Kadeisha Buchanan's gruelling battle to get back to her old self

The first thing you notice about Kadeisha Buchanan when speaking with her off the pitch is her smile.  

It's wide, bright, and infectious, instantly lighting up any room that she walks into. She's a pure delight to talk to as a reporter, even though it takes a little bit of effort to get her to open up to you.   

When she's on the pitch, the smile instantly disappears, and an ultra-serious expression takes over her face. There's business to care of, and Buchanan is all about taking care of business.  

But these days, Buchanan has every reason to smile, and she couldn't help but smile during a one-on-one interview via Zoom with TFC Republic. She has been called into international duty by coach Casey Stoney for the 2026 FIFA Series that will see Canada play Zambia, South Korea and Brazil from April 11-18. Her last appearance for Canada came in a 1-1 draw vs. Spain on Oct. 25, 2024, so this month's games are a long time coming.

Buchanan, a 30-year-old from Toronto, tore her anterior cruciate ligament in November 2024 in a match vs. Liverpool and only recently started playing again with her pro club, English side Chelsea.   

After being sidelined for 469 days with her ACL injury, Buchanan played in her first game in February when she came off the bench in extra time of Chelsea’s FA Cup win over Manchester United. In the club’s very next game, also against Manchester United, she started in Chelsea’s win in the League Cup final in Bristol.    

Buchanan has six goals and four assists in 154 appearances for Canada since making her national team debut in 2013. She has the most caps amongst active players and ranks sixth all-time. She’s also one of Canada’s most decorated players, having won an Olympic gold and bronze medal, as well as five UEFA Champions League titles and five French league championships, three English Super League crowns and an FA Cup.    

But more than that, Buchanan provides Canada with a steely and calming presence in the middle of the defence and is considered one of the team’s top leaders as its most experienced campaigner.  

In this one-on-one interview with TFC Republic, Buchanan discusses her lengthy road to recovery, being back with Canada for this month's international window, the recent ratification of a new collective bargaining agreement with Canada Soccer, and much more.  

This Q&A has been lightly edited and trimmed for brevity and clarity.      

What has it been like for you in Brazil back in camp with Canada for the first time in 15 months?  

It's been really good. I'm obviously happy to be back in camp, and just happy to see my teammates again, my friends again, the staff again. It's been really positive, and lots of good vibes. The girls were happy to see me back and I was very happy to see that.  

I definitely have a lot to learn and just how to maneuver, and I haven't played under Casey [Stoney], so just learning the ways of camp again, and just basically taking a step back and assessing and observing what is going on, so then I can impose myself and slowly bring myself back into the fold.  

Aside from wins, what else would you like to see Canada gain from these next three games as it looks ahead to the World Cup qualifiers later this year?  

Just play with conviction, play with confidence and really just impose ourselves on our opponents like we know we can. Just try to dominate our opposition in each and every game. 

Kadeisha Buchanan back in the fold for Canada this month

The veteran defender has been recalled by Canada for the first time since tearing her ACL in November 2024.

TFC REPUBLICJohn Molinaro

This is your first camp working with Casey Stoney who was hired as the Canadian women's team coach in early 2025, shortly after you suffered your injury. What's your early impressions of her?  

It's very positive. She's very direct and to the point which is very appreciated. She has a clear idea of where she wants the team to go, and she just coaches us in a manner that she thinks is going to get us there.   

Do you remember playing against her when she was with England during the 2015 World Cup quarter-finals in Vancouver?  

I honestly don't. I don't have any specific memories of playing against her in that game. That was when I was still young and a newbie. [laughs]  

Do you take on what she says as a coach more readily due to the fact that she was a player of such repute at club and international level during her playing career?  

Definitely. There's a lot of respect for her as a former player, but then also as a coach. I think she obviously did many great things as a player, and she has done many great things as a coach. So, you have the respect for her as a footballer, and she's also a great coach. You take on what she says because she knows what she's talking about, right?   

How does your knee feel?  

It feels great. Really good. I can play on it and that's good enough for me. If I can pass the ball, if I can sprint and run it back, then that's good enough for me. [laughs]  

Can you take me back to the Liverpool game when you hurt your knee. Do you have any memories of how it happened?  

To be honest, I couldn't really tell you. There wasn't any one moment or turn where I felt my knee go. I can remember it feeling a little funny as the game was going on, but I was able to sprint, run, and pass pretty normally. I just thought I picked up a little niggle, and I ended up finishing the game, so I didn't think too much of it at the time.  

Then the next day, my knee was a little bit swollen. My knee never gets swollen, so they thought maybe we should get a scan, because when your knee is swollen, there's something going on; something's happening. So, when I got the scan and I came in the next day after the swelling was next to minimal, I felt really good. I felt really positive, because my knee wasn't throbbing, and I felt okay.

But then the doctor called me into the office and told me the news, and I really didn't believe it because of the way I was feeling. I was pretty shocked at that moment when he said I tore my ACL, so there wasn't really much emotional response because I think I was more shocked than anything.  

This was the first major injury of your career that sidelined you for more than a month. Mentally, what was the rehab process like for you? How did you deal with the mental strain of being out of action for so long?  

It was just like a roller coaster. I think there were a lot of ups and downs – you get to bend your leg for the first time, you get to walk, but then there's pain when you do certain exercises, and you feel down. And then once you overcome something, you're very positive. You feel like you're going up the ladder, but then you kind of stall, and then you go down and you go up, and when you start new things, your knee reacts differently, and it takes time, and then it settles, and then you can move on and move on. There's just a lot of ups and downs.  

It was a lot of hard work, both mentally and physically. But if you aren't willing to do the hard work, your knee is never going to get better, and you're never going to go out on the field and play again. So, I just had to dig deep and just be like, "Well, if you don't do it, then who's going to do it?" No one can do it for you. You just gotta grind it out. But it was tough. Some days, I could come in soaring and happy, and then some days I can come in tired and just like, "I don't want to be here."

I think the toughest moments are when you're in the gym, and then you see the team coming in, and then the team goes onto the training pitch and then you're still in the gym. Those moments are hard because you just want to go out on the field with them, but you can't and that's when you realize you're a bit helpless because it's beyond your control. So, that was one of the toughest parts of my rehab, being in the gym and watching the team go and train and then play on the weekend. But at the same time, my teammates and my family played big roles in my recovery. They gave me the comfort I needed and when I needed it.  

Was there ever a moment during your time off when you either doubted yourself about being able to come back, or even that you even wanted to come back?  

There were no doubts that I was never going to come back or that I wanted to come back. But there's always been doubts, and sometimes there are still doubts about whether I'm gonna come back the same. Will I be the same Kadeisha Buchanan that I was before the injury? That is a constant, daily battle that I face. Sometimes I feel like I was on such a really good momentum before the injury. And I ask myself, am I gonna be at that level again? So, every day I work towards it, which is positive.   

It's actually a really good feeling that you're always working towards something; you're reviewing footage, you're reviewing film. Maybe before the injury I was doing less of that stuff, but now I feel like I'm a brand-new student of the game. I'm more engaged.  

How did you feel when you were subbed on against Manchester United and made your comeback?  

It was a very special feeling. I knew that I was going to be on the bench for that game, and the way things were looking over time, I was thinking, "Okay, maybe next game. No problem." And the coach said I was going in and I was really happy. I just took it for what it was, and I never doubted myself. I was ready to go in, and I really appreciated the coach for even trusting me in that moment, because I've been out for so long. 

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How anxious are you to get your club career going again at Chelsea? 

It's a chance for me to reset, but you have that same chance every time you step on the field. Every time you play, it's a chance to learn something, to gain something, reflect on something, to get better. 

I'm not going to come back to where I was right away. It takes time, but it also takes being a student of the game and really having focus on trying to get better, rather than trying to get better each game without really putting in that work. I think this [international] window is a chance for me to get better each time I step onto the field.  

How frustrating was it for you to have to watch Canada's games from afar during your 15-month layoff, especially during stretches when it struggled for results and failed to put in good performances? 

It was tough when it wasn't going well because you realized you have no effect on things. It's really difficult when you're away, when you're injured, whether it's good or bad results, because you're not really a part of the team when they celebrate, or when they are losing. It was tough just watching and not being there on the sidelines to support and encourage my teammates. But now I'm back where I want to be and I can affect things. 

What do you think it'll feel like for you if you were to play against Zambia on Saturday after being out for so long? 

Maybe I’ll be emotional when I hear the national anthem. The first time I stepped on the field with Chelsea, I was pretty emotional after the game. 

Canada Soccer recently announced the formal ratification of a collective bargaining agreement with the players associations representing the men’s and women’s national teams. The agreement is fully equitable in compensation and benefits provided to both teams. You and your teammates on the women's team have been fighting for this for a long time. Now that it's happened, how do you feel about it? 

I think it's really great for us. I feel like people have been working behind the scenes for a very long time, and we also as a team, really showed that we really cared about the [CBA] and really tried to affect it by going on strike and doing what we felt was right to affect things.  

Now that's behind us, and that's what we always wanted to do, but now we can actually do it, right? We can just focus on football. 

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