Canada advances to the FIFA U-17 World Cup Brazil 2019

Photo courtesy of Soccer Canada

 

By Eduardo Harari

 

TORONTO. - Canada advanced the FIFA U-17 World Cup Brazil 2019 after winning 4-3 on penalties over Concacaf rival Costa Rica. After 120 minutes in the scorching Florida heat with no winner at a 1:1 draw, Canada won their ticket to the FIFA U-17 World Cup for the first time in six years. 

 

Gianfranco Facchineri scored the winning kick that sent Canada to Brazil 2019. Goalkeeper Marc Kouadio stopped Jordy Hernandez's opening kick and Jordy Evans struck the crossbar on Costa Rica's fourth attempt. Kamron Habibullah, Matthew Catavolo and Julian Altobelli also scored for Canada from the penalty mark.

 

This marks the seventh time that Canada advances to the FIFA U-17 World Cup, the biennial competition that was initially launched as the FIFA U-16 World Tournament in 1985. Canada have also advanced to the Concacaf Semi-finals with a chance to reach the Championship Final for only the second time in program history.

 

"The big objective was to qualify for the FIFA U-17 World Cup and we have done that," said Andrew Olivieri, Men’s EXCEL U-14 to U-17 Program Director. "We know that there are still two matches left at the Concacaf Men's Under-17 Championship, but today was the big one and everyone should be proud of this accomplishment because our boys were really resilient during the match. We are thrilled for the program and ecstatic for the boys."

 

Through five matches at the 2019 Concacaf Men's Under-17 Championship, Canada have posted three wins, one draw and one loss. All 20 Canadian players have been featured in the tournament and both Marc Kouadio and Benjamin Collins have posted clean sheets. Jayden Nelson leads the way with five of Canada's 15 goals while Kamron Habibullah (three), Jérémie Omeonga (two), Jacen Russell-Rowe (two) and Simon Colyn (1) and the auto goals scored by both Barbados and Curaçao.