Midfielder Jeneva Hernandez Gray and high-scoring forward Annabelle Chukwu lead Canada's 21-player squad for CONCACAF women's under-20 qualifying play later this month.
The first round of CONCACAF qualifying features 24 countries divided into six groups. The top team in each group will move on to the CONCACAF Women’s U-20 Championship later this year, joining the pre-seeded United States and Mexico.
Canada will play in Group E alongside host Trinidad and Tobago, Bermuda and Dominica.
The Canadian women open Feb. 21 against Dominica before facing Bermuda on Feb. 23 and Trinidad and Tobago on Feb. 25. All the games will take place at Ato Boldon Stadium in Port of Spain.
“We are looking forward to getting this group together for the first time and assessing them in a tournament setting," Canada coach Cindy Tye said in a statement. "It is a short runway to the first match, so we will have to adapt quickly and grow throughout the tournament.
"This is a talented group, and we are excited to get going.”
Hernandez Gray and Chukwu are two of the six returning players from last year's FIFA Women's U-20 World Cup in Colombia where Canada made it to the round of 16 before losing 2-1 to Spain.
Hernandez Gray, who has earned one cap with the Canadian senior side, signed with Portugal's Sporting CP in January.
Chukwu, a freshman at Notre Dame, broke Christine Sinclair’s Canadian youth international goal-scoring record. The 17-year-old has 28 goals in 34 games from the under-15 to under-20 level.
Other returning players are goalkeepers Noelle Henning and Sofia Cortes-Browne and defenders Janet Okeke and Jadea Collin.n
Chukwu and Okeke have been called into camp by the Canada senior side but have yet to win a cap.
Tye also named two alternates and five training players with only the alternates able to make the final roster, in case of injury.
Canada’s best showing at the FIFA U-20 tournament was runner-up in 2002, led by a young Sinclair, in the first edition of the tournament when it was still an under-19 event. The Canadian women reached the quarterfinals in 2004 and 2014 (on home soil), failing to make it out of the group stage on five other occasions.
Canada Roster
Goalkeepers: Olivia Busby, NDC Ontario; Sofia Cortes-Browne, Arizona State (NCAA); Noelle Henning, NDC Ontario.
Defenders: Jadea Collin, University of Wisconsin-Madison (NCAA); April Lantaigne, AFC Toronto (NSL); Ines Nourani, CF Montreal/NDC-CDN Quebec; Iba Oching, Iowa (NCAA); Janet Okeke, North Carolina State (NCAA); Stephanie Schoeley, Providence College (NCAA).
Midfielder-Defender: Sienna Gibson, UBC.
Midfielders: Ava Greco, Ohio State (NCAA); Jeneva Hernandez Gray, Sporting CP (Portugal); Ella Kettles, Arizona State (NCAA); Teegan Melenhorst, NDC Ontario; Juliette Perreault, CF Montreal/NDC-CDN Quebec.
Forwards: Kierra Blundell, Arizona State (NCAA); Annabelle Chukwu, Notre Dame (NCAA); Natelle El Mokbel, CF Montreal/NDC-CDN Quebec; Kaylee Hunter, AFC Toronto (NSL); Lea Larouche, Butler University (NCAA); Keira Martin, Whitecaps FC/NDC-CDC B.C.
Alternates
Midfielder: Noelle Sather, South Florida (NCAA).
Forward: Emma Yee, Illinois (NCAA).
Training Players
Defender: Taylor Yablonski, Nebraska (NCAA).
Midfielder: Liana Tarasco, CF Montreal/NDC-CDN Quebec; Ashley Roberts, Boston College (NCAA).
Forwards: Esther Brossard, Lehigh University (NCAA); Lael Hill, Orlando City Youth SC.
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This report by The Canadian Press was first published Feb. 4, 2025.
Neil Davidson, The Canadian Press