Given the 14-hour time difference, the match kicks off on Thursday night at 10:30 p.m. ET for Canadian fans located in the Eastern timezone. Here's the match kickoff time on Thursday across Canada:
Time Zone | Kickoff time |
Atlantic | 11:30 p.m. AT |
Eastern | 10:30 p.m. ET |
Central | 9:30 p.m. CT |
Mountain | 8:30 p.m. MT |
Pacific | 8:30 p.m. PT |
MORE: Check out Canada's 2023 World Cup kits
Canada vs Nigeria odds for Women's World Cup match
Canada are massive favorites in this match, but Nigeria pose a real threat in this match, especially with a star player like the explosive Asisat Oshoala, who can decide matches alone.
Oshoala has played sparingly for the national team over the past two years, and was not on the field when the teams faced off in April 2022 for two matches. Nigeria provided stiff competition both times.
The first match was scoreless at halftime before Canada won 2-0 with a pair of second-half goals, while Canada salvaged a 2-2 draw in the second game thanks to an 88th-minute equalizer.
A Canada team that has only scored three goals in four matches played in 2023 may not be such a sure thing to win this game after all.
Canada win | Draw | Nigeria win | Both teams to score Y / N | Over / Under 2.5 goals | CAN -1.5 | NIG +1.5 | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Sports Interaction (Canada) | -250 | +320 | +700 | +129 / -208 | +107 / -143 | +122 | -161 |