Canada finish in fifth place at the Concacaf Boys’ Under-15 Championship after Quarterfinals loss to Haiti

Canada were eliminated from the Quarterfinals at this year’s Concacaf Boys’ Under-15 Championship following an 0-1 loss to Haiti. Bill Meranvil scored the lone goal from the top of the box midway through the second half in the Thursday night knockout match at Estadio Olímpico Félix Sánchez in Santo Domingo.

“We are really proud that our boys stayed on task and kept finding solutions to unlock a very intense and tenacious Haiti side,” said Mike Vitulano, Canada Soccer’s U-15 Coach. “We had some chances, but unfortunately the result didn’t come our way, that’s football, but they still played up until the final whistle. Haiti were dangerous on their attack and they capitalised on their chance.”

Canada finished the tournament with three wins and one loss after finishing in first place in Group C. Canada scored seven goals and conceded just two goals across the four matches. In the other Concacaf Quarterfinals, Mexico won 1:0 over Puerto Rico, Jamaica won 4:1 over Honduras, and USA won 4:1 over Guatemala.

“It is a disappointing result, but when our boys look back on the experience across the tournament we hope it will serve them well on their journey as youth international footballers,” said Vitulano.

Canada had chances on both sides of the break, but couldn’t beat the Haiti defence on this night in Santo Domingo. André Ali-Gayapersad was just wide of the target in the 16th minute and Kemari Record-Wright headed a William Daniels free kick just wide late into added time of the second half.

Match centre / centre du match : https://canadasoccer.com/national-team-match-past/?matchId=4488

This was Canada’s third participation at the Concacaf Boys’ Under-15 Championship, having reached the Concacaf Semifinals in both 2017 and 2019 (there was no tournament in 2021 because of the global pandemic). Canada holds an all-time record of eight wins and five losses in 13 matches at the Concacaf Boys’ Under-15 Championship with 27 goals scored and 12 goals conceded.

While only 18 players were featured on the official squad for the Concacaf matches, Canada had 21 players training as a team for the duration of the competition (down from 22 players after an injury). Only players born 2008 or later were eligible for selection. Seventeen of the 18 squad players made their international debuts at this competition, with only Richard Chukwu a previous youth international at the U-17 level.

CANADA SOCCER’S MEN’S NATIONAL TEAM PROGRAM
Canada Soccer’s Men’s National Youth Teams have won two Concacaf titles: both the 1986 and 1996 Concacaf Men’s Youth Championships. Canada have qualified for 16 FIFA men’s youth tournaments: eight editions of the FIFA U-20 World Cup and eight editions of the FIFA U-17 World Cup. Across Brazil 2019 and Peru 2023, Canada have qualified for back-to-back FIFA U-17 World Cups.

Canada Soccer’s Men’s EXCEL Program channels our nation’s exceptional players into the best soccer environments. The Canada Soccer Pathway works in collaboration with our provincial and territory partners as well as the 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.

CAN 0:1 HAI
2023-08-10 Santo Domingo, DOM
Estadio Olímpico Félix Sánchez, att. 150
Referee / Arbitre : Timothy Derry (P.Browne, G.Browne, Valladares)

Goals / Buts
HAI 52′ Bill Meranvil (right foot / pied droit) 1-0 (a. Franco Celestin)

CANADA – 1 GK Dominic Kantoworicz, 2 Sahil Deo (12 Josh Ntezirayao 65’), 5 Daniel Panait, 6 Sergei Kozlovskiy, 13 Richard Chukwu capt., 14 Dylan Judelson, 10 Kevin Khan (8 Aghilas Abdelmalek Sadek 53’), 4 Tim Fortier, 11 André Ali-Gayapersad (7 Shola Jimoh 68’), 16 Grady McDonnell (9 Kemari Record-Wright 53’), 3 William Daniels.  Coach / Entraîneur Mike Vitulano.  Unused substitutes / substituts non utilisés: 18 GK Jean-Christophe Belzile; 15 Spencer Sappleton, 17 Philip Biskupski.

Performance of the Match / Performance du match: Sergei Kozlovskiy

#canm15 Concacaf Boys’ Under-15 Championship / Championnat U15 de la Concacaf  : https://canadasoccer.com/national/camps/?camp_id=1670

#canm15 Team Photo / Photo de l’équipe : https://www.flickr.com/photos/canadasoccer/53098697275/

Concacaf League A / Ligue A de la Concacaf
Quarterfinals / Quarts de finale
HON 1:4 JAM
MEX 1:0 PAN
CAN 0:1 HAN
USA 4:1 GUA