On Thursday morning, Canada Soccer announced its squad for the 2023 FIFA U-17 World Cup in Indonesia, including Vancouver FC’s TJ Tahid and Forge FC’s Kevaughn Tavernier.

Tahid and Tavernier become the first active Canadian Premier League players to appear on a FIFA World Cup tournament roster. The competition kicks off on Friday, Nov. 10, with Canada taking on European giants Spain.

This is the latest bit of league history for 16-year-old Maple Ridge, B.C. native Tahid, who became the league’s youngest-ever signing at just 16 years and 16 days old. He then became the CPL’s youngest goalscorer when he scored against Pacific FC on June 2. In total in the young attacker’s first professional season, Tahid made 20 appearances and scored three goals.

Tavernier, meanwhile, made his debut for 2023 CPL Playoff champions Forge against this year’s regular season winners, Cavalry FC, on Sept. 9, before making his first start the next week against Valour. Those were the only two CPL appearances the 17-year-old attacker from Brampton made this year, but he also made 10 appearances for Sigma FC in League1 Ontario, scoring twice.

With the league’s fifth season having just concluded, Tahid and Tavernier’s youth national team call-ups are just the latest example of the Canadian Premier League’s critical importance to the country’s player development pathway.

“Often people don’t see this but a lot of these young players, they have been training for quite some time within the first team environment and in the locker room,” said Costa Smyrniotis, Executive Vice President, Soccer for the Canadian Premier League. “They are living the life of a pro so when that day comes for their name to be called they are much more ready. This is a big plus and we are starting to see it more and more. Obviously, getting them to a national team, a youth national team, it’s not the first time but I think what we’re going to see more and more is that this will be the norm going forward, at least from the CPL.”

Last year’s Canadian team at the Concacaf U-20 Championship included 11 players who either had played, or currently play, in the Canadian Premier League. Providing opportunities for young domestic players has been a mandate of the league since its inception, with each club now required to achieve 2,000 minutes played by domestic U-21 players to be playoff eligible.

Building the development pathway goes well beyond that, however, as CPL clubs establish academies, connections with League1 Canada clubs (such as Tavernier spending time with Sigma FC), and further build relationships with top programs within their regions.

“There have been the steps in the background to ensure that there is a connection into our communities, and a connection into our youth game which is very, very important and I think we’re seeing that,” said Smyrniotis. “I think you see it in a league; when you look at us within our competitive set within Concacaf we’re probably the youngest league in terms of minutes handed out. That’s a testament to the talent that is in the area but also to our clubs getting out there and doing the work in our communities.”

Earlier this year, the league took its competition rules a step further, introducing the new Exceptional Young Talent roster category to further incentivize youth development. This allows clubs to sign two additional U-18 domestic players outside of their 23-man roster, with their base salary and portions of bonuses and housing not counting toward the salary cap. The first crop of players signed to Exceptional Young Talent contracts included Tahid, as well as Vancouver FC teammate James Cameron and Forge’s Khadim Kane.

“Guys like TJ and Khadim Kane and James Cameron obviously have been the first beneficiaries of that. But I think you are going to start seeing that more across our league,” said Smyrniotis.

Kane made 16 appearances as an 18-year-old midfielder for a highly competitive Forge team, while Cameron was a nominee for the league’s Best Canadian U-21 Player award.

Both Tavernier and Tahid made their international debuts for Canada U-17 during a pair of friendlies against defending U-17 World Cup winners Brazil as part of a preparation camp back in September. Tahid started the first match, a 3-1 loss, while Tavernier started the second match, a 5-0 defeat. Both players were also named to Canada’s pre-tournament camp roster for a week-long camp to provide the team with final preparations for the U-17 World Cup.

This is Canada’s eighth appearance at the U-17 World Cup, but they are still looking for their first victory and have never advanced beyond the group stage with a record of 0-4-17 all-time. Canada will appear in the tournament’s group B, also featuring Spain, Mali and Uzbekistan. The top two teams from each group automatically advance to the knockout stage, where the four best third-place finishers will join them.

Here is the full Canadian squad for the 2023 U-17 World Cup tournament:

1- GK- Nathaniel Abraham | CAN / Toronto FC Academy
​2- FB- Theo Rigopoulos | CAN / Toronto FC Academy
​3- FB- Gaël de Montigny | CAN / Académie CF Montréal
​4- M- Alessandro Biello | CAN / Académie CF Montréal
​5- CB- Chimere Omeze | CAN / Toronto FC Academy
​6- CB- Lazar Stefanovic | CAN / Toronto FC Academy II
​7- F- Taryck Tahid | CAN / Vancouver FC
​8- M- Jeevan Badwal | CAN / Vancouver Whitecaps FC Academy
​9- F- Antoni Klukowski | POL / Pogoń Szczecin
​10- M- Philip Igbinobaro | CAN / Toronto FC Academy
​11- F- Kevaughn Tavernier | CAN / Forge FC Hamilton
​12- FB- Aidan Fong | CAN / Vancouver Whitecaps FC Academy
​13- M- Richard Chukwu | CAN / Toronto FC Academy
​14- M- Tyler Londono | CAN / Toronto FC Academy
​15- CB- Victor Fung | USA / Inter Miami CF Academy
​16- GK- Dominic Kantorowicz | CAN / Toronto FC Academy
​17- CB- Étienne Godin | CAN / Académie CF Montréal
​18- GK- Alexander O’Brien | CAN / Toronto FC Academy
​19- F- Erik Pop | GER / Karlsruher FC U-19
​20- FB- Lino Aklil | FRA / HSC Montpellier
​21- F- Lucas Ozimec | CAN / Toronto FC Academy