Whitecaps FC Girls Elite Academy begin their campaign in the Concacaf W Champions Cup Group Stage this week with a visit to Mexico City to face Club América Femenil.
The Whitecaps, two-time Women’s Inter-Provincial Championship winners, defeated Alianza Women last week in a single-leg Preliminary Round game in El Salvador, and they will now look ahead to taking on some of the best women’s teams in the Concacaf region.
How did Whitecaps make history?
Whitecaps versus Alianza was the inaugural match in the Concacaf W Champions Cup – a new regional competition that will enable clubs to qualify for the first FIFA Women’s Club World Cup.
The deciding moment in the game came in the 25th minute after Kaylee Hunter was brought down in the Alianza box by Rosmery Mendoza. Responsibility for taking the penalty was handed to 17-year-old Emily Wong, who remained the calmest person in Estadio Cuscatlan to send the ball into the top corner and score the first goal in the competition.
After Hunter watched her goal-bound effort cleared off the line by a defender, the second half saw Whitecaps goalkeeper Morgan McAslan step up to make a crucial save with 10 minutes to go, parrying away a similar long-range shot that Joëlle Gosselin beat her with in the WIPC24 Final.
Whitecaps held on to continue their unbeaten streak in 2024, having won both League1 BC and WIPC24 without losing a single game.
Who is in Group B?
Whitecaps are the fifth and final team to qualify in Group B, which features champions from the USA, Mexico, and Panama.
Club América Femenil are representatives from Mexico and won the 2023 Clausura (closing) season in Liga MX Femenil – the highest level of women’s soccer in Mexico. After finishing third in the regular season, and as the division’s second-highest scorers, they progressed through the postseason to defeat Pachuca in the final.
Representing Panama are Santa Fé who are the 2024 champions of the UNCAF Women’s Interclub Championship. Winning this competition shows they can perform in a tournament structure, having topped their group and gone all the way to the final where they won 4-0 against Alianza – Whitecaps’ Preliminary Round opponents.
Group B has two clubs from the USA, including San Diego Wave. The club first took to the field in the National Women’s Soccer League in 2022 and have since made a big impression, winning the 2023 NWSL Shield and the 2024 Challenge Cup, and have a squad littered with talent and experience.
The second team from stateside hardly need an introduction for women’s soccer fans. Portland Thorns are three-time NWSL champions, and have only once finished outside the top three in the regular-season standings since 2015. They are currently fifth in the 14-team league.
When are Whitecaps playing?
Each club will play every other team in its group once, making up a total of four matches where two will be at home and two will be away.
Whitecaps will play their two away matches first, visiting Club América Femenil on Wednesday, August 21. Then on Wednesday, September 4, they will take on Santa Fé in Panama.
Whitecaps then don’t play again until Tuesday, October 1 when they will welcome San Diego Wave to BC Place, and then two weeks later they will host Christine Sinclair and Portland Thorns to round off the Group Stage.
The top two teams from Group A and Group B will then meet in the Finals in May next year. Please click here to learn more about the Concacaf W Champions Cup schedule.