Canada women’s soccer wins first-ever gold medal at Tokyo Olympics

Canada are Olympic champions after winning the Tokyo 2020 Women’s Olympic Football Tournament in Yokohama, Japan. Canada were the 3-2 winners on kicks from the penalty mark after a 1-1 draw with Sweden in the Friday Gold Medal Final at Yokohama Stadium.

In regulation, Sweden took the lead initially when Stina Blackstenius found the net in the 34th minute. Canada responded in the second half when Jessie Fleming converted a penalty kick to equalize at 1-1.

Following Fleming’s goal, both sides went scoreless for the remainder of the second half and during extra time. During the deciding penalty kick shootout, Canada goalkeeper Stephanie Labbé denied an attempt from Jonna Andersson, which set the stage for Julia Grosso to convert the deciding PK.

Unbeaten across six matches, Canada Soccer achieved their best-ever result at the Olympic Games while also winning their third consecutive medal, thus “changing the color of their medal” from back-to-back bronze at London 2012 and Rio 2016 to gold at Tokyo 2020.

FOR THE FIRST TIME – CANADA HAS WON GOLD IN WOMEN'S SOCCER! 🥇#TokyoOlympics pic.twitter.com/nj0TwLt8Z9

— NBC Olympics & Paralympics (@NBCOlympics) August 6, 2021