Swiss friendly meets with Canadian coach's approval

Casey Stoney issued the challenge and Canada Soccer listened. 

The sport’s governing body in this country announced on Tuesday that the Canadian women’s team will face Switzerland in an international friendly on Oct. 24 at the Swissporarena in Lucerne.   

This meets with the approval of Canadian coach Casey Stoney, who previously implored Canada Soccer to arrange for her side to face more top quality nations following its humbling loss to the top-ranked United States earlier this summer.

“There’s some things we need to take care of as an organization, [like] playing better opponents, hence why October and November windows are really important to us, because I don’t think we set ourselves up for success going and playing lower-ranked teams and then playing No. 1 in the world. That’s a massive jump,” Stoney told TFC Republic in a one-on-one interview.  

“We have to remove as many challenges from an organizational point of view by paying top opponents … That's what I've challenged the organization with, is how do we make sure that we are playing against higher level competition. Because that's what's going to prepare us.”

Switzerland is No. 24 in the current FIFA world rankings, 15 spots below Canada, and is coming off a solid showing at this summer’s UEFA European championship where it lost to eventual runners-up Spain in the quarter-finals. Canada sports a 4-1-0 all-time record against the Swiss, including a 1-0 victory in their previous meeting in the round-of-16 at the 2015 World Cup in Vancouver.  

Canada has been idle since the previous FIFA international window in late June/early July when it earned a 4-1 win over No. 43 Costa Rica in Toronto before being blanked 3-0 by the No. 1 U.S. in Washington, D.C. After the defeat to the U.S., Stoney talked about her team needing to face top-tier nations on a regular basis, especially as it looks to qualify for the 2027 World Cup in Brazil.  

"Everything's been too easy. I think we've played opponents that have been far lower ranked, and we come against the number one [team] in the world, and we fell short. So, yeah, I think it's a reality check. I think it's a reality check for everybody," Stoney said.  

She later added: “Tonight, we were miles off. It’s almost like the games we had in prep for this haven’t prepared us. This is the first top opponent we’ve played, and it shows where we’re at.”  

The game against the Americans marked the first time since Stoney took the job in January, 2025, that Canada played a higher-ranked nation, something that she implored Canada Soccer to address going forward.  

By all accounts, the organization listened, and Stoney’s blunt comments resulted in Canada Soccer arranging the game against the Swiss next month. Canada Soccer also revealed on Tuesday that a second fixture for October’s international window has yet to be announced. Given that the team will already be in Europe, a second game against a European nation seems more than likely.   

Canada Soccer previously announced that the Canadian women’s team will face No. 8-ranked Japan in a two-game series on Nov. 29 and Dec. 2 in Nagasaki.  

(Top photo courtesy of Canada Soccer)

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