The Canadian men's national team took their nation by storm when they won the North American qualifier for the World Cup.
Despite that, a conflict between the players and the union broke out this summer.
The conflict concerns issues such as sponsorship contracts, unequal compensation between women's and men's players and the distribution of the prize money that the association receives for participation in the World Cup finals.
"Necessary"
As a protest from the players, the men went on strike and refused to play a practice match this summer.
One of the reasons was to bring the women's remuneration up to the same level as the men's.
- Unfortunately, it was necessary.
It was the only option for us.
We do not want to cancel matches for the sake of our supporters.
We were sorry to have to do it, but it was necessary and in the future everyone will understand why and understand that it was the right thing to do, says Jonathan Osorio to SVT Sport.
How is the situation today?
- We are moving towards a solution and it is better now between us players and the association.
We will not let it affect us in the WC.
Rather, it has brought us players closer together.
Share the opinion
Osorio's teammate in the national team, Mark-Anthony Kaye, is of the same opinion.
- We always come out stronger from the challenges we take on.
It shows that it is more than a sport for us and that we players are ready to fight for each other on and off the field.
- We are footballers, but we also understand the importance of making this sport better for future generations, he says.
See the entire episode from Toronto in "The big WC trip" in SVT Play.