Olivia Chisholm and Luc De Fougerolles named Canada Soccer’s 2025 Young Players of the Year  

Olivia Chisholm and Luc De Fougerolles have been named Canada Soccer’s 2025 Young Players of the Year (Women’s and Men’s respectively) as selected by their National Team Programs.

The Canada Soccer Young Players of the Year award celebrates Canada’s top young footballers in recognition of their achievements and performances across Canada Soccer’s National Teams Program and their respective professional clubs. For 2025, players born in 2005 or later were eligible for this award.

Olivia Chisholm had a standout year in 2025 across Canada Soccer’s youth national team pathway, making her mark with both the U-17 and U-20 programs. The 17-year-old took part in a total of five national team camps and featured in major international competitions, including two Concacaf championships and a FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup.

Chisholm played a key role at the Concacaf Women’s Under-17 Qualifiers in April, co-leading Canada in scoring with two goals while starting two matches as the team secured qualification for the FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup Morocco 2025™. She carried that momentum into June, contributing to Canada’s title-winning run at the 2025 Concacaf Women’s U-20 Championship, where she started four of five matches, logged more than 400 minutes, and played every minute of both the semifinal win over the United States and the extra-time victory over Mexico in the final, as Canada booked its place at the FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup Poland 2026™. She closed out the year by captaining Canada at the FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup in October and November, starting every match, recording a goal and an assist, and helping Canada advance from the group stage with a perfect record before reaching the quarterfinals.

At the club level, the then 16-year-old Chisholm signed a youth development contract with AFC Toronto in the Northern Super League on 30 August. She made her professional debut that same day at home against Calgary FC, becoming the youngest player to take the field for the club, and earned her first start in an away match against Calgary Wild FC on 4 October.

Although Luc De Fougerolles made his debut in 2024 at the Copa América, 2025 was his breakout year with Canada Soccer’s Men’s National Team. Following injuries to Moïse Bombito, De Fougerolles found himself in the starting lineup for Canada on multiple occasions at the young age of 19. Now 20, De Fougerolles regularly plays senior football at the club level as well.

For Canada, De Fougerolles made nine appearances, with 7 starts, contributing an assist and posting six clean sheets. He made his first goal contribution for Canada in their 4:2 win over Ukraine, assisting Tajon Buchanan’s goal in 82nd minute. At the 2025 Concacaf Gold Cup, he played 230 minutes across the four matches, picking up clean sheets against Honduras and El Salvador.

For Fulham FC U21, De Fougerolles was a regular starter in their Premier League 2 team, advancing to the quarterfinals where they were ultimately defeated by Southampton U21. In four years with various Fulham Academy teams, he appeared in 84 matches. Following his impressive Concacaf Gold Cup, he signed a new four-year contract with Fulham that would see him stay with the club until 2029 and ultimately earned himself a loan move to Belgium’s FCV Dender EH in the First Division A. He immediately became a regular starter in the squad, making 15 appearances across all competitions in 2025 so far, contributing an assist.

Canada Soccer will announce their 2025 Canada Soccer Player Awards winners this week. Voting for the 2025 Players of the Year is underway. Canada Soccer coaching staffs from their respective programs have determined Canada Soccer’s Young, Futsal and Para Players of the Year.

2025 Canada Soccer Player Awards Schedule  

December 11 – Canada Soccer Player of the Year nominees announced  

December 15 – Canada Soccer Futsal Player of the Year winner announced  

December 15 – Allstate Good Hands® Award winners announced  

December 16 – Canada Soccer Para Player of the Year winner announced

December 17 – Canada Soccer Young Player of the Year winners announced  

December 17 – Canada Soccer Player of the Year voting closes  

December 18 – Canada Soccer Player of the Year Top 3 finalists announced 

December 19 – Canada Soccer Player of the Year winners announced 

Canada Soccer Young Player of the Year – Past Winners