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Will Canada's FIFA WWC 2023 Performance Pave The Way For A Pro League?

Project 8

Summary

  • Canada play their second FIFA World Cup match on 26 July
  • Will Canada’s success at the World Cup help establish a Pro-League for women?
  • Quinn creating history at World Cup as first trans non-binary player 

The 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup is currently underway in Australia and New Zealand. Canada ended up drawing their first game against Nigeria 0-0 with both teams struggling to find the back of the net. The Canadian Women’s National Team get a chance to showcase their skills once again on July 26 when they take on the Republic of Ireland.

Will Canada Establish A Women’s Pro League?

Canadian soccer fans will be interested in knowing that 30 out of the 32 teams participating in the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup have Pro-League teams. Canada is one of the two teams that do not have a Pro-League for women, the other team being Haiti. 

It is not surprise that a team like Argentina where soccer is considered a religion has a domestic Pro-League for women but what will be a surprise to many Canadian fans is that Vietnam also has a Pro-League consisting of 7 teams. 

FIFPro, which is the worldwide union representing soccer players has released a report showing that the average number of teams in the women’s Pro-League is around 12 while the average number of teams in the men’s Pro-League is around 16.  

Most of the 23 women representing Team Canada at the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup end up playing soccer in European Pro-Leagues. Nine of these 23 players play in England while 8 of them play in the National Women’s Soccer League (NWSL) which is based in the United States.

There is a push to establish a women’s Pro-League in Canada and that push could get a lot stronger if Team Canada ends up doing well at the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup. A group called Project 8 led by Diana Matheson is looking to establish an 8 team Pro-League women’s competition in 2025!

Quinn Creates History At 2023 FIFA World Cup

Team Canada gained attention at the 2023 FIFA World Cup for women after Quinn made their debut against Nigeria to become the first trans non-binary player to play in a FIFA World Cup game. Quinn was also part of the Team Canada squad that helped win the 2021 Tokyo Olympics. 

Author Hello, My name is Ava. I am a keen sports enthusiast and enjoying not only watching but also playing a variety of them throughout the year. Ones that I particularly enjoy are reflected in the posts I tend to write about, stemmed from my experience in college athletics, coverage for the NBA and keen attendee...