Canada men's national under-20 soccer team

The Canada U-20 men's national soccer team (also known as Canada Under-20s or Canada U-20s) represents Canada in international soccer at this age level. They are overseen by the Canadian Soccer Association, the governing body for soccer in Canada.

It plays a large role in the development of Canadian soccer, and is considered to be the feeder team for the Canada men's national soccer team. The team has qualified for eight out of nineteen FIFA U-20 World Cups. Their best result came in 2003 where they reached the quarterfinals. The team also competes in the CONCACAF U-20 Championship, which they won in 1986 and 1996.

Canada's most significant accomplishments at youth level are winning the CONCACAF U-20 Championship and Francophone Games twice, reaching quarterfinals of the 2003 FIFA U-20 World Cup, and defeating Brazil U-20 2-1 in a friendly on May 19, 2006, at Commonwealth Stadium in Edmonton, Alberta.

Canada's first under-20 soccer squad was created in 1976 as Canada's response to the newly created world youth championship. The team failed to qualify for the inaugural tournament in 1977 in Tunisia, but they qualified for the following tournament two years later in Japan. They finished last in their group with two points, but they did manage to defeat Portugal 3–1. The next time the team qualified for a World youth Championship was in 1985, in the USSR, again they came last in their group with only one point. In the 1987 WYC in Chile, Canada's under-20 soccer team put up a good effort scoring four goals, and tying Italy, however they still did not manage to get out of the group stage.

According to Canada Soccer's record book, many of the squads from this era were actually classified as under-19 at the time.^[1]

In 1997, after failing to qualify for four World Youth Championships (as the event was known until 2005) in a row, Canada made it past the group stage. The team progressed to the second round after a 2–1 win against Hungary in which a young Dwayne De Rosario scored a goal. They lost the round of 16 game against Spain 2–0. After missing the tournament in 1999, Canada qualified for Argentina 2001 after winning the qualifying tournament based on home soil in Vancouver, British Columbia. At the finals, they finished last and were eliminated from a group including Brazil, Germany and Iraq.

Canada once again appeared in the 2003 FIFA World Youth Championship in United Arab Emirates. They qualified to the round of 16 where they blanked Burkina Faso 1–0, and in a rematch against 1997 conquerors Spain, Canada lost in the quarter-finals. Iain Hume scored three goals for Canada including a direct free kick against Spain while Atiba Hutchinson was an impressive performer in midfield.

At the 2005 FIFA World Youth Championships in the Netherlands, Canada were eliminated in the group stage after tying once and losing twice. One bright side of the tournament was Jaime Peters' and Marcel De Jong's goals.

In the build-up to the 2007 FIFA U-20 World Cup, as the tournament came to be known, Canada's defeated Brazil in the first game of a three-game series, winning 2- in front of 14 000+ at Commonwealth Stadium in Edmonton on May 19, 2006. David Edgar and Will Johnson scored and Stephen Lumley made goal-line clearance to preserve Canada's first win over a Brazilian men's team at any level. Canada lost the remaining two matches 3–1. Despite an impressive run in friendlies leading up to the competition, Canada went winless in first round play without scoring a goal on home soil.

The following is a list of match results in the last twelve months, as well as any future matches that have been scheduled.^[2][3]

  Win   Draw   Loss   Fixture

Canada has announced a 23-player squad for two international friendlies against Costa Rica this December. The matches will take place in Alajuela, Costa Rica, on December 18 and 21.^[5]

Caps and goals as of December 21, 2025, after the match against Costa Rica.

The following players have previously been called up to the U-20 team, and are still eligible to play for Canada in the current U-20 World Cup cycle if they qualify.
Players in bold have been capped with the senior team.

The following 22 players were called up for the Men’s U-18 National Team squad for a preparation camp in Finland from August 30th to September 8th, 2025. As part of the camp, CANM18 will face Finland on 5 September and Switzerland on 7 September. The camp is a step in the lead-up to the 2027 FIFA U-20 World Cup™, with the qualification matches beginning in 2026.^[6] Caps and goals as of September 7, 2025, after the match against Switzerland.

  Champions    Runners-up    Third place     Tournament played fully or partially on home soil  

The following table shows Canada's head-to-head record in the FIFA U-20 World Cup.

• CONCACAF U-20 Championship
  • Winners (2): 1986, 1996
  • Runners-up (2): 1978, 1984
  • Third place (3): 1992, 1994, 2001
• Football at the Jeux de la Francophonie
  • Winners (2): 1989, 1997

• Canada men's national soccer team
• Canada men's national under-23 soccer team
• Canada men's national under-17 soccer team
• Canada men's national under-15 soccer team
• Canada men's national futsal team
• Soccer in Canada

• Canucks Abroad
• Canadian Soccer Association