Canada’s Concacaf U-17 roster includes local players from Mississauga, Oakville

Four local soccer players from Mississauga and Oakville will represent Canada at the at the upcoming 2023 Concacaf Men’s Under-17 Championship in Guatemala.

Andrei Dumitru and Erik Pop, graduates of the Mississauga Prostars FC program, and Lazar Stefanovic and Lucas Ozimec, from the Oakville Soccer Club, were named to 23-man player roster Tuesday (Jan. 31) by Soccer Canada.

A pre-tournament camp will be held in Guatemala and lead directly into the Concacaf championship.

Canada will face group opponents Trinidad and Tobago in their opening match on Feb. 11 in Antigua at the Estadio Pensativo.

Canada is in Group F along with Trinidad and Tobago, Barbados and USA.  Three nations will advance to the Round of 16 knockout phase on Feb. 18-19.

Dumitru, 16, is a midfielder with the Toronto FC Academy. Pop, a forward who turned 17 years of age on Monday (Jan. 30), is currently playing with Karlsruher FC in Germany.

Stefanovic, 16, a defender and Ozimec, 17, a forward, are both with Toronto FC Academy.

After their opening match on Saturday 11 February, Canada will face Barbados on Monday 13 February and then USA on Wednesday 15 February, with all three group matches in Antigua.

After the Round of 16, the quarter-finals are scheduled for Feb. 21-22, the semi-finals are Friday, Feb. 24 and the Concacaf Final is Sunday, Feb. 26 at the Estadio Doroteo Guamuch Flores.

The Concacaf Men’s Under-17 Championship will qualify four nations to the FIFA U-17 World Cup Peru 2023 in November.