Eaux Canada: Former Tiger Allysha Chapman to compete for Canada in the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup

Chapman and the reigning Olympic Gold Medal winning Canadians looks to knock off the two-time defending team World Champion USWNT in New Zealand/Australia.

We’re six weeks away from the first official LSU sports athletic competition of 2023: the soccer team will be hosting South Florida on Thursday, August 17 to kick off its season; and before that the Tigers will play Denver (August 8) and Air Force (August 12) in a pair of exhibition matches.

But we won’t have to wait nearly that long to see a former Tiger take the pitch. If you need a rooting interest for the upcoming FIFA Women’s World Cup—running July 20 through August 20 in New Zealand and Australia—besides the United States Women’s National Team of course — try cheering on one of LSU’s own: Allysha Chapman playing for team Canada.

Before Joe Burrow, Angel Reese, and Paul Skenes transferred to Baton Rouge and dominated in their respective sports, Chapman did it first. The Ontario native transferred to LSU from UAB in 2009. Before beginning her collegiate career, she was a standout in the Canadian youth circuit. Chapman made her first appearance for Canada as a 15-year-old. She represented Canada in the 2008 U-20 FIFA World Cup in Chile, where she started in all three matches. At UAB she was a Conference-USA All-Freshman selection.

Once she made her way to Baton Rouge, Chapman became one of the greatest defenders in LSU history. Chapman was a three-time All-SEC selection and shared Defensive Player of the Year honors as a senior in 2011. With Chapman wearing the purple and gold, LSU won the SEC West in 2009 and 2011 as well as qualifying for the NCAA tournament.

After leaving LSU, Chapman traveled the globe. She played professionally in Sweden for a year before coming back to the United States and signing with the Houston Dash of the NWSL, all while playing for Canada in numerous CONCACAF tournaments. Since signing with the NWSL she played for the Boston Breakers in 2017, the North Carolina Courage in 2018 and then was traded back to Houston later in 2018 where she has remained since.

To date, Chapman has appeared in two Olympics and this will be her third time playing in the FIFA World Cup. Chapman has helped Canada achieve great success since making the national squad. In the 2016 Olympic games in Rio, Chapman and the Canadians won the bronze medal. In the 2020 games in Tokyo, Chapman helped Canada upset the United States and defeat Sweden for the gold medal. The win over the United States was especially shocking as it was Canada’s first win over the U.S. since 2001 and marked the first time the USWNT failed to advance to the gold medal match since women’s soccer was added to the Olympics in 1996.

Canada has yet to medal in the World Cup. Chapman and her Canadian teammates made it to the quarterfinal round in the 2015 games in Canada, but regressed to the Round of 16 in the 2019 games in France.

In her career, Chapman has made 96 appearances for Canada with 74 starts. She has two goals and three assists for Canada’s “A” international team. At 34, this might be the last time Chapman competes in a World Cup though she might be able to represent her country next summer in the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris. Either way, a near-20 year long career is drawing to a close and if the United States isn’t able to win this World Cup, hopefully a former Tiger can.