Here are the 11 CanWNT players who could feature in the UWCL this season
The UEFA Women’s Champions League returns this week, as 18 teams begin their journey toward glory in the 2026-2027 league phase.
To be fair, for some teams, their Champions League journey began a few months ago, as they navigated qualifiers throughout July and August.
Now, though, that all goes out the window. Once the group stage kicks off, that feels like the official start of the competition, with each team feeling like they still have a chance of lifting this trophy.
From a Canadian perspective, there’s a lot to watch for this year. Across the 18 teams participating in the tournament, there are 11 Canadians, spread out across 10 different sides.
That’s exciting, as that means that there’s a strong chance that several of those players will get to participate in the business end of this tournament, such as the semi-finals and final. To be fair, it’s become customary to see Canadians at that stage of this tournament in recent years - just last season, Canadians Vanessa Gilles, Olivia Smith and Ashley Lawrence were on teams that reached the semi-finals, with Lawrence and her OL Lyonnes side eventually reaching the final.
Unfortunately, though, Lawrence and Lyonnes were unable to beat FC Barcelona in the final, who triumphed 4-0 in Oslo last May.
With that, it leaves Kadeisha Buchanan as the lone Canadian to win this tournament, something that she achieved five times with OL Lyonnes between 2016 and 2022. Some have come close to winning, such as Lawrence, who has lost two finals, along with Vanessa Gilles and Jessie Fleming, who have also lost in the final this decade, but none have been able to triumph as Buchanan did.
Perhaps, though, that can change this year in Poland next May, especially given the volume of Canadians participating in this competition. And it can’t be forgotten that Buchanan could still win a sixth Champions League crown, too, as she’s on a Chelsea side still hunting for their first triumph in this competition despite dominating the domestic game in England for much of the last decade.
With that in mind, here’s a look at the 11 Canadians to watch out for in the Champions League this season - and as a reminder, you can watch the UWCL live on OneSoccer if you want to keep a close eye on these players over the next few months.
Olivia Smith (Arsenal):
Among the Canadians participating in this competition, Olivia Smith has to be one with the best chance of lifting this trophy, as Arsenal look to avenge a semi-final exit from last year’s competition.
Given that they won this tournament just the year before, they’ll feel they have what it takes to lift the crown, especially after the heartbreaking 4-3 aggregate defeat they suffered to Lyonnes in the semi-final last year.
In that tie, they won 2-1 in leg one just to lose 3-1 in leg two, as they were unable to build on a big win at home when making the trip to France for that second-leg matchup.
To be fair, though, their journey towards defending their Champions League crown never really caught full steam - in the league phase, they finished fifth and had to play an extra playoff round instead of qualifying straight for the quarter-final, and after handily beating Belgian side OH Leuven in the playoff round, they then had to get past rivals Chelsea in a tough quarter-final matchup.
Because of that, it felt like they ran out of steam in the semi-finals, which is further reflected in the fact that they finished second in the WSL, were knocked out of the quarter-finals of the FA Cup and fell in the semi-finals of the League Cup. They did win the inaugural FIFA Women’s Champions Cup, at least, but it definitely felt like they missed an opportunity to win more, as they never found that same momentum they did when they won the Champions League.
Of course, though, as many will tell you, that can happen to teams the year after they achieve something like Arsenal did in 2024-2025, when they shocked so many teams to lift that Champions League crown - they were never going to surprise teams in the same way in 2025-2026.
For Smith, this season is a big one, in particular, as it can’t be forgotten that while a lot of her current teammates were on that Champions League-winning side, she hadn’t arrived yet as she was completing a breakout season at Liverpool. As a result, she’ll be extra hungry to drive Arsenal on a deep run through the competition this year, her second campaign at the club.
After scoring three goals in 11 games for Arsenal in the Champions League last season, Smith, who scored 10 goals and added four assists in her first season in London, will hope to be a key driving force behind any of her team’s success this year, especially in this competition.
Ashley Lawrence (OL Lyonnes):
Could third time be the charm for Ashley Lawrence?
Almost a decade on from reaching the Champions League final with Paris Saint-Germain in the 2016-2017 season, where her PSG side lost to fierce rivals OL Lyonnes, Lawrence got to return to the final in 2025-2026, ironically with Lyonnes this time.
Unfortunately, though, Lawrence didn’t get to be on the winning side this time, either, as Lyonnes fell 4-0 to Barcelona in last year’s final.
Therefore, you’ll imagine that Lawrence will be eager to get back to the final for a third time, as she looks to get her hands on the trophy that has just eluded her twice now.
Even if she can take some solace in the fact that both of her final defeats came against generational, juggernaut sides - the 2016-2017 Lyonnes side was in the midst of winning the second of what ended up being five straight Champions League titles (amid a run of eight wins in 12 years), while the 2025-2026 Barcelona side was on route to winning their fourth Champions League title in six years - Lawrence won’t care about that.
At the end of the day, players want to win this competition, so it’ll sting Lawrence that she had to live through the feeling of coming up short - especially after having done so a decade earlier.
The good news? Lyonnes will feel capable of going all the way this year. They’ve got a strong squad, and will be boosted by their experience from last season, as they look to return to the past heights they hit in this tournament.
Certainly, Lawrence will hope to play a key role in any success after featuring in eight games for a total of 561 minutes of Champions League action last year. With over 60 games of experience in this competition, coming across nine different seasons, Lawrence knows what it takes to shine in these games, and she’s hoping that experience can help her and her team get over the line in her 10th season in the Champions League.
Vanessa Gilles (Bayern Munich):
The third Canadian to reach the semi-finals of last year’s Champions League was Vanessa Gilles, who helped Bayern Munich reach the semi-finals for just the third time in their history.
Unfortunately, they fell short of reaching their first-ever final, as they lost 5-3 to eventual winners Barcelona in a thrilling tie, but they can be proud of how they played in that matchup.
Now, though, they’re hoping that what they learned in that tie can power them to a first final, and, perhaps even a first victory.
After winning their fourth straight Bundesliga title, and their second straight league and DFB Pokal double, they want to turn some of that domestic dominance into continental success, as that’s the last step in their evolution as a club, one that has usurped Wolfsburg and Frankfurt as the big teams in Germany. The only thing missing is the Champions League, which Frankfurt has won four times, and Wolfsburg has won twice.
That’s where someone like Gilles can hopefully help Bayern. With 37 games to her name in this competition, and an appearance in the final with Lyonnes in 2023-2024, she’s gotten a taste of what it takes to succeed in this tournament, even if she hasn’t touched the trophy yet.
๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐ ๐ซ#UWCLfinal pic.twitter.com/2agVn2wFjY
— OL Lyonnes (@ol__lyonnes) May 25, 2024
One thing to watch out for this season? Shockingly, Gilles failed to score in seven Champions League appearances for Bayern last year, something that had never happened in her four previous participations in this competition. In fact, she had a pretty good goalscoring record in this competition before last year, scoring eight goals in her first 30 games.
To be fair, she had a quiet goalscoring campaign by her standards last year, scoring just three times in 27 appearances in her first season with Bayern (after scoring nine and seven goals in her last two seasons with Lyonnes, respectively) - on that front, it’s encouraging that she already has three goals in four games to begin the 2026-2027 season, numbers they’ll hope she can carry over to these bigger European games.
Kadeisha Buchanan (Chelsea):
Now in her fifth season with Chelsea, Kadeisha Buchanan’s hunt for a sixth Champions League title continues, as she’s still on the hunt to achieve the past heights she hit in this competition during her time with Lyonnes.
Not only did she win five Champions League titles in a span of six seasons at the club, but she played a key role in most of them, racking up 30 appearances in this competition during her time with Lyonnes.
She’s continued to play a regular role in this competition since joining Chelsea, making 26 appearances in this competition as a Blue, but she’s yet to return to the final at her new club, with a trio of semi-final finishes in 2022-2023, 2023-2024 and 2024-2025 the high watermark.
Canada's Kadeisha Buchanan ๐จ๐ฆโฝ๏ธ wins her 5th @UWCL title in 6 years with @OLfeminin ๐๐๐๐๐
— CBC Sports (@cbcsports) May 21, 2022
(๐ฅ: @DAZNFootball)pic.twitter.com/Lt0pTetERG
Because of that, she’d like to change that in 2026-2027, especially after her Chelsea side bowed out of the quarter-finals at the hands of rivals Arsenal last season.
Unfortunately for Buchanan, she’s featured just three times for a total of 195 minutes in this competition across the past two seasons, as she missed a chunk of 2024-2025 and 2025-2026 with an ACL injury, but she’ll be likely to play a bigger role now that she’s back up to full health again.
Certainly, her experience will be valuable to a Chelsea team trying to get over the hump and become the second English team to win this trophy, behind Arsenal and their two triumphs in 2006-2007 and 2024-2025.
Evelyne Viens (Paris FC):
For just the fourth time in their history, Paris FC have qualified for the Champions League, after participating in 2010-2011, 2012-2013 and 2023-2024 (even reaching the semi-final in 2012-2013).
In recent years, Paris have often fallen short in the qualifying rounds, as they did in 2022-2023 and 2024-2025, showing why they’ll be pleased that they were able to get over the hump this year and qualify.
Now, they’ll look to make some noise, and to help them do that will be Evelyne Viens, who joined the club this summer after a successful three seasons with AS Roma, where she scored 40 goals and added 26 assists across 96 appearances for the club.
Certainly, she’s got a good record in this competition, scoring 11 goals and adding two assists in 21 Champions League appearances with both Roma and Swedish side Kristianstads, the club where she made her first steps in this tournament in 2022-2023.
If she can replicate that sort of form with Paris, they’ll hope they can make a run to the knockout rounds after flaming out in that group stage appearance in 2023-2024 - although, to be fair, they had a tough group that year with Real Madrid, Chelsea and BK Häcken, something they won’t have to worry about this year with the introduction of the league phase last season.
Jade Rose (Manchester City):
Jade Rose is one of a few Canadians making her competition debut this year, as she continues her adjustment to life in the professional game with Manchester City.
Her first year with the club went pretty well, to be fair, as she helped her side to a WSL and League Cup title, playing 29 games across all competitions. As a result, they’ve returned to the Champions League after missing out in 2025-2026.
Now, they’ll hope to replicate some of the past success they had in this competition, which includes runs to the semi-finals in 2016-2017 and 2017-2018. Given that this is only the third time they’ve qualified for the tournament proper this decade (they fell in the qualifying rounds in two of those seasons), they’ll want to make the most of this opportunity.
To be fair, when they’ve been in this tournament, they’ve typically made the most of it, reaching the quarter-finals in 2020-2021 and 2024-2025, so that seems to be a fair goal for this side, who will look to juggle that objective while maintaining the domestic dominance they established last year.
As for Rose, don’t be surprised if she flourishes in these games, however, as she’s got a history of doing well in big games for club and country, despite being just 23, and that’ll be expected to continue in her first continental matches.
Florianne Jourde (Paris Saint-Germain):
After a disappointing 2025-2026 Champions League campaign, PSG are hoping to do much better this season, as they look to return to past heights in this competition.
While they’ve never won this tournament, they used to make deep runs in this competition all the time, as they reached the semi-finals four times in five seasons between 2019-2020 and 2023-2024 - and, of course, they reached the final in 2016-2017.
Because of that, it was a shock to see them bow out of last year’s tournament in the group stage, failing to win any of their six league phase games. In fact, they weren’t really close to qualifying for the knockout rounds, either, finishing four points behind a playoff place and 11 points behind a top four spot (which guarantees qualification directly to the quarter-finals).
Yet, it was a tough season for PSG, who finished third in the Première Ligue - the first time in over a decade in which they failed to finish in the top two. Yes, they’d won just one title across that span, coming in 2020-2021, but typically they’ve been right there with Lyonnes, who have dominated French football over the last two decades (winning 19 out of the last 20 titles), which was why it was a surprise to see rivals Paris FC leapfrog them in that regard last year.
Now, PSG want to ensure that doesn’t happen again this season domestically, while also having a much stronger run in this competition than they did last year.
From a Canadian perspective, Florianne Jourde is the one to keep an eye on here, as she featured just three times for a total of 45 minutes in the Champions League last year for PSG. After scoring twice in 18 appearances in her first professional season, she’s hoping bigger things are in store for her in year two, both domestically and continentally, as she looks to crack the CanWNT’s squad for the World Cup, having mostly been outside of the Canadian picture the last 12 months despite her big move to France straight out of college.
Chandra Davidson (SL Benfica):
Benfica have become a mainstay in this competition, which is good news for Canadians, as there has typically been a strong Canadian presence at the club, with Cloé Lacasse and Marie-Yasmine Alidou some of the names that have enjoyed fruitful stints at the club.
The current Canadian to watch? Chandra Davidson, who is now in her fourth season at the club.
She’s got a decent record in this competition, scoring twice in 12 appearances, but she’ll feel that she can be even more dangerous, having scored 21 goals and added 14 assists in 87 appearances across her time with Benfica.
Certainly, Benfica wouldn’t mind that as they look to avenge a 2025-2026 Champions League campaign where they exited in the group stage without winning a game. For them, you have to imagine returning to the knockout rounds, something they’ve only done once since the tournament switched to a group stage+knockout format (reaching the quarter-finals in 2023-2024), is their big goal this season.
Maya Antoine (AS Roma):
For three straight seasons, Roma have bowed out in the group stage of the Champions League, after having reached the quarter-finals in their first qualification to this tournament back in 2022-2023.
Having won three of the last four Serie A titles, they’ve found a bit of dominance domestically, but haven’t been able to translate that over to continental competition, something they hope will change this year.
Helping them in their quest is a pair of Canadians, making them a team to watch for fans of the CanWNT.
Firstly, there’s Maya Antoine, who is in her second season at the club. She only made nine appearances for them last year, and is yet to feature in 2026-2027, so she’ll hope to feature more prominently as the season goes on - and perhaps make her Champions League debut sooner rather than later.
As she looks to battle into the CanWNT fold long-term, having only featured at the youth level for Canada, finding her feet at her new club will certainly help her do that.
Ella Ottey (AS Roma):
But while Antoine had some professional experience in Sweden before joining Roma, her teammate, Ella Ottey, is embarking on her first campaign as a professional after joining the club this summer.
In fact, she’s yet to make her debut for the club after a good college career with the Wisconsin Badgers, so her focus this season will be getting on the pitch.
Perhaps this competition can help her do that, depending on how Roma rotates - the fixture congestion caused by these games could open up minutes for her in the league, for example, should Roma want to put a more experienced squad on the pitch for these Champions League games.
Either way, hopefully this helps her earn that playing time in one way or another, as no Canadian would complain to see her earn her first Champions League minutes, of course.
Ella McBride (BK Häcken):
Last year, UEFA introduced a secondary continental competition for women’s teams, called the UEFA Women’s Europa Cup, similar to the Europa League for the men’s teams.
The inaugural winners? Swedish side, BK Häcken, which opened the door for them to qualify directly for the Champions League.
After failing to get out of the qualifying round of this tournament in both 2024-2025 and 2025-2026, they’ll hope to replicate the sort of success they had in their last foray into this tournament back in 2023-2024, where they managed to sneak out of a tough group with Chelsea, Real Madrid and Paris FC, before falling to PSG in the quarter-finals.
Helping them on that quest is a new Canadian, as Ella McBride signed her first professional contract with the club after a college career with Providence College.
She’s so far made just one appearance for the Swedish club, but she’ll hope that changes as she continues to find her feet with the team, which one has to remember is actually in midseason form with the Swedish calendar being spring-to-fall. Because of that, it’ll make it harder for her to earn minutes this fall, but perhaps that could mean we see a lot more of her next year - especially if Häcken can reach the knockout stages of this competition.
