Canada men's national under-20 soccer team explained

Canada Under-20
Badge:Flag of Canada.svg
Badge Size:150
Fifa Trigramme:CAN
Nickname:The Canucks
Les Rouges (The Reds)
Association:Canadian Soccer Association
Confederation:CONCACAF (North America)
Coach:Andrew Olivieri
Most Caps:David Edgar (27)
Top Scorer:Iain Hume (7)
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First Game: 1–1
(Puebla, Mexico; February 20, 1973)
Largest Win: 9–0
(Tegucigalpa, Honduras; November 26, 1978)
Largest Loss: 5–0
(Sunrise, Florida, United States; December 18, 2010)
5–0
(Niamey, Niger; December 6, 2005)
6–1
(Niamey, Niger; December 8, 2005)
Regional Cup Apps:8
Regional Name:FIFA U-20 World Cup
Regional Cup First:1979
Regional Cup Best:Quarter-finals (2003)
2Ndregional Cup Apps:24
2Ndregional Name:CONCACAF Under-20 Championship
2Ndregional Cup First:1973
2Ndregional Cup Best:Champions (1986, 1996)

The Canada U-20 men's national soccer team (also known as Canada Under-20s or Canada U-20s) represents Canada in international soccer at this age level. They are overseen by the Canadian Soccer Association, the governing body for soccer in Canada.

It plays a large role in the development of Canadian soccer, and is considered to be the feeder team for the Canada men's national soccer team. The team has qualified for eight out of nineteen FIFA U-20 World Cups. Their best result came in 2003 where they reached the quarterfinals.

The team also competes in the CONCACAF U-20 Championship, which they won in 1986 and 1996.

Canada's most significant accomplishments at youth level are winning the CONCACAF U-20 Championship and Francophone Games twice, reaching quarterfinals of the 2003 FIFA U-20 World Cup, and defeating Brazil U-20 2-1 in a friendly on May 19, 2006, at Commonwealth Stadium in Edmonton, Alberta.

History

1976–1996

Canada's Under-20 soccer team was created in 1976 as Canada's response to the newly created World youth Championship. The team failed to qualify for the inaugural tournament in 1977 in Tunisia, but they qualified for the following tournament two years later in Japan. They finished last in their group with two points, but they did manage to defeat Portugal 3–1. The next time the team qualified for a World youth Championship was in 1985, in the USSR, again they came last in their group with only one point. In the 1987 WYC in Chile, Canada's Under-20 soccer team put up a good effort scoring four goals, and tying Italy, however they still did not manage to get out of the group stage.

1997–2004

In 1997, after failing to qualify for four World Youth Championships (as the event was known until 2005) in a row, Canada made it past the group stage. The team progressed to the second round after a 2–1 win against Hungary in which a young Dwayne De Rosario scored a goal. They lost the round of 16 game against Spain 2–0. After missing the tournament in 1999, Canada qualified for Argentina 2001 after winning the qualifying tournament based on home soil in Vancouver, British Columbia. At the finals, they finished last and were eliminated from a group including Brazil, Germany and Iraq.

Canada once again appeared in the 2003 FIFA World Youth Championship in United Arab Emirates. They qualified to the round of 16 where they blanked Burkina Faso 1–0, and in a rematch against 1997 conquerors Spain, Canada lost in the quarter-finals. Iain Hume scored three goals for Canada including a direct free kick against Spain while Atiba Hutchinson was an impressive performer in midfield.

2005–present

At the 2005 FIFA World Youth Championships in the Netherlands, Canada were eliminated in the group stage after tying once and losing twice. One bright side of the tournament was Jaime Peters' and Marcel De Jong's goals.

In the build-up to the 2007 FIFA U-20 World Cup, as the tournament came to be known, Canada's defeated Brazil in the first game of a three-game series, winning 2- in front of 14 000+ at Commonwealth Stadium in Edmonton on May 19, 2006. David Edgar and Will Johnson scored and Stephen Lumley made goal-line clearance to preserve Canada's first win over a Brazilian men's team at any level. Canada lost the remaining two matches 3–1. Despite an impressive run in friendlies leading up to the competition, Canada went winless in first round play without scoring a goal on home soil.

Coaching history

NameYears
Barrie Clarke1979–80
Bob Bearpark1985–94
Bruce Twamley1994–97
Paul James1998–2001
Stephen Hart2002
Dale Mitchell2002–07
2007–10
Valerio Gazzola[1] 2010–11
Nick Dasovic2011–13
2014–18
2018–22
Mauro Biello2022–23
2023–present

Results and fixtures

The following is a list of match results from the previous 12 months, as well as any future matches that have been scheduled.[2] [3]

2024

Players

Current squad

The following 21 players were called up for the 2024 CONCACAF U-20 Championship.[4]

Caps and goals as of July 30, 2024, after the match against Panama.

Recent call-ups

The following players have previously been called up to the U-20 team, and are still eligible to play for Canada in the current U-20 World Cup cycle if they qualify.

Previous Canada U-20 squads

FIFA U-20 World Cup
CONCACAF U-20 Championship
Jeux de la Francophonie

Competitive record

FIFA U-20 World Cup

U-20 World Cup record
YearResultPosition
1977did not qualify
1979Group stage13th of 16310235
1981did not qualify
1983
1985Group stage14th of 16301207
1987Group stage12th of 16302145
1989did not qualify
1991
1993
1995
1997Round of 1613th of 24411235
1999did not qualify
2001Group stage24th of 24300309
2003Quarter-finals8th of 24520346
2005Group stage21st of 24301227
2007Group stage24th of 24300306
2009did not qualify
2011
2013
2015
2017
2021Cancelled
2023did not qualify
2025
Total Quarter-finals 8/24 27 4 5 18 16 50

CONCACAF U-20 Championship

CONCACAF U-20 Championship record
YearResultPosition
1962did not enter
1964
1970
1973Fourth place4th of 6401326
1974Quarter-finals4th of 124310134
1976Second round5th of 1562131413
1978Runner-up2nd of 137313164
1980Semi-finals4th of 18523062
1982Second round5th of 125212108
1984Runner-up2nd of 168431134
1986Champions1st of 107610232
1988Group stage6th of 10411244
1990Group stage5th of 12211010
1992Third place3rd of 115311126
1994Third place3rd of 1263031810
1996Champions1st of 125410102
1998Group stage6th of 8310247
2001Group stage3rd of 8321020
2003Group stage2nd of 8321052
2005Group stage2nd of 8330041
2007did not enter
2009Group stage5th of 8310233
2011Quarter-finals7th of 12310227
2013Quarter-finals6th of 12310287
2015Group stage9th of 125104811
2017Group stage9th of 12310226
2018Group stage5302106
2020Cancelled
2022Round of 1611th of 20412174
2024Quarter-finals6th of 12421165
Total 2 Titles 25/29 110 53 21 36 203 124

Jeux de la Francophonie

Jeux de la Francophonie record
YearResultPosition
1989Gold medal1st of 10431093
1994Group stage5th of 9210165
1997Gold medal1st of 10522132
2001Quarter-finals6th of 12411247
2005Group stage12th of 123003113
2009Fourth place4th of 9411249
2013Group stage10th of 14310237
2017Group stage7th of 16320134
2023Group stageWithdrew
Total 2 Titles 8/9 28 11 5 12 33 50

Honours

See also

External links

Notes and References

  1. https://www.cbc.ca/sports/soccer/canadian-soccer-names-new-u20-coach-1.973678 Canadian soccer names new U20 coach
  2. Web site: Draw reveals groups for 2024 Concacaf U-20 Qualifiers . . October 11, 2023 . December 17, 2023 . https://web.archive.org/web/20231011192910/https://www.concacaf.com/under-20s-men/article/draw-reveals-groups-for-2024-concacaf-u-20-qualifiers/ . October 11, 2023 . live.
  3. Web site: CONCACAF Under-20 Championship - Match Schedule . . December 17, 2023 . https://web.archive.org/web/20231011195332/https://stconcacafwp001.blob.core.windows.net/media/3vxksa5o/cu20q-match-schedule.pdf . October 11, 2023 . live.
  4. Web site: CANM20 Squad announced for 2024 Concacaf U-20 Championship . . 11 July 2024 . 11 July 2024.