Canada will play in the 2018 Concacaf Men’s U20 Championship in Florida
MONTREAL – Montreal Impact first team midfielder Mathieu Choinière and Impact U19 defender Yohan Le Bourhis have been selected by the Canadian U20 national team for the 2018 Concacaf Men’s U20 Championship, which will take place from November 1 to 21 at the IMG Center, in Bradenton, Florida.
Choinière, 19, recently attended his first training camp with the Canadian men’s national team, in September. He previously appeared in the Toulon Tournament earlier this year with the U21 team. He made his debut in the Canadian soccer program in 2013 at the age of 14, successively playing for the U15, U16, U18 and U23 teams.
He will join the national team following the end of the Impact’s run in MLS.
Le Bourhis, 18, started two games with the Canadian U17 national team at the 2017 Concacaf U17 Championship, in Panama. He made his debut with the youth program in 2015, at the age of 15.
Impact U19 midfielder Calin Calaidjoglu will also train with the team during the camp.
Impact Academy graduates and defenders Clément Bayiha and Daniel Kinumbe, whose MLS rights are still owned by the Impact, have also been called up by Canada U20.
In the group phase, Canada will play a different opponent every second day. Canada will face Dominica on November 2, Guadeloupe on November 4, Panama on November 6, St. Kitts & Nevis on November 8, and Martinique on November 10.
Group winners then advance to the qualification stage to play in one of two round-robin groups. That second stage features matches every third day, with the newly-formed Groups G and H playing matches on Tuesday November 13, Friday November 16, and Monday November 19. The top-two nations from each group qualify for the FIFA U20 World Cup while the winners advance to the final scheduled on November 21.
