Midfielder Jeneva Hernandez Gray and high-scoring forward Anabelle Chukwu lead Canada's 21-player squad for the 2025 CONCACAF Women鈥檚 U-20 Championship, which kicks off later this month in Costa Rica.
The eight-team CONCACAF tournament, which runs May 29 to June 8 at Alejandro Morera Soto Stadium in Alajuela, will send four CONCACAF sides to the 24-team FIFA U-20 World Cup, scheduled to run Sept. 5 to 27, 2026, in Poland.
Canada has taken part in nine of the previous 11 editions of the FIFA U-20 tournament, missing out in 2010 and 2018. The Canadians lost 2-1 to Spain in the round of 16 at last year's FIFA U-20 World Cup in Colombia.
The Canadians will gather in Montreal on May 22 for a pre-tournament camp, open Group B play May 29 against Panama before facing Nicaragua on May 31 and Mexico on June 2.
The United States and Mexico, as the top-ranked countries in the confederation, skipped the qualifying round. Canada and 23 other teams had to win their way there, with Costa Rica, Guyana, Nicaragua, Panama and Puerto Rico also topping their groups.
Hernandez Gray, who plays in Portugal for Sporting CP, has one senior cap for Canada. Chukwu, who plays collegiate soccer at Notre Dame, has been called into camp by the Canadian senior side but has yet to win a cap.
Coach Cindy Tye calls Hernandez Gray a "crafty, technically gifted midfielder who works hard at both ends of the pitch while Chukwu is a "physical force."
"When the stakes get a little bit higher is when they love the spotlight," Tye said of the two.
There are other squad members playing professionally
Forward Kaylee Hunter and defender April Lantaigne are with AFC Toronto, as is goalkeeper Noelle Henning, who is on a developmental contract with the Northern Super League club. Midfielder Sienna Gibson has seen action for the NSL's Vancouver Rise.
"Just seeing the emergence of that league and our young players given opportunity in that league, it's awesome, honestly," said Tye.
Canada booked its ticket to the main CONCACAF tournament by winning its qualifying group with ease in February. The Canadians outscored their qualifying opposition 43-0, dispatching Dominica 22-0, Bermuda 9-0 and host Trinidad and Tobago 12-0.
The Dominica win was the second-largest in CONCACAF Women鈥檚 Under-20 Qualifiers history, behind the Dominican Republic鈥檚 25-0 romp over the British Virgin Islands in September 2005.
Tye has retained 18 players from that qualifying squad, with defender Victoria Rocci, midfielder Olivia Chisholm and forward Adriana Bianchin added to the roster. Midfielder Liana Tarasco, an alternate on the qualifying squad, also makes the roster.
Midfielders Ava Greco and Ella Kettles and forwards Natelle El Mokbel and Keira Martin, all members of the qualifying roster, miss out.
Hunter and Kierra Blundell each had seven goals in qualifying, with Chukwu adding six and Lea Larouche four. In all, 13 different players scored for Canada.
Chukwu added to her Canadian youth international goal-scoring record (previously held by Christine Sinclair). She now has 34 goals in 37 games from the under-15 to under-20 level.
CANADA
Goalkeepers: Olivia Busby, NDC Ontario; Sofia Cortes-Browne, Arizona State; Noelle Henning, NDC Ontario.
Defenders: April Lantaigne, AFC Toronto (NSL); In猫s Nourani, Montreal; Iba Oching, University of Iowa; Janet Okeke, North Carolina State University; Victoria Rocci, NDC-CDN Ontario; Stephanie Schoeley, Providence College.
Midfielders: Olivia Chisholm, NDC-CDN Ontario; Sienna Gibson, U小蓝视频; Jeneva Hernandez Gray, Sporting CP (Portugal); Teegan Melenhorst, NDC Ontario; Juliette Perreault, CF Montreal; Liana Tarasco, CF Montreal.
Forwards: Adriana Bianchin, NDC-CDN Ontario; Kierra Blundell, Arizona State University; Annabelle Chukwu, University of Notre Dame; Jadea Collin, University of Wisconsin-Madison; Kaylee Hunter, AFC Toronto (NSL); Lea Larouche, Butler University.
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This report by The Canadian Press was first published May 15, 2025.
Neil Davidson, The Canadian Press
