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Olivia Smith scored a late equalizer as Canada drew 1-1 with Denmark on Friday, the first of two international women’s soccer friendlies between the two sides.
The ninth-placed Canadians struggled to score until the Arsenal striker cut in with a left-foot shot, beating Denmark goalkeeper Alberte Wingum in the 84th minute in front of a crowd of 10,162 at Stade Saputo in Montreal.
The star of “Bavaria” and the captain of the national team, Pernil Harder, opened the score in the 24th minute in the team of the Danish team, which ranked 12th, on a live night with a temperature of 9 Celsius.
Julia Grosso scored the go-ahead goal for Canada in injury time before denying Vingum Smith a chance from close range. Canadian substitute goalkeeper Sabrina D’Angelo then made a last-gasp save with Janni Thomsen’s thrilling finish.
Canada then ended the evening by defeating Denmark 4-2 in unofficial penalty kicks.
After their match ended in a 1-1 draw, Canada’s women’s soccer team defeated Denmark 4-2 in a penalty shootout. The two clubs will meet in another international friendly in Toronto on Monday.
It was Canada’s first game since a 6-0 win over Costa Rica in June and their first at home since June 2025. While the Canadians have fared well against lower-ranked opponents under head coach Casey Stoney, the women’s national team is looking for its first win against a top-15 opponent since taking over on Jan. 22, 2025.
Canada and Denmark meet again on Monday at Toronto’s BMO Field, where longtime left back Allysha Chapman will make her 100th and final appearance for Canada.
The friendlies serve as a gauge ahead of Canada’s November 28 quarter-final against Panama at both the 2027 FIFA Women’s World Cup in Brazil and the CONCACAF W Championship, a qualifier for the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics.
Denmark qualified for this summer’s World Cup by beating Sweden, Serbia and Italy in their UEFA qualifying groups.
Canada played without veteran defender Vanessa Gilles, who sat out both friendlies against Bayern Munich after suffering a muscle injury. Fellow center back Kadeisha Buchanan also joined Canada in camp but missed the match.
The Canadians controlled most of the match, holding 69 percent possession and a 21-9 advantage in shot attempts (6-6 on field goals).
The hosts almost opened the scoring in the first minute when attacking midfielder Marie-Yasmine Alidou broke through, but her close-range shot was denied by Danish goalkeeper Maja Bay Østergaard.
Denmark almost took advantage of the gift in the 13th minute when Harder intercepted a risky pass from Canadian goalkeeper Kailen Sheridan in the box. Sheridan recovered, but Olivia dived to deny Holdt’s shot.
After 11 minutes, the visitors did not make a mistake on the counterattack. Amalie Vangsgaard dived down the right flank before centering a pass through the legs of Canadian centre-back Shelina Zadorski and into the box where Harder slotted home.
Canada captain Jessie Fleming came close to equalizing in the 34th minute when she connected on Nichelle Prince’s low cross but fired the shot over the bar.
Stoney made just 10 second-half substitutions as Canada searched for the equalizer.
Defender Janine Sonis failed to convert a pair of chances, first missing a free kick from the edge of the box, before Smith eventually scored Canada’s sixth goal.
Canada now owns a 3-3-1 all-time record against Denmark. The two sides have not met since 2017 when Canada won 1-0 at the Algarve Cup in Portugal.