Canadian men set to start CONCACAF U-20 qualifying play in Nicaragua in February

Canada will face host Nicaragua, Aruba, Martinique and the U.S. Virgin Islands next year in CONCACAF U-20 men’s qualifying play.

Thursday’s draw assigned the 32 participating teams into two groups of six and four groups of five. After round-robin play, the top team in each group will move on to the 2026 CONCACAF U-20 Championship, joining six teams pre-qualified for the main tournament.

The six top-ranked teams skipping the qualifying round are, in order, the U.S., Mexico, Honduras, Panama, Cuba and Guatemala.

The qualifying round is scheduled from Feb. 23 to March 4, 2026, across three venues in Central America and the Caribbean. Canada’s Group F will play out of Estadio Miguel Chocorrón Buitrago in Managua, Nicaragua.

The 12-team CONCACAF Championship, scheduled for July 25 to Aug. 9, will also serve as a qualifier for both the 2027 FIFA Men’s U-20 World Cup and the 2028 Summer Olympics. 

After round-robin play, the two top teams from each group and the two best third-place teams will advance to the knockout stage. While the four semifinalists qualify for the 2027 FIFA U-20 World Cup, FIFA has yet to announce allocation of Olympic slots.

CONCACAF says the tournament’s host nation and draw details will be announced at a later date.

Host Mexico won the 2024 CONCACAF U-20 Championship, defeating the U.S. 2-1 in the final. Canada finished second in its group but lost 2-1 to Panama after extra time in quarterfinal play, failing to qualify for the 2025 FIFA U-20 World Cup.

Canada has failed to qualify for the last eight editions of the FIFA U-20 Championship, last taking part in 2007 when it hosted the event — and failed to get out of the first round after going scoreless in losses to Chile, Austria and Congo.

The Canadian men have participated in eight of the 24 FIFA U-20 tournaments to date, failing to survive the first round on six occasions.

Canada, featuring a young Paul Stalteri, Jason Bent and Dwayne De Rosario, made the round of 16 in 1997 in Malaysia, losing 2-0 to Spain. The Canadian side also featured Steve Kindel, whose daughter Lacey was part of Canada’s team at the 2025 FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup and whose son Ben is a rookie forward with the Pittsburgh Penguins.

In 2003 in the United Arab Emirates, the Canada men lost to eventual runner-up Spain 2-1 after extra time in the quarterfinals following a 1-0 win over Burkina Faso in the round of 16. The Canada lineup included Atiba Hutchinson, Iain Hume, Josh Simpson, Nik Ledgerwood and David Edgar.

 CONCACAF U-20 Men’s Qualifying Groups

Group A: El Salvador, Suriname, Belize, Grenada, Saint Martin, French Guiana.

Group B: Jamaica, Puerto Rico, St. Kitts and Nevis, Cayman Islands, Turks and Caicos Islands, Bonaire. 

Group C: Dominican Republic, Antigua and Barbuda, Saint Lucia, British Virgin Islands, Dominica. 

Group D: Haiti, Curaçao, Guyana, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Anguilla. 

Group E: Costa Rica, Trinidad and Tobago, Bermuda, Barbados, Saint Maarten. 

Group F: Canada, Nicaragua, Aruba, Martinique, U.S. Virgin Islands. 

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This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 6, 2025.