Bixby, Smith, Sinclair called up to respective national teams

Bella Bixby and Sophia Smith have today been called up by the United States Women’s National Team. Christine Sinclair was included yesterday in the Canada Women’s National Team roster.

Canada announced an extended squad list for their upcoming Women’s National Team Celebration Tour as they prepare for the upcoming Concacaf W Championship which determines qualification for both the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup and the next Olympics. Bev Priestman has brought together the 22 Olympic champions from Tokyo in 2020 as well as seven additional players.

Canada will play Nigeria in a two-game series. The first match will be played on Friday, April 8 at BC Place in Vancouver. The second match is scheduled for Monday, April 11 at Langford’s Starlight Stadium on Vancouver Island.

On Friday night, Canada Soccer will celebrate Christine Sinclair’s world international goalscoring record in front of her home crowd after the ceremony was previously postponed due to the pandemic. Thorns’ general manager Karina LeBlanc and coach Rhian Wilkinson will also be honored as recently inducted members to the Canada Soccer Hall of Fame during halftime.

Bixby was called into her first camp in November 2021 but hasn’t earned a cap. Sophia Smith most recently featured in the SheBelieves Cup and has garnered 13 caps.

The U.S. will play a two-game series against Uzbekistan in Columbus, OH and Philedelphia, PA. The first match will be played on Saturday, April 9. Kick off is scheduled for 1:30 p.m. (Pacific) at Lower.com Field and will be broadcast on FOX and Univision Networks. The second match is slated for Tuesday, April 12. The game will kick off at 3 p.m. (Pacific) at Subaru Park and will be available on ESPN2 and Univision Networks. Vlatko Andonovski will select 18 players to suit up for each of the two matches.

Canada Soccer’s press release can be accessed here.

U.S. Soccer’s release is available here.