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Men's National Team Program November 02, 2023

Canada announces squad for the FIFA U-17 World Cup Indonesia 2023™

#canm17

Canada Soccer’s young stars have arrived in Indonesia where the final selection of 21 men’s footballers for the 2023 FIFA U-17 World Cup have been confirmed ahead of next week’s opening match on Friday 10 November. Canada are in Group B alongside Spain, Uzbekistan and Mali as part of the biennial 24-nation, 52-match competition that wraps up Saturday 2 December at Manahan Stadium in Surakarta, Indonesia.

Canada will open the FIFA U-17 World Cup Indonesia 2023™ against Spain on Friday 10 November at Manahan Stadium in Surakarta (19.00 local / 07.00 ET / 04.00 PT). Across Group B, Canada will also face Uzbekistan on Monday 13 November at Manahan Stadium (19.00 local / 07.00 ET / 04.00 PT) and then Mali on Thursday 16 November at Gelora Bung Tomo Stadium in Benowo (16.00 local / 04.00 ET / 01.00 PT). In Canada throughout the competition, all the matches will be broadcast through TSN and RDS while fans will find coverage across Canada Soccer’s digital channels on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and YouTube featuring the hashtag #canm17.

“It is pinnacle events like this that our most talented young Canadians need to experience and to rise up on their journey towards the highest tiers of the global game,” said Andrew Olivieri, Canada Soccer’s Men’s National Youth Excel Director. “Putting together a collectively disciplined and brave run of performances in Indonesia will be what the squad needs to take this program to a knockout stage for the first time at a FIFA U-17 World Cup. In achieving that, those performances can also help springboard some of these young men’s careers.”

This marks the first FIFA U-17 World Cup since the global pandemic and the first time Indonesia has hosted a FIFA youth tournament. Beyond the group stage which runs 10-18 November, the Round of 16 is scheduled for 20-21 November, the Quarterfinals are scheduled for 24-25 November, the Semifinals on 28 November, the Match for Third Place on 1 December, and the Final on Saturday 2 December.

Canada were one of four Concacaf nations that qualified for the FIFA U-17 World Cup back in February at the 2023 Concacaf Men’s Under-17 Championship in Guatemala. It marked the first time in a decade that Canada qualified for back-to-back FIFA U-17 World Cups, having also reached the group stage at the FIFA U-17 World Cup Brazil 2019 before the pandemic. This year’s group features players born 2006 or later.

Since the Concacaf Men’s Under-17 Championship in February, Canada’s best players have returned to their clubs at the academy and professional levels in Canada, USA, France, Germany and Poland. The Canada squad got back to together on the pitch in late September when they flew to Brazil for a pair of international matches against the reigning 2023 South American champions Brazil (who as a nation were also the last FIFA U-17 World Cup winners in 2019).

Led by coach Andrew Olivieri, Canada’s FIFA U-17 World Cup squad features: goalkeepers Nathaniel Abraham, Dominic Kantorowicz and Alexander O’Brien; centre backs and outside fullbacks Theo Rigopoulos, Gaël de Montigny, Chimere Omeze, Lazar Stefanovic, Aidan Fong, Richard Chukwu, Victor Fung, Etienne Godin and Lino Aklil; and midfielders, forwards and wingers Alessandro Biello, Taryck Tahid, Jeevan Badwal, Antoni Klukowski, Philip Igbinobaro, Kevaughn Tavernier, Tyler Londono, Erik Pop and Lucas Ozimec.

CANADA
​1- GK- Nathaniel Abraham | CAN / Toronto FC Academy
​2- FB- Theo Rigopoulos | CAN / Toronto FC Academy
​3- FB- Gaël de Montigny | CAN / Académie CF Montréal
​4- M- Alessandro Biello | CAN / Académie CF Montréal
​5- CB- Chimere Omeze | CAN / Toronto FC Academy
​6- CB- Lazar Stefanovic | CAN / Toronto FC Academy II
​7- F- Taryck Tahid | CAN / Vancouver FC
​8- M- Jeevan Badwal | CAN / Vancouver Whitecaps FC Academy
​9- F- Antoni Klukowski | POL / Pogoń Szczecin
​10- M- Philip Igbinobaro | CAN / Toronto FC Academy
​11- F- Kevaughn Tavernier | CAN / Forge FC Hamilton
​12- FB- Aidan Fong | CAN / Vancouver Whitecaps FC Academy
​13- M- Richard Chukwu | CAN / Toronto FC Academy
​14- M- Tyler Londono | CAN / Toronto FC Academy
​15- CB- Victor Fung | USA / Inter Miami CF Academy
​16- GK- Dominic Kantorowicz | CAN / Toronto FC Academy
​17- CB- Étienne Godin | CAN / Académie CF Montréal
​18- GK- Alexander O’Brien | CAN / Toronto FC Academy
​19- F- Erik Pop | GER / Karlsruher FC U-19
​20- FB- Lino Aklil | FRA / HSC Montpellier
​21- F- Lucas Ozimec | CAN / Toronto FC Academy

Alternates / Les alternatives
​22- M- Liam MacKenzie | CAN / Vancouver Whitecaps FC Academy
​23- CB- Sergei Kozlovskiy | CAN / Académie de CF Montréal

CANADA (A-Z) ​
​Player | Birthyear | City in which they grew up | Notable youth clubs ​
​Abraham, Nathaniel | 2007 | Toronto, ON, CAN | Vaughan SC Azzurri
​Aklil, Lino | 2006 | Aix-en-Provence, FRA | US Puyricard
​Badwal, Jeevan | 2006 | Surrey, BC, CAN | Surrey FC
​Biello, Alessandro | 2006 | Montréal, QC, CAN | CS St-Léonard
​Chukwu, Richard | 2008 | Toronto, ON, CAN | Bradford Eagles SC
​de Montigny, Gaël | 2006 | Montréal, QC, CAN | CS Mascouche
​Fong, Aidan | 2006 | Vancouver, BC, CAN | Killarney YSA
​Fung, Victor | 2007 | Caracas, VEN & Weston, FL, USA | Escuela Campo Alegre
​Godin, Étienne | 2006 | Montréal, QC, CAN | CS Mont-Royal Outremont
​Igbinobaro, Philip | 2006 | Toronto, ON, CAN | Glen Shields FC
​Kantorowicz, Dominic | 2008 | Caledon, ON, CAN | Brampton Elite SA
​Klukowski, Antoni | 2007 | Warsaw, POL & Palma Mallorca, ESP | Escola Varovia
​Londono, Tyler | 2006 | Aurora & Toronto, ON, CAN | Hurricane Weston
​O’Brien, Alexander | 2006 | Toronto, ON, CAN | North Toronto SC
​Omeze, Chimere | 2006 | Toronto, ON, CAN | Brampton East SC
​Ozimec, Lucas | 2006 | Oakville, ON, CAN | Oakville SC
​Pop, Erik | 2006 | Mississauga, ON, CAN | Mississauga Prostars FC
​Rigopoulos, Theo | 2006 | London, ON, CAN | London Norwest
​Stefanovic, Lazar | 2006 | Oakville, ON, CAN | Oakville SC
​Tahid, Taryck | 2007 | Maple Ridge, BC, CAN | VanCity Pro Football Academy
​Tavernier, Kevaughn | 2006 | Brampton, ON, CAN | Brampton YSC

CANADA SOCCER’S MEN’S NATIONAL TEAM PROGRAM
​Canada Soccer’s Men’s EXCEL Program channels our nation’s exceptional players from the best soccer environments across the globe. Domestically, ​ the Canada Soccer Pathway works in collaboration with our provincial and territory partners as well as our professional clubs and academies. For Canada’s elite players, the program emphasizes player development on the pathway to representing Canada’s Men’s National Team in international soccer.

The FIFA U-17 World Cup Indonesia 2023™ provides an important development step towards future Concacaf and FIFA youth competitions at the U-17 and U-20 levels and more importantly a step towards competing at the international level for Canada Soccer’s Men’s National Team at Concacaf, FIFA and Olympic tournaments. Since the last FIFA U-17 World Cup four years ago at Brazil 2019, already a trio of those players have earned call ups to the Men’s National Team (Jayden Nelson, Ralph Prio, Jacen Russell-Rowe).