CONCACAF U20 qualifying (for the cycle ending in 2025) + preparation & news

[Ottawafan]

Will any of these players challenge for a spot in 2026?

[InglewoodJack]

6 minutes ago, Ottawafan said:

Will any of these players challenge for a spot in 2026?

Stefanovic maybe? He would need a major leap and every other player would need a historic level jump in form to get considered. 
 

Maybe TFC sells Stefanovic to a Nordic team like they did with Jayden Nelson and he’s competing at a similar level to Cornelius, Serbia comes sniffing so we cap him. That’s basically the only scenario I can think of where any of those guys comes in in 2026. Unless of course Diallo finds himself playing regularly for Inter between now and then of course.

 

Still confused about Tahid. Did he reject the call?

[phresh]

1 hour ago, jordan said:

Tavio is at Huddersfield Town now

Are we sure about this? Sheffield's development team just posted on Twitter congratulating him for selection

[Bigandy]

24 minutes ago, Ottawafan said:

Will any of these players challenge for a spot in 2026?

Stefanovic is #1 but after him, it is extremely unlikely but costa could potentially have a decent rise. Lets say he develops over the next season and a half to a point he gets a decent loan move starting in the 2025/2026 season. hoilett is injured/retired, oso is out of form and now we are desperate for an attacking mid. He'd be a weaker selection but possibly better than any other options. 

I doubt it happens but its possible. 

[Atlantic]

17 minutes ago, phresh said:

Are we sure about this? Sheffield's development team just posted on Twitter congratulating him for selection

Maybe it’s a loan which would be weird but Tavio has definitely been playing for Huddersfield 

[JamboAl]

If we find one or two players that are good enough for 2026, then to me, that will be a success.  

[kacbru]

2 hours ago, YorkRegionFan said:

The saving grace is that since they gather together this Friday, they will have about a week to practice.  Hopefully playing Dominica and then St. Vincent first, will allow them time to gel before facing T&T in the final game.

Except we have a coach with a track record of rotating players so that there is absolutely no continuity.  He'll start with one lineup for the first game, a completely different lineup for the 2nd and a mishmash of the 2 for the third.  The most cost-effective investment the CSA could make would be a bunch of "Hello, my name is..." badges.

[dyslexic nam]

Remember that time Peter fought that giant chicken.

 

He may just surprise you. 

[phresh]

They've updated the roster on the site, Adam Pearlman now listed unattached and Pavela rightfully playing for Hajduk. Are these players in contract negotiations with their clubs or have they been let go?

Edited February 12 by phresh

[InglewoodJack]

So Olivieri says that they reached out to a number of players who weren’t ready to commit for the Canada and the guys that were chosen are fully committed, but when asked about where Tahid and McDonnell is, two guys who could still commit elsewhere, he says that he took into consideration form and who is in season vs not. That all makes sense except he called up two active CPL players and a slew of MLS academy players who are absolutely not in “better form” than those two guys. 
https://x.com/canucks_abroad/status/1757119199967694930?s=46&t=spIaqlQfufAO3HreB1455Q

He says James Cameron was brought in in part due to having played professional minutes last year, which fine, but again, unless he’s thinking of committing to Ghana, no real reason for Tahid not to be here. 

Edited February 12 by InglewoodJack

[canuckgbp]

8 minutes ago, phresh said:

They've updated the roster on the site, Adam Pearlman now listed unattached and Pavela rightfully playing fo Hajduk. Are these players in contract negotiations with their clubs or have they been let go?

With TFC and Pearlman idk. Remember the Kobe Franklin situation? There was talk of him not signing a contract (he made an Instagram post about betting on himself) and things looked up in the air. Eventually a long term one got done a few weeks later. Just have to wait and see. 

[canuckgbp]

6 minutes ago, InglewoodJack said:

So Olivieri says that they reached out to a number of players who weren’t ready to commit for the Canada and the guys that were chosen are fully committed, but when asked about where Tahid and McDonnell is, two guys who could still commit elsewhere, he says that he took into consideration form and who is in season vs not. That all makes sense except he called up two active CPL players and a slew of MLS academy players who are absolutely not in “better form” than those two guys. 
https://x.com/canucks_abroad/status/1757119199967694930?s=46&t=spIaqlQfufAO3HreB1455Q

 

Reminds me of the “they are not winners” comment from Herdman. 

Edited February 12 by canuckgbp

[canuckgbp]

 

[Footyeh]

Before I give my opinion on this roster.... 

How can Olivieri say he went with players who are "in-form" and then go and select two Unattached players!? 😆🤣

Edited February 12 by Footyeh

[Shway]

1 hour ago, InglewoodJack said:

So Olivieri says that they reached out to a number of players who weren’t ready to commit for the Canada and the guys that were chosen are fully committed, but when asked about where Tahid and McDonnell is, two guys who could still commit elsewhere, he says that he took into consideration form and who is in season vs not. That all makes sense except he called up two active CPL players and a slew of MLS academy players who are absolutely not in “better form” than those two guys. 
https://x.com/canucks_abroad/status/1757119199967694930?s=46&t=spIaqlQfufAO3HreB1455Q

He says James Cameron was brought in in part due to having played professional minutes last year, which fine, but again, unless he’s thinking of committing to Ghana, no real reason for Tahid not to be here. 

Contradicting himself a lot. I appreciate the ""reporters"" asking those questions, but a quick follow-up could've been.  I don't understand how this guy keeps getting coaching reigns. I honestly think a guy like Patrice would do well with our youth national teams.  Surely he could double as both.

[Kadenge]

29 minutes ago, Shway said:

Contradicting himself a lot. I appreciate the ""reporters"" asking those questions, but a quick follow-up could've been.  I don't understand how this guy keeps getting coaching reigns. I honestly think a guy like Patrice would do well with our youth national teams.  Surely he could double as both.

don't underestimate the CSA

[SpursFlu]

People need to accept that some of these answers are not intended to be 100% truthful but probably intended to move things along because they feel it's in soneones or everyone's best interested to keep the ins and outs of the decisions private. No need to fracture relationships at this stage over putting information out there in the public

If we can't beat these teams with our 3rd string players whats the point of advancing? Players should just stick with their clubs and keep getting better rather than disrupting their development if this is such a precarious process

Edited February 12 by SpursFlu

[Footyeh]

I see a lot of the CDN Media on social media posting a lot of positive things about the roster and hyping up some of these players based abroad... I hate to be that guy, but this group doesn't excite me at all.  Maybe I'm too negative, but I feel I've seen a lot of these foreign based players to say that it's not a top quality group.  Here are my opinions if anyone cares lol:

GK:  Good.  Not much else you can ask for, the kid from Bordeaux looks quite interesting from the U19 french league matches I've seen.  I'm a big fan of Abraham, one of maybe 2-3 bright spots of the dreadful U17 cycle and he's a young GK with real senior team potential.  I've not seen the kid from Hajduk so can't comment.

DEF: Ok.  Going with continuity and chemistry which I think is the smart move here.  Lazar & Pearlman paired up with any of the other options should be decent for this level of opponent.  Curious to see how this Ethan Brown looks but no having high expectations.  I've heard they added Richard Chukwu to the roster now so I can see him slotting in at LCB (or Sergei).  I don't rate Cameron but he's got the most pro minutes here so you have to figure he'll start from the LWB spot but he's not very good going forward as he is defensively.  Rigopoulous will take the RWB spot IMO and I think he was also one of the very few bright spots from the last U17 cycle.

MID: Not good.  We are almost certainly guaranteed to see a Biello-Badwal midfield again.  It's slow, it's one dimensional, neither are expansive enough, neither bring creativity, it didn't work at the U17 level and MAYBE it'll work against this type of opponent but it's not a optimal pairing.  Schiavoni used to play as a #8 in CFM academy before going to Bologna and looked very good in those days but I imagine he will play as a 10/11.  Codina, I saw him a number of times at Utrecht, since moving to Twente he's not played a whole lot in a much weaker academy.  He's one I try to follow closely over the last year as I liked some of what I saw at Utrecht but it's concerning that he doesn't play in Twente.  Costa, gets a lot of hype from Canadian soccer fanbase because of Wolfsburg and the Portugal call-up.  Hasn't really locked down a role or consistent minutes at Wolfsburg in any of his seasons there.  I've seen him play as an 8, 10, 11.  I think in the 10 he can influence the game the most, he's not bad in pockets and can slip a pass and/or combine well with attackers.  I don't see a high ceiling on this player but I think at this level he should be one of the better players on the roster.

FWD: Should be good enough.  Kimani is the star, electric pace and will be the main threat in space.  I'm excited to see Lopez, Liga MX is not kind to young players and the fact that he's recently gotten his debut for a big club is promising.  Diallo, I don't see it at all.  I've watched many Inter Primavera games and also last year many of the U18 team (reserves of primavera) games where he was non-influential almost every time.  Usually plays from the LW but he's not really a wide player, he's tall and lanky, no great dribbling ability.  Will probably feature here as a CF/ST.  

Edited February 12 by Footyeh

[InglewoodJack]

2 hours ago, Shway said:

Contradicting himself a lot. I appreciate the ""reporters"" asking those questions, but a quick follow-up could've been.  I don't understand how this guy keeps getting coaching reigns. I honestly think a guy like Patrice would do well with our youth national teams.  Surely he could double as both.

I’m going off of a twitter thread, so it’s possible they mixed up the answers and questions asked- would make more sense if Tahid + McDonnell were not called because they’re not fully committed that makes sense. At least one of the two we know for a fact is looking at another country, and since the other one is basically the golden child of the post-2022 World Cup cycle, you’d only leave him off the roster if there was some reason around his commitment or if he was trying to go and break into a club in Europe, but we know that isn’t the case.

In any case though, it’s funny how reporters have to weigh asking thoughtful questions and allowing the subject to basically funnel their PR statements through you to stay in your good books. The line about players not being in form is obviously bull- there are multiple unattached FC guys and Tahid’s very own teammate is on the roster!  Khadim Kane didn’t play against Chivas last week, but he was in training with Forge for one of their most important games ever; I doubt preseason training at TFC or CFM make a player more in form. On the other hand, I guess there’s little reason for a journalist to rock the boat for this roster; all these out of season guys will *clearly* make the summer roster, the one that counts. Just funny when you follow things a bit closer and hear some of the things these guys say in the media. 

[FC_Hali]

Any success is beyond my expectations given the lack of preparation. That said, it’s always exciting to see some of our prospects play for the first time. There’s some interesting names included.

Would be nice to see Canada get a crack at hosting a qualifying tournament one of these days. BC Place/Starlight would be more suitable than most of these venues where pitches are nearly unplayable. Unfortunately that’s a pipe dream given our current state of affairs.

[narduch]

Do people know this is just the pre qualifying tournament?

The final 12 team Concacaf U20 is in the summer

We need to top this group to advance to that.

 

Edited February 13 by narduch

[CanadaFan123]

Worth noting that this is just the start of the cycle and Tahid is eligible for the next as well. If they had a close decision in his position it could be that they just wanted to see someone else given that we have virtually no other opportunities we need to get eyes on players. 

[FC_Hali]

1 hour ago, CanadaFan123 said:

Worth noting that this is just the start of the cycle and Tahid is eligible for the next as well. If they had a close decision in his position it could be that they just wanted to see someone else given that we have virtually no other opportunities we need to get eyes on players. 

Tahid’s omission is an interesting one. I would think his eligibility for the following cycle would be an incentive to include him. Give him some experience this go-round, then return as a veteran. That experience would be extremely valuable for these kinds of Concacaf tournaments. 

Admittedly I have seen very little game footage of any of these players but, statistically speaking, Tavernier being selected over Tahid is a head scratcher. Maybe they figure he’ll be more match-fit given Forge’s earlier start to the season?

[SpursFlu]

Tavernier over Tahid definitely makes me think Tahid turned down the callup for whatever reason

[InglewoodJack]

13 hours ago, narduch said:

Do people know this is just the pre qualifying tournament?

The final 12 team Concacaf U20 is in the summer

We need to top this group to advance to that.

 

Quote from this summer, book it:

”we’re keeping a close eye on [insert player not called up now here], he’s a good kid with a lot of potential, we just decided to go with the players who got us here during the qualifiers” 

 

32 minutes ago, SpursFlu said:

Tavernier over Tahid definitely makes me think Tahid turned down the callup for whatever reason

Yeah, exactly. Or Cameron over Tahid considering they play for the same team, both recently came back from total, etc. I mean, you have Kozlovskiy who is 15 (?) and whose pro experience is what, a couple 30 minute friendlies a few weeks ago?
 

We’ve won over probably the best Ghanaian-eligible player in the world already, so I would be shocked if Tahid goes that route, but strange situation in either case.