Canada Soccer announced on Tuesday that four Vancouver Whitecaps FC BMO MLS Academy players have been named to the 23-player squad for a men’s U-17 pre-tournament camp in Guatemala ahead of the 2023 Concacaf Men’s Under-17 Championship.
The roster includes defender Aidan Fong, midfielders Jeevan Badwal and Liam Mackenzie, and striker Kyler Vojvodic. All four players were previously called up for the Copa Mexico in December and a previous camp in October.
The Concacaf Men’s Under-17 Championship will qualify four nations to the FIFA U-17 World Cup Peru 2023 in November. Players in both competitions are all born 2006 or later, with each Concacaf nation selecting 23 players for the Concacaf Men’s Under-17 Championship in February.
The pre-tournament camp will lead straight into the competition which also takes place in Guatemala, with Canada’s opening match on February 11 in Antigua at the Estadio Pensativo against group opponents Trinidad and Tobago.
Canada, Trinidad and Tobago, Barbados and USA are in Group F from which three nations will advance to the Round of 16 knockout phase on February 18-19. After their opening match on Saturday, February 11, Canada will face Barbados on Monday, February 13 and then USA on Wednesday, February 15, with all three group matches in Antigua. Beyond the Round of 16, the Quarter-Finals are February 21-22, the Semi-Finals are Friday, February 24, and the Concacaf Final is Sunday, February 26 at the Estadio Doroteo Guamuch Flores.
As part of the program’s preparations and player assessments leading into the 2023 Concacaf Men’s Under-17 Championship, Canada Soccer delivered three NEX-PRO integration camps featuring 75 players across the professional academies with Vancouver Whitecaps FC, Toronto FC and CF Montréal. Canada Soccer then hosted a pair of best-on-best national camps featuring players from clubs based in Canada and abroad, with notably a pair of youth international matches against Costa Rica and Mexico in mid December. Canada have also added a pre-tournament youth international match against Guatemala in early February.
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.
CANADA
GK- Nathaniel Abraham | CAN / Toronto FC Academy
GK- Alexander O’Brien | CAN / Toronto FC Academy
CB- Richard Chukwu | CAN / Toronto FC Academy
CB- Victor Fung | CAN / Inter Miami FC Academy
CB- Étienne Godin | CAN / Académie CF Montréal
CB- Simon Guardiero | CAN / Sigma FC
CB- Chimere Omeze | CAN / Toronto FC Academy
CB- Lazar Stefanovic | CAN / Toronto FC Academy
FB- Gaël de Montigny | CAN / Académie CF Montréal
FB- Aidan Fong | CAN / Vancouver Whitecaps FC BMO MLS Academy
FB- Theo Rigopoulos | CAN / Toronto FC Academy
M- Jeevan Badwal | CAN / Vancouver Whitecaps FC BMO MLS Academy
M- Alessandro Biello | CAN / Académie CF Montréal
M- Ruben de Sá | POR / Vitória SC
M- Andrei Dumitru | CAN / Toronto FC Academy
M- Matteo Landicho-Correia | CAN / Toronto FC Academy
M- Liam MacKenzie | CAN / Vancouver Whitecaps FC BMO MLS Academy
M- Antoine N’Diaye | CAN / Académie CF Montréal
F- Ibrahim Higazy | ESP / Rayo Vallecano
F- Antoni Klukowski | POL / Legia Warsaw
F- Lucas Ozimec | CAN / Toronto FC Academy
F- Erik Pop | GER / Karlsruher FC
F- Kyler Vojvodic | CAN / Vancouver Whitecaps FC BMO MLS Academy
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CANADA A-Z
Abraham, Nathaniel | 2007 | Toronto, ON, CAN | Vaughan SC Azzurri
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 S
de Montigny, Gaël | 2006 | Montréal, QC, CAN | CS Mascouche
de Sá, Ruben | 2006 | Toronto, ON, CAN | Sporting FC Toronto Academy
Dumitru, Andrei | 2006 | Mississauga, ON, CAN | Mississauga Prostars FC
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 | S Mont-Royal Outremont
Guardiero, Simon | 2006 | Guelph, ON, CAN | Guelph SC
Higazy, Ibrahim | 2006 | Ottawa & Toronto, ON, CAN, London, ENG & Madrid, ESP | Futuro Soccer Academy
Klukowski, Antoni | 2007 | Warsaw, POL & Palma Mallorca, ESP | Escola Varovia
Landicho-Correia, Matteo | 2006 | Windsor, ON, CAN | Windsor SC
MacKenzie, Liam | 2007 | Comox, BC, CAN | Comox Valley United SC
N’Diaye, Antoine | 2006 | Longueuil, QC, CAN | CS Longueuil
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
Vojvodic, Kyler | 2006 | Port Coquitlam, BC, CAN | Port Coquitlam Eurorite SA
CANADA SOCCER’S MEN’S NATIONAL TEAM PROGRAM
Canada Soccer’s Men’s National Team are three-time Concacaf champions, previously winning the 1985 Concacaf Championship, 2000 Concacaf Gold Cup, and 2021-22 Concacaf Qualifiers. Canada most recently qualified for the 2022 FIFA World Cup Qatar and have previously featured at the 1976 and 1984 Olympic Games, the 1986 FIFA World Cup, and the 2001 FIFA Confederations Cup.
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 15 FIFA men’s youth tournaments: eight editions of the FIFA U-20 World Cup and seven editions of the FIFA U-17 World Cup. Canada most recently qualified for the FIFA U-17 World Cup Brazil 2019, which was the last FIFA men’s youth competition before the global pandemic.
