Canada’s Zadorsky savors W Gold Cup, Olympic qualification

Toronto, Canada – The Canadian Women’s National Team qualified to the Olympic Games of Paris 2024 after defeating the Jamaican Women’s National Team on Tuesday at BMO Field in Toronto, Canada, with a 4-1 aggregate score in their Concacaf Olympic Playoff.

Canada not only got the last ticket to defend their current title at Paris 2024, but they also qualified to the first W Gold Cup, to be played next year.

Canada DF Shelina Zadorsky shared some of her thoughts on what it meant to qualify for two of the biggest tournaments next year after their big 2-1 second leg win at home in front of a record 29,212 fans.

“It’s hard to put it into words for me. This sport is my life,” said Zadorsky in an exclusive interview with Concacaf.com. “We all have our ups and downs as individuals in this team, but this is family. We win together, we lose together. We win Olympics, we do that all together”.

“I think that bounce back ability after a tough World Cup, to be able to do this and keep moving forward is great. There is no need to look back now, we need to look forward,” added Zadorsky.

Canada Head Coach Bev Priestman also shared what it meant for her to get the direct qualification for the W Gold Cup, and the chance to defend their Olympic Gold at the press conference after the game.

“We know that we will be in Paris 2024. Everything between now and then it’s to get experience, get caps. It's exciting. We can’t wait to get to work, it will get the best out of us,” said Priestman.

Canada joins the United States Women’s National Team as the two teams qualified for the next Olympic Games from Concacaf. Canada and the U.S. are also both qualified for the 2024 W Gold Cup.

Jamaica still has a chance to qualify for next year’s W Gold Cup, as they now enter Group B of League A in the Road To W Gold Cup where they will take on Panama and Guatemala.