Canada Soccer announced Thursday that Kevaughn Tavernier has been selected for Canada’s squad for the 2023 FIFA U-17 World Cup ahead of next week’s opening match on Friday 10 November. Canada are in Group B alongside Spain, Uzbekistan and Mali as part of the biennial 24-nation, 52-match competition that wraps up Saturday 2 December at Manahan Stadium in Surakarta, Indonesia.

Tavenier, 17, signed a development contract with Forge FC on June 25, 2023 going on to make his first appearance with the club on September 9, 2023 against Cavalry FC and his first professional start on September 17, 2023 versus Valour FC.

Canada will open the FIFA U-17 World Cup Indonesia 2023™ against Spain on Friday 10 November at Manahan Stadium in Surakarta (19.00 local / 08.00 ET / 05.00 PT). Across Group B, Canada will also face Uzbekistan on Monday 13 November at Manahan Stadium (19.00 local / 08.00 ET / 05.00 PT) and then Mali on Thursday 16 November at Gelora Bung Tomo Stadium in Benowo (16.00 local / 05.00 ET / 02.00 PT). In Canada throughout the competition, all the matches will be broadcast through TSN and RDS while fans will find coverage across Canada Soccer’s digital channels on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and YouTube featuring the hashtag #canm17.

Canada were one of four Concacaf nations that qualified for the FIFA U-17 World Cup back in February at the 2023 Concacaf Men’s Under-17 Championship in Guatemala. It marked the first time in a decade that Canada qualified for back-to-back FIFA U-17 World Cups, having also reached the group stage at the FIFA U-17 World Cup Brazil 2019 before the pandemic. This year’s group features players born 2006 or later.

Led by coach Andrew Olivieri, Canada’s FIFA U-17 World Cup squad features: goalkeepers Nathaniel Abraham, Dominic Kantorowicz and Alexander O’Brien; centre backs and outside fullbacks Theo Rigopoulos, Gaël de Montigny, Chimere Omeze, Lazar Stefanovic, Aidan Fong, Richard Chukwu, Victor Fung, Etienne Godin and Lino Aklil; and midfielders, forwards and wingers Alessandro Biello, Taryck Tahid, Jeevan Badwal, Antoni Klukowski, Philip Igbinobaro, Kevaughn Tavernier, Tyler Londono, Erik Pop and Lucas Ozimec.

CANADA SOCCER’S MEN’S NATIONAL TEAM PROGRAM

Canada Soccer’s Men’s EXCEL Program channels our nation’s exceptional players from the best soccer environments across the globe. Domestically, ​ the Canada Soccer Pathway works in collaboration with our provincial and territory partners as well as our professional clubs and academies. For Canada’s elite players, the program emphasizes player development on the pathway to representing Canada’s Men’s National Team in international soccer.

The FIFA U-17 World Cup Indonesia 2023™ provides an important development step towards future Concacaf and FIFA youth competitions at the U-17 and U-20 levels and more importantly a step towards competing at the international level for Canada Soccer’s Men’s National Team at Concacaf, FIFA and Olympic tournaments. Since the last FIFA U-17 World Cup four years ago at Brazil 2019, already a trio of those players have earned call ups to the Men’s National Team (Jayden Nelson, Ralph Prio, Jacen Russell-Rowe).