The Matildas are set to take on Canada in a pair of friendly matches at Starlight Stadium in Langford, British Columbia. It will be the first time the Matildas have played in a month since they cruised through the second round of Olympic qualifying matches.
The Matildas vs Canada match kicks off at 2:30 pm AEDT on December 2 on Network 10 and Paramount+.
This match will be the first meeting between the two sides since the Matildas defeated Canada 4-0 at the FIFA Women’s World Cup 2023.
Coach Tony Gustavsson has named a 23-player squad for Australia’s final two international games of 2023.
“These final 180 minutes of the year against a nation that has already qualified for the Paris 2024 Olympic Games are the type of preparation matches that are invaluable for the players,” he said.
“It’s a squad that was based on performance in the last camp and also performance at club level. There’s been a lot of players that have performed really well as of late, and as you saw in the last qualifiers in October there were a lot of players that took the chance. I gave a lot of players a chance, and some of them took it.”
Sam Kerr, Mackenzie Arnold, Charlotte Grant and Holly McNamara will not play in the final two games due to injuries.
Sarah Hunter, Jada Whyman, Alex Chidiac and Remy Siemsen will replace the four injured players.
“This first game is going to be more – similar to my quote that I used when we played Spain, way back – that it’s maybe not about winning a game, but winning a player,” Gustavsson said.
“So we’re going to give a lot of players an opportunity in this first game to look at them and what they’ve got in this environment so that they are given a fair chance to fight for a spot in an Olympic roster as well.”
The Matildas vs Canada match kicks off at 2:30 pm AEDT on December 2 on Network 10 and Paramount+.