Anthem singer straight up forgets the words to 'O Canada'
It’s an anthem singer’s worst nightmare.
With a microphone in your hand and everyone watching, you forget the lyrics.
That’s what appeared to happen to a young woman in Montreal over the weekend, prior to a Canadian men’s national soccer team match against Peru at Saputo Stadium.
She wasn’t the first singer to bungle ‘O Canada’, and she certainly won’t be the last.
Canadian National Anthem fail before the Canada 🇨🇦 vs Peru 🇵🇪 friendly in Montreal..#CanMNT pic.twitter.com/JkpaVoRkIZ
— RGF (@rgfray1) October 3, 2026
Things went off the rails quickly, as the singer seemed to mess up the tune by the third line of the French version of ‘O Canada’. She stopped midway through the fourth line and started over.
The second round went even worse.
That’s when a quick-thinking person at Saputo Stadium hit play on a recorded version of the song. The sold-out crowd of 19,619 in Montreal sang along to help save the day.
The anthem caught the attention of the Daily Mail in England, erroneously identifying the woman as Canadian singer Alessia Cara at first.
“Hey… wasn’t me,” Cara clarified via social media. “Also, leave that poor girl alone.”
Canada went on to win the match 2-0, with Jacob Shaffelburg scoring both goals. Goalkeeper Owen Goodman picked up the clean sheet.
It was the second win in a row for Canada over a South American opponent, as the national team topped Chile 1-0 in Toronto on Sept. 26.
These were the first two matches for the Canadian men’s national team since the FIFA World Cup. Canada has one more match in this international window, and it’s a big one, against the United States on Tuesday in Saint Paul, Minn.
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