Choinière and Paton make their Canada debuts away against Japan

Mathieu Choinière and Harry Paton both made their international “A” debuts in an away Men’s International Friendly at Niigata, Japan on Friday 13 October 2023. The two debutants featured as second-half substitutes in the 4:1 loss to Japan at Denka Big Swan Stadium with 37,125 fans in attendance.

“I am happy they were able to get their first international appearance because they worked really hard in training this week and they have been doing well at their clubs,” said Coach Mauro Biello. “It’s a high level and they got a good taste of what this level is like. They contributed (when they came on) and we were able to control parts of that second half, create chances and we were able to get a good goal.”

Choinière, who now plays his club football at CF Montréal, grew up in St-Alexandre, Québec and played his youth football at AS Haut-Richelieu and the Académie de l’Impact de Montréal. The 24-year old midfielder previously had call ups to the Men’s National Team in 2018 and 2022, but in between also represented Canada at the Concacaf Men’s Under-20 Championship and was selected for the canceled Concacaf Olympic Qualifiers in 2020, but he missed the rescheduled event in 2021.

Paton, who plays in Scotland for Motherwell FC, grew up in Kitchener, Ontario and played his youth football at Kitchener SC and then both Fulham FC in England and Heart of Midlothian in Scotland. The 25-year old midfielder previously had a call up to the Men’s National Team in 2021 for the Concacaf Gold Cup, but did not feature in the tournament after missing the first part through Covid-19 protocols.

Choinière and Paton are the seventh and eighth debutants for Canada Soccer’s Men’s National Team in 2023. They join a group that features Kyle Hiebert from March (Concacaf Nations League) as well as Ali Ahmed, Moïse Bombito, Zac McGraw, Jacen Russell-Rowe and Dominick Zator from June (Concacaf Gold Cup).