Having won twice already, the Olympic champion Canadian women are assured of making the quarterfinals of the CONCACAF W Gold Cup.
But a victory Wednesday over No. 43 Costa Rica in its final Group C game at Houston’s Shell Energy Stadium and the 10th-ranked Canadians will likely go into the knockout round as the top seed. Under tournament rules, in the knockout round it’s No. 1 versus No. 8, No. 2 versus No. 7, No. 3 versus No. 6 and No. 4 versus No. 5.
Canada has already dispatched No. 104 El Salvador 6-0 and No. 50 Paraguay 4-0. Costa Rica lost 1-0 to Paraguay before defeating El Salvador 2-0.
The only other team at the 12-country tournament that can finish with three wins in group play is No. 11 Brazil, which faced No. 55 Panama late Tuesday in San Diego.
“We should know going into our game, besides our …