Canada's Sydney Collins, right, battles Jamaica's Kameron Simmonds for the ball during their CONCACAF women's championship soccer series match in Toronto on Tuesday Sept. 26, 2023.Nathan Denette/The Canadian Press
Defender Sydney Collins returns from injury while goalkeeper Emily Burns, midfielder Florianne Jourde and teenage forward Kaylee Hunter get their first senior call-ups for Canada games in Europe against Switzerland and the Netherlands during the FIFA October international window.
Coach Casey Stoney has named a 24-player roster to face No. 24 Switzerland on Friday at the Swissporarena in Lucerne before taking on the 11th-ranked Netherlands on Oct. 28 at Goffertstadion in Nijmegen.
The ninth-ranked Canadian women have not played since being outclassed 3-0 by the second-ranked U.S. on July 2 in Washington, D.C.
Stoney called the disappointing loss “a reality check for everybody.”
“It is one game but it’s an opportunity to reset,” she said after the match. “And we need to reset quickly. We need to get players into a physical condition to be able to perform at the highest level. And we definitely weren’t there [against the U.S.].”
The U.S. had 66 per cent possession, outshot Canada 22-7 (8-3 in shots on target) and had a 6-0 edge in corners. Canada led in fouls, 13-5.
The Canadian women are 6-2-1 under Stoney, a former England captain.
Collins, who collected the last of her six Canada caps in December 2023 against Australia, has been injury-plagued in recent times.
The versatile defender fractured her ankle in February 2024 in camp with Canada ahead of the CONCACAF W Gold Cup. She returned in time to be called up for the 2024 Olympics but had to withdraw from the squad after breaking her left leg in the buildup to the tournament.
Canada's Florianne Jourde celebrates her side's opening goal during a U-20 Women's World Cup round of 16 soccer match against Spain in Cali, Colombia, Wednesday, Sept. 11, 2024.Dolores Ochoa/The Associated Press
North Carolina traded Collins to Bay FC in August for US$60,000 in 2025 intraleague transfer funds. She has been starting at centre back for Bay FC.
Burns, who plays for FC Nantes in France, was a nominee for the French league’s top goalkeeper and twice won top honours in the French second tier. The 28-year-old from Sherwood Park, Alta., previously played for Dijon and Saint-Etienne in France and Calgary’s Foothills FC.
The 20-year-old Jourde, a Canadian youth international from Montreal, signed with Paris Saint-Germain in July after playing collegiate soccer at USC following a stint with AS Laval.
The 17-year-old Hunter has 14 goals and three assists this season for AFC Toronto of the Northern Super League. The Calgary-born forward has been a scoring sensation at youth level, making her international debut at 15.
Star forward Olivia Smith, who moved from England’s Liverpool to Arsenal in July for a then-women’s transfer record of £1 million ($1.87 million), returns after missing the last international window through injury.
Unavailable this time through injury are goalkeeper Lysianne Proulx (Juventus), defenders Kadeisha Buchanan (Chelsea) and Vanessa Gilles (Bayern Munich) and midfielder Simi Awujo (Manchester United).
Canada Soccer said midfielder Kayla Briggs (Michigan State) and forward Annabelle Chukwu (Notre Dame) were “unavailable for selection by mutual agreement with their colleges.”
The average age of the squad is 25.2, ranging from the 17-year-old Hunter to the 33-year-old Adriana Leon.
Canada is unbeaten in five career meetings (4-0-1) with Switzerland and has won the last three matches, most recently in a 1-0 victory in round-of-16 play in Vancouver at the 2015 Women’s World Cup.
Canada has lost just once in 14 games (9-1-4 edge) against the Netherlands. The teams played to a scoreless draw the last time they met in March, 2020 at the Tournoi de France in Calais. The Dutch scored their lone win over the Canadian women in group play at the 2019 World Cup in France, prevailing 2-1 in Reims, France.