Canada men's national under-23 soccer team

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Canada U-23
Shirt badge/Association crest
Nickname(s)
  • The Canucks
  • Les Rouges (The Reds)
AssociationCanadian Soccer Association
ConfederationCONCACAF (North America)
Head coachMauro Biello
Top scorerRob Friend (12)
FIFA codeCAN
First colours
Second colours
First international
Unofficial
 San Marino 0–1 Canada 
(Serravalle, San Marino; 28 March 1986)
Official
Canada Canada 3–0 Trinidad and Tobago Trinidad and Tobago
(Burnaby, Canada; May 5, 1991)
Biggest win
Canada Canada 14–0 U.S. Virgin Islands United States Virgin Islands
(Saint John, Canada; September 10, 2003)
Biggest defeat
Australia Australia 5–0 Canada Canada
(Sydney, Australia; June 2, 1996)
Pan American Games
Appearances2 (first in 1999)
Best resultFourth place (1999)

The Canada U-23 men's national soccer team (also known as Canada Olympic soccer team) represents Canada in international soccer at this age level. They are overseen by the Canadian Soccer Association, the governing body for soccer in Canada.[1]

Unlike UEFA member associations that use U-21 regional competitions as Olympic qualifying, as a member of CONCACAF, Canada's U-23 team competes in regional qualifying in the same year as the Summer Olympics, and its call-ups are traditionally only limited to players under 23 years of age.

History[edit]

2008 qualifying[edit]

Known for his vocal antics on the touchline, Nick Dasovic led Canada through Olympic qualifying in 2008, drawing Mexico 1–1 and helping to eliminate the heavily favoured Mexican side in the process. After a highly promising 5–0 win over Guatemala on a night when Mexico had to better that result against Haiti but could only win 5–1, Canada fell to the United States 3–0 in the semifinal, losing out on a spot in Beijing at the Olympics that summer. Canada recovered to defeat Guatemala in the third-place playoff, a rematch of their first-round game, winning on penalties (5–3) after a scoreless draw through 120 minutes.

2012 qualifying[edit]

Tony Fonseca led Canada to an opening game 0–0 draw against El Salvador. Following this, Canada stunned the United States 2–0, contributing to their surprising early elimination on home soil. Canada disappointed in their final group stage game with a 1–1 tie versus Cuba, setting up a more difficult semi-final for them against Mexico, which they would lose 3–1.

2016 qualifying[edit]

It was announced in August 2015 that Canada head coach Benito Floro would be in charge of the Olympic team. The final squad for qualification was announced on September 18, 2015.[2]

Coaching history[edit]

Results & fixtures[edit]

2021[edit]

March 19 2020 CONCACAF Olympic qualifying Canada  2–0  El Salvador Guadalajara, Mexico
13:30 Buchanan 17', 21' Report Stadium: Estadio Jalisco
Referee: Fernando Guerrero (Mexico)
March 22 2020 CONCACAF Olympic qualifying Haiti  0–0  Canada Zapopan, Mexico
16:00 Report Stadium: Estadio Akron
Referee: Juan Gabriel Calderón (Costa Rica)
March 25 2020 CONCACAF Olympic qualifying Honduras  1–1  Canada Guadalajara, Mexico
19:30 Maldonado 30' Report Cornelius 28' Stadium: Estadio Jalisco
Attendance: César Ramos (Mexico)
March 28 2020 CONCACAF Olympic qualifying Mexico  2–0  Canada Guadalajara, Mexico
21:00 Antuna 58'
Vásquez 65'
Report Stadium: Estadio Jalisco
Referee: Juan Gabriel Calderón

Players[edit]

Current squad[edit]

Players in bold have been capped with the senior team.
‡ – designated overage player.

The following 20 players were named to the squad for the 2020 CONCACAF Men's Olympic Qualifying Championship.[3] Caps and goals as of March 28, 2021, after the game against Mexico.

No. Pos. Player Date of birth (age) Caps Goals Club
1 1GK James Pantemis (1997-02-21) February 21, 1997 (age 27) 7 0 United States Portland Timbers
18 1GK Matthew Nogueira (1998-03-18) March 18, 1998 (age 26) 0 0 Unattached
19 1GK Sebastian Breza (1998-03-15) March 15, 1998 (age 26) 0 0 Canada CF Montréal

2 2DF Zachary Brault-Guillard (1998-12-30) December 30, 1998 (age 25) 4 0 Unattached
3 2DF Zorhan Bassong (1999-05-07) May 7, 1999 (age 24) 3 0 United States Sporting Kansas City
4 2DF Diyaeddine Abzi (1998-11-23) November 23, 1998 (age 25) 1 0 Spain Leganés
5 2DF Derek Cornelius (1997-11-25) November 25, 1997 (age 26) 7 1 Sweden Malmö FF
13 2DF Marcus Godinho (1997-06-28) June 28, 1997 (age 26) 4 0 Poland Korona Kielce
16 2DF Callum Montgomery (1997-05-14) May 14, 1997 (age 26) 2 0 Canada Cavalry FC

6 3MF Michael Baldisimo (2000-04-13) April 13, 2000 (age 24) 5 0 United States San Jose Earthquakes
8 3MF David Norman Jr. (1998-05-31) May 31, 1998 (age 25) 9 0 Canada Vancouver FC
10 3MF Aidan Daniels (1998-09-06) September 6, 1998 (age 25) 8 0 Canada HFX Wanderers FC
14 3MF Ryan Raposo (1999-03-05) March 5, 1999 (age 25) 4 0 Canada Vancouver Whitecaps FC
17 3MF Patrick Metcalfe (1998-11-11) November 11, 1998 (age 25) 4 0 Norway Fredrikstad
20 3MF Lucas Dias (2003-01-18) January 18, 2003 (age 21) 4 0 Canada Cavalry FC

7 4FW Tajon Buchanan (1999-02-08) February 8, 1999 (age 25) 4 2 Italy Inter Milan
9 4FW Charles-Andreas Brym (1998-08-08) August 8, 1998 (age 25) 4 0 Netherlands Sparta Rotterdam
11 4FW Ballou Tabla (1999-03-31) March 31, 1999 (age 25) 4 0 Canada Atlético Ottawa
12 4FW Mohamed Farsi (1999-12-16) December 16, 1999 (age 24) 2 0 United States Columbus Crew
15 4FW Theo Bair (1999-08-27) August 27, 1999 (age 24) 8 1 Scotland Motherwell

Recent call-ups[edit]

The following players have been called up within the last 12 months and are still eligible at U23 level.

Pos. Player Date of birth (age) Caps Goals Club Latest call-up
DF Thomas Meilleur-Giguère (1997-11-13) November 13, 1997 (age 26) 0 0 Canada Pacific FC 2020 CONCACAF Olympic Qualifying

FW Kris Twardek (1997-03-08) March 8, 1997 (age 27) 4 0 Canada Atletico Ottawa 2020 CONCACAF Olympic Qualifying

Previous squads[edit]

Competitive record[edit]

Summer Olympics[edit]

Summer Olympics record Summer Olympics
Qualification record
Year Result Position Pld W D L GF GA Pld W D L GF GA
Spain 1992 did not qualify 10 4 2 4 18 16
United States 1996 7 2 3 2 9 10
Australia 2000 5 2 2 1 3 2
Greece 2004 3 0 0 3 1 5
China 2008 5 1 2 2 7 6
United Kingdom 2012 4 1 2 1 4 4
Brazil 2016 5 1 1 3 6 10
Japan 2020 4 1 2 1 3 3
France 2024 Played by U–20 team
Total 0/9 43 12 14 17 51 56

Pan American Games[edit]

Pan American Games record
Year Result Position Pld W D L GF GA
Argentina 1995 did not participate
Canada 1999 Fourth place 4th of 10 6 2 2 2 6 6
Dominican Republic 2003 did not participate
Brazil 2007
Mexico 2011
Canada 2015 Group stage 7th of 8 3 0 1 2 1 6
Peru 2019 did not participate
Total Fourth place 2/7 9 2 3 4 7 12

Honours[edit]

See also[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^ National Post (March 28, 2012). "Canada will face Mexico for Olympic soccer berth". Archived from the original on January 29, 2013. Retrieved March 29, 2012.
  2. ^ "Canada M23 picks players for CONCACAF Olympic Qualifiers". September 18, 2015. Archived from the original on September 21, 2015. Retrieved September 18, 2015.
  3. ^ "Canada Soccer announces squad for Concacaf Men's Olympic Qualifying". Canada Soccer. March 10, 2021. Retrieved March 10, 2021.