On Wednesday night, Canada booked its ticket to the 2026 Concacaf U-20 Championship.
Despite a 1-0 loss to qualifying group hosts Nicaragua in the nation's capital city of Managua, Canada did enough in their other group matches, a 2-0 win over Aruba, 8-0 over Martinique and 14-0 against the U.S. Virgin Islands to top the group on goal difference.
The Canadians now advance to the 12-team regional championship, which kicks off on July 25. That tournament serves as the qualifier for the 2027 FIFA U-20 World Cup and the 2028 Olympics in Los Angeles.
Five Canadian Premier League players were part of Canada's qualifying efforts. Inter Toronto's Shola Jimoh started three of the four matches, and had a goal and four assists. Forge's Zayne Bruno, meanwhile, scored a screamer against the U.S. Virgin Islands, while Sergei Kozlovskiy appeared in all four matches.
Cavalry's James McGlinchey also made his youth national team debut, while Forge goalkeeper Emmanuel Marmolejo didn't see action in any of the four matches. Jimoh's former Inter Toronto teammate, Marsel Bibishkov, led Canada in scoring at the competition with six goals. A former Juventus academy product, he is now playing with Septemvri Sofia in the Bulgarian top division.
With their mission in Managua now complete, Canada turn their attention toward ending a two-decade absence from the U-20 World Cup this summer. Four teams from Concacaf, the U-20 Championship's semi-finalists, secure their spot at the 2027 FIFA U-20 World Cup in Azerbaijan and Uzbekistan. Canada last qualified as tournament hosts in 2007.
Canada are two-time winners of the Concacaf U-20 Championship: 1984 and 1996.