Jayden Nelson (born September 26, 2002) is a Canadian professional soccer player who plays as a winger for Rosenborg and the Canada national team.

Early life

Nelson grew up in

Brampton, Ontario Brampton ( or ) is a city in the Canadian province of Ontario. Brampton is a city in the Greater Toronto Area (GTA) and is a lower-tier municipality within Peel Region. The city has a population of 656,480 as of the 2021 Census, making it th ...

and began playing soccer at age four with Brampton YSC. He later joined the

Toronto FC Academy Toronto FC Academy, also known as TFC Academy, is the youth academy and development system of Canadian Major League Soccer club Toronto FC. The academy has divisions from U14 to U19 and includes over 110 young players. The senior academy team is ...

at age 14.

Club career

Toronto FC

Nelson made his debut for

Toronto FC III Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the anchor ...

League1 Ontario League1 Ontario (L1O) is a semi-professional men's soccer league in Ontario, Canada. The league began play in 2014 and is sanctioned by the Canadian Soccer Association and the Ontario Soccer Association as a pro-am league in the Canadian ...

on September 2, 2017, in a game against Toronto Skillz FC in his only appearance of the season. The following season, he made seven appearances, scoring his first goal for Toronto FC III on June 17, 2018, against

Windsor TFC Windsor TFC is a Canadian soccer team based in Windsor, Ontario, that was founded in 2004. They have competed in the Canadian Professional Soccer League (CPSL) and Canadian Soccer League (CSL). Throughout their tenure in the CPSL/CSL, Windsor ...

. Nelson made his professional debut for

Toronto FC II Toronto FC II is a Canadian professional soccer team based in Toronto, Ontario, who play in MLS Next Pro, a third tier league of the United States soccer league system. It is the reserve team and minor league affiliate of Toronto FC as well as ...

USL League One USL League One (USL1) is a professional men's soccer league in the United States that had its inaugural season in 2019. The Division III league is operated by United Soccer League, the same group that operates the Division II USL Championsh ...

on April 6, 2019, coming on as a substitute against

Orlando City B Orlando City B (or OCB for short) is an American soccer club that began play in 2016 and currently plays in MLS Next Pro. Owned by Orlando City SC and based at the Orlando City training facility in Kissimmee, the club plays its home games at Os ...

. On January 23, 2020, Nelson signed a Homegrown Player contract with first-team

Toronto FC Toronto Football Club (commonly known as Toronto FC or TFC) is a Canadian professional soccer club based in Toronto. The club competes in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Eastern Conference. The team plays its home matches at BM ...

. He made his MLS debut for Toronto during the

MLS is Back The MLS is Back Tournament took place during the 2020 Major League Soccer season to mark the league's return to action after being suspended as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. Of the 26 Major League Soccer teams, 24 participated in the tourna ...

tournament, starting their round of 16 match against

New York City FC New York City Football Club is an American professional soccer club based in New York City that competes in Major League Soccer (MLS), the highest level of American soccer, as a member of the league's Eastern Conference. The club is co-owned ...

. He was loaned to the second team for some matches in 2021. He scored his first professional goal for Toronto FC II on June 16, 2021, against

Fort Lauderdale CF Inter Miami Club de Fútbol II, commonly known as Inter Miami CF II, is an American professional association football, soccer club based in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, Fort Lauderdale, Florida, that plays in the MLS Next Pro, the third-tier of A ...

. In December 2021, after the conclusion of the

2021 MLS season The 2021 Major League Soccer season was the 26th season of Major League Soccer (MLS), the top professional soccer league in the United States and Canada. The 2021 season included the addition of Austin FC as an expansion club, which took the ...

, Nelson joined

Belgian Belgian may refer to: * Something of, or related to, Belgium * Belgians, people from Belgium or of Belgian descent * Languages of Belgium, languages spoken in Belgium, such as Dutch, French, and German *Ancient Belgian language, an extinct language ...

club

Anderlecht Anderlecht (, ) is one of the 19 municipalities of the Brussels-Capital Region, Belgium. Located in the south-western part of the region, it is bordered by the City of Brussels, Forest, Molenbeek-Saint-Jean, and Saint-Gilles, as well as th ...

for a training stint. He scored his first MLS goal on April 9, 2022, against

Real Salt Lake Real Salt Lake, often shortened to RSL, is an American professional soccer franchise based in the Salt Lake City metropolitan area. The club competes as a member club of Major League Soccer (MLS) in the Western Conference. RSL began play in ...

Rosenborg

In February 2023, Toronto announced they had transferred Nelson to

Eliteserien Eliteserien () is a Norwegian professional league for association football clubs. At the top of the Norwegian football league system, it is the country's primary football competition. Contested by 16 clubs, it operates on a system of promotio ...

side Rosenborg. He made his official debut on April 16 against

Molde Molde () is a town and List of municipalities of Norway, municipality in Møre og Romsdal Counties of Norway, county, Norway. It is located in the Traditional districts of Norway, traditional district of Romsdal. It is located on the Romsdal Pen ...

. Nelson scored his first goal for his new club on June 4 against

HamKam Hamarkameratene (literally ''the Hamar Comrades''), often abbreviated to HamKam or Ham-Kam, is a Norwegian football club based in the town of Hamar. The club was founded in 1918, originally under the name Freidig. HamKam were most recently pr ...

, netting the third goal in an eventual 4-0 victory.

International career

Youth

Nelson attended his first Canadian youth camp in 2016. Nelson made his debut for the Canada national under-15 team in the

2017 CONCACAF Boys' Under-15 Championship The 2017 CONCACAF Boys' Under-15 Championship was an international football tournament, the second edition of the CONCACAF Boys' Under-15 Championship. The competition was set to feature up to 40 teams from the CONCACAF region. All times EDT ( ...

on August 13, 2017, against 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 primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., federal district, five ma ...

. Nelson made his debut for the Canada national under-17 team in the 2019 CONCACAF Under-17 Championship on May 2, 2019, against the

. Against Guatemala in the second game of the group stage, Nelson scored a hat-trick in a 4–2 win. Nelson scored twice more in the tournament – against Curaçao and Costa Rica respectively – as Canada qualified for the

FIFA Under-17 World Cup The FIFA U-17 World Cup, founded as the FIFA U-16 World Championship, later changed to U-17 in 1991 and to its current name in 2007, is the world championship of association football for male players under the age of 17 organized by ''Fédératio ...

for the first time since 2013. At the end of 2019, Nelson was named the

Canadian Men's Youth International Player of the Year The Canada Soccer Player of the Year award celebrates Canada's top male and female soccer players in recognition of their achievements with both the national teams and their respective clubs. Since 2007, voting has been conducted by Canadian coac ...

. Nelson was named to the Canadian U-23 provisional roster for the

2020 CONCACAF Men's Olympic Qualifying Championship The 2020 CONCACAF Men's Olympic Qualifying Championship was the fifteenth and final edition of the CONCACAF Men's Olympic Qualifying, the quadrennial, international, age-restricted football tournament organised by CONCACAF to determine which men' ...

on February 26, 2020.

Senior

In January 2020, Nelson was called up to the Canadian senior team ahead of friendlies against

Barbados Barbados is an island country in the Lesser Antilles of the West Indies, in the Caribbean region of the Americas, and the most easterly of the Caribbean Islands. It occupies an area of and has a population of about 287,000 (2019 estimate ...

and

Iceland Iceland ( is, Ísland; ) is a Nordic island country in the North Atlantic Ocean and in the Arctic Ocean. Iceland is the most sparsely populated country in Europe. Iceland's capital and largest city is Reykjavík, which (along with its ...

. He made his debut on January 7 against Barbados, coming on as a substitute in a 4–1 victory and scored his first goal three days later, also against Barbados. In June 2023 Nelson was named to Canada's preliminary roster for the

2023 CONCACAF Gold Cup The 2023 CONCACAF Gold Cup will be the 17th edition of the CONCACAF Gold Cup, the biennial international men's football championship of the North, Central American and Caribbean region organized by CONCACAF. The tournament will take place from J ...

. Initially left off the roster, on June 26 he was called into the final squad along with Liam Fraser as replacements for

Sam Adekugbe Samuel Ayomide Adekugbe (born January 16, 1995) is a professional footballer who plays as a left-back for Süper Lig club Galatasaray and the Canada national team. Born in England, he obtained Canadian citizenship in 2016. Club career Vanco ...

and

Stephen Eustáquio Stephen Antunes Eustáquio ( ; born 21 December 1996) is a Canadian professional soccer player who plays as a midfielder for Primeira Liga club Porto and the Canada national team. After starting out at Nazarenos, he has spent most of his club ...

Personal life

Jayden was born in Canada and is of Jamaican descent. In 2022, Nelson made a donation to his former elementary school to restart a snack program which had been discontinued.

Career statistics

Club

International

International goals

''Scores and results list Canada's goal tally first.''

Honours

Toronto FC *

Canadian Championship The Canadian Championship (french: Championnat canadien) is an annual soccer tournament contested by premier Canadian professional teams. The winner is awarded the Voyageurs Cup and Canada's berth in the CONCACAF Champions League. It is contes ...

2020 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global social and economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of events, worldwide lockdowns and the largest economic recession since the Great Depression in ...

Individual * Canadian Youth International Player of the Year: 2019

References

External links

Toronto FC player profile
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Nelson, Jayden 2002 births Living people Men's association football forwards Canadian men's soccer players Canadian sportspeople of Jamaican descent Soccer players from Brampton Toronto FC II players Toronto FC players League1 Ontario players USL League One players Canada men's youth international soccer players Canada men's international soccer players Homegrown Players (MLS) Major League Soccer players 2023 CONCACAF Gold Cup players Toronto FC Academy players