The Canadians started the year at No. 6, falling one spot in each of the March, June and August rankings. That trend continued in the end-of-year ranking released Thursday.

The most recent drop reflects four straight losses since the last rankings were released on Aug. 7. The Canadian women were beaten 1-0 by both No. 25 Switzerland and the 11th-ranked Netherlands in the October international window and 3-0 and 1-0 by No. 8 Japan in the November window.

Canada ends the year on a five-game losing streak and mired in a 454-minute goal drought dating back to a 4-1 win over No. 50 Haiti on June 27 in Toronto, the team’s last win.

The Canadian women went 6-6-1 this year under coach Casey Stoney.

“For the players, we know there are bits we need to get better at, 100 per cent. We all know tha

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