The Canadian men’s U-20 team announced its 21-player squad for the upcoming 2024 Concacaf Under-20 Championship Qualifiers on Monday.
Canada have been drawn into Group D, which will take place in Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago. The group includes matches against Dominica (Friday, Feb. 23), St. Vincent and the Grenadines (Sunday, Feb. 25) and Trinidad and Tobago (Tuesday, Feb. 27). The team that finishes top of the group will qualify for the 2024 Concacaf U-20 Championship, to take place this summer. After the conclusion of the qualifiers, the draw and details for that tournament will be released.
The squad, coached by Andrew Olivieri, includes two Canadian Premier League players: Vancouver FC fullback James Cameron and Forge FC attacker Kevaughn Tavernier.
Cameron, 19, is coming off a stellar first professional campaign with Vancouver FC. The fullback earned a nomination for the league’s Best U-21 Canadian Player award after appearing in 19 matches for the expansion club in 2023, scoring his first professional goal on Sept. 9, a dramatic stoppage-time winner against Atlético Ottawa. This is Cameron’s first international callup.
Forge FC’s 17-year-old attacker Kevaughn Tavernier, meanwhile, recently represented Canada at the U-17 World Cup where he appeared in all three group stage matches. Tavernier has made three appearances for Forge, most recently coming off the bench against C.D. Guadalajara in the 2024 Concacaf Champions Cup.
Other players with CPL connections include Christian Greco-Taylor, who is currently training with Cavalry FC having previously spent time with the Calgary Foothills program. Kimani Stewart-Baynes and Ethan Schilte-Brown, meanwhile, were both on developmental contracts with the Halifax Wanderers last season. Stewart-Baynes was recently selected fourth overall by the Colorado Rapids in the 2024 MLS SuperDraft, while Schilte-Brown, an 18-year-old central defender, signed a pro deal with Kilmarnock in the Scottish Premiership this past week. Goalkeeper Ivan Pavela spent time with York United on a development deal last year and is now with NK Lokomotiva Zagreb in Croatia.
Canada’s squad is also full of several players plying their trades with some impressive clubs, not the least of which dual-national Jesse Costa of Wolfsburg, who has also represented Portugal at the U-16 and U-18 levels. Oumar Diallo, meanwhile, is an 18-year-old striker currently playing for Inter Milan’s U-19 side; Tiago Codinha, a Dutch-Canadian attacking midfielder, recently joined Twente U-21, while Grégoire Swiderski is a France/Canada dual national goalkeeper for Bordeaux B.
Here is the full Canada squad for this competition:
GK – Grégoire Świderski | FRA / Girondins Bordeaux GK – Ivan Pavela | CRO / NK Lokomotiva ZagrebGK – Nathaniel Abraham | CAN / Toronto FCD – Theo Rigopoulos | CAN / Toronto FC D – Christian Greco-Taylor | Unattached D – Sergei Kozlovskiy | CAN / CF MontréalD – Lazar Stefanovic | CAN / Toronto FCD – James Cameron | CAN / Vancouver FC D – Ethan Schilte-Brown | SCO / Kilmarnock FC D – Adam Pearlman | CAN / Toronto FC Academy M – Alessandro Biello | CAN / CF Montréal M – Tiago Codinha | NED / Twente Enschede M – Jeevan Badwal | CAN / Vancouver Whitecaps FCM – Jesse Costa | GER / VFL Wolfsburg M – Matteo Schiavoni | CAN / CF Montréal M – Myles Morgan | UnattachedF – Oumar Diallo | ITA / Inter Milan F – Kimani Stewart-Baynes | USA / Colorado Rapids F – Kevaughn Tavernier | CAN / Forge FC F – Tavio Ciccarelli | ENG / Sheffield United F – Santiago Lopez | MEX / Pumas Unam