The Canada U-23 men's national soccer team (also known as Canada Olympic soccer team) represents

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by to ...

in international

soccer Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...

at this age level. They are overseen by the

Canadian Soccer Association The Canadian Soccer Association (Canada Soccer) is the governing body of soccer in Canada. It is a national organization that oversees the Canadian men's and women's national teams for international play, as well as the respective junior sides ...

, the governing body for

soccer in Canada In Canada, soccer is the most popular sport in terms of participation rate. According to FIFA's Big Count, almost 2.7 million people played in Canada in 2006. Professional soccer in Canada is played in the Canadian Premier League and Major Lea ...

. Unlike

UEFA Union of European Football Associations (UEFA ; french: Union des associations européennes de football; german: Union der europäischen Fußballverbände) is one of six continental bodies of governance in association football. It governs fo ...

member associations that use U-21 regional competitions as

Olympic Olympic or Olympics may refer to Sports Competitions * Olympic Games, international multi-sport event held since 1896 ** Summer Olympic Games ** Winter Olympic Games * Ancient Olympic Games, ancient multi-sport event held in Olympia, Greece bet ...

qualifying, as a member of

CONCACAF The Confederation of North, Central America and Caribbean Association Football,, ; french: Confédération de football d'Amérique du Nord, d'Amérique centrale et des Caraïbes, . Dutch uses the English name. abbreviated as CONCACAF ( ; types ...

, Canada's U-23 team competes in regional qualifying in the same year as the

summer Olympics The Summer Olympic Games (french: link=no, Jeux olympiques d'été), also known as the Games of the Olympiad, and often referred to as the Summer Olympics, is a major international multi-sport event normally held once every four years. The ina ...

and its call-ups are traditionally only limited to players under 23 years of age.

History

2008 qualifying

Known for his vocal antics on the touchline, Nick Dasovic led Canada through Olympic qualifying in 2008, drawing

Mexico Mexico (Spanish language, Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a List of sovereign states, country in the southern portion of North America. It is borders of Mexico, bordered to the north by the United States; to the so ...

1–1 and helping to eliminate the heavily favoured Mexican side in the process. After a highly promising 5–0 win over

Guatemala Guatemala ( ; ), officially the Republic of Guatemala ( es, República de Guatemala, links=no), is a country in Central America. It is bordered to the north and west by Mexico; to the northeast by Belize and the Caribbean; to the east by Hon ...

on a night when Mexico had to better that result against

Haiti Haiti (; ht, Ayiti ; French: ), officially the Republic of Haiti (); ) and formerly known as Hayti, is a country located on the island of Hispaniola in the Greater Antilles archipelago of the Caribbean Sea, east of Cuba and Jamaica, and s ...

but could only win 5–1, Canada fell to the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...

3–0 in the semifinal, losing out on a spot in

Beijing } Beijing ( ; ; ), Chinese postal romanization, alternatively romanized as Peking ( ), is the Capital city, capital of the China, People's Republic of China. It is the center of power and development of the country. Beijing is the world's Li ...

at the

Olympics The modern Olympic Games or Olympics (french: link=no, Jeux olympiques) are the leading international sporting events featuring summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a vari ...

that summer. Canada recovered to defeat

in the third-place playoff, a rematch of their first-round game, winning on penalties (5–3) after a scoreless draw through 120 minutes.

2012 qualifying

Tony Fonseca led Canada to an opening game 0–0 draw against

El Salvador El Salvador (; , meaning " The Saviour"), officially the Republic of El Salvador ( es, República de El Salvador), is a country in Central America. It is bordered on the northeast by Honduras, on the northwest by Guatemala, and on the south ...

. Following this, Canada stunned the

2–0, contributing to their surprising early elimination on home soil. Canada disappointed in their final group stage game with a 1–1 tie versus

Cuba Cuba ( , ), officially the Republic of Cuba ( es, República de Cuba, links=no ), is an island country comprising the island of Cuba, as well as Isla de la Juventud and several minor archipelagos. Cuba is located where the northern Caribb ...

, setting up a more difficult semi-final for them against

, which they would lose 3–1.

2016 qualifying

It was announced in August 2015 that Canada head coach

Benito Floro Benito Floro Sanz (born 2 June 1952) is a Spanish football manager. Football career Floro was born in Gijón, Asturias. During his professional career he managed Albacete Balompié (two spells, starting off in 1989 in Segunda División B and l ...

would be in charge of the Olympic team. The final squad for qualification was announced on September 18, 2015.

Results & fixtures

2021

Players

Current squad

The following 20 players were named to the squad for the 2020 CONCACAF Men's Olympic Qualifying Championship. ''Caps and goals as of March 28, 2021, after the game against

.''

Recent call-ups

The following players have been called up within the last 12 months and are still eligible at U23 level.

Competitive record

Summer Olympics

Pan American Games

Honours

* CONCACAF Olympic Qualifying Tournament ** Runners-up:

1996 File:1996 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: A bomb explodes at Centennial Olympic Park in Atlanta, set off by a radical anti-abortionist; The center fuel tank explodes on TWA Flight 800, causing the plane to crash and killing everyone o ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Canada U-23 Men's National Soccer Team under-23 North American national under-23 association football teams