Average Group Ranking: 16

A World Cup champion, a multi-nation hybrid team, a perennial underdog, and an Olympic debutant on the rise: Group E has it all.

Celebrating its 100th anniversary and first-ever home Olympic tournament, Japan will be keen to start the party early by breezing through the group stage. Standing in their way is the Red Menace: dual bronze medallist Christine Sinclair and her Canadian counterparts.

With Team GB finally returning to Olympic competition (a trend we’d love to see continue) and Chile taking their maiden bow at the Games, this group will be arguably the hardest to pick at the tournament.

Group Schedule

Date Local Time AEST Venue Team A v Team B
21/7/2021 4:30 PM 5:30 PM Sapporo Dome Great Britain v Chile
21/7/2021 7:30 PM 8:30 PM Sapporo Dome Japan v Canada
24/7/2021 4:30 PM 5:30 PM Sapporo Dome Chile v Canada
24/7/2021 7:30 PM 8:30 PM Sapporo Dome Japan v Great Britain
27/7/2021 8:00 PM 9:00 PM Miyagi Stadium, Rifu Chile v Japan
27/7/2021 8:00 PM 9:00 PM Kashima Stadium Canada v Great Britain

 


Japan (JPN) – AFC

Coach: Asako Takakura
Captain: Saki Kumagai
Ranking: 10
Average Age: 23
Average Caps: 33
Previous Olympics: Did not qualify
Last 5 Matches:

WWWWW

08/04/21 Japan 7 – 0 Paraguay
11/04/21 Japan 7 – 0 Panama
10/06/21 Japan 8 – 0 Ukraine
13/06/21 Japan 5 – 1 Mexico
14/07/21 Japan 1 – 0 Australia

 


Canada (CAN) – CONCACAF

Coach: Bev Priestman
Captain: Christine Sinclair
Ranking: 8
Average Age: 28
Average Caps: 80
Previous Olympics: Group Stage

  • Canada 2-0 Australia
  • Canada 3-1 Zimbabwe
  • Germany 1-2 Canada

Quarter-finals

  • Canada 1-0 France

Semi-finals

  • Canada 0-2 Germany

Bronze Medal Match

  • Brazil 1-2 Canada
Last 5 Matches:

LWWDD

25/02/21 Canada 0 – 2 Brazil
10/04/21 Wales 0 – 3 Canada
14/04/21 England 0 – 2 Canada
12/06/21 Canada 0 – 0 Czech Republic
15/06/21 Brazil 0 – 0 Canada

 


Great Britain (GBR) – UEFA

Coach: Hege Riise
Captain: Steph Houghton, Sophie Ingle & Kim Little
Ranking: 6 (England; SCO 23, WAL 34, NIR 48) 
Average Age: 27
Previous Olympics: Did not enter
Last 5 Matches:

WWL-W

29/07/12 Great Britain 3 – 0 Cameroon
01/08/12 Great Britain 1 – 0 Brazil
04/08/12 Great Britain 0 – 2 Canada
02/07/21 Great Britain CANC Zambia
10/04/21 Great Britain 2 – 0 New Zealand

 


Chile (CHI) – CONMEBOL

Coach: Jose Letelier
Captain: Cristiane Endler
Ranking: 37
Average Age: 26
Average Caps: 32
Previous Olympics: Debutantes
Last 5 Matches:

-WDLD

02/12/20 Chile CANC Zambia
11/04/21 Cameroon 1 – 2 Chile
14/04/21 Chile 0 – 0 Cameroon
11/06/21 Slovakia 1 – 0 Chile
15/06/21 Germany 0 – 0 Chile

Prediction

With their combined Olympic pedigree, Japan and Canada will be fighting it out to top this group. With their confidence high after a successful qualification, expect Chile to cause an upset in the group stage, but it’s the final match between Great Britain and Canada that could be a heartbreaker-in-waiting.


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DALE ROOTS
Dale is a Canberra-born, Sydney-based writer for Beyond90, covering both W-League and NPL competitions, as well as the Australian national teams.