Canadian men qualify for FIFA U-17 World Cup after topping CONCACAF qualifying group

Canada captain Richard Chukwu holds the trophy high as he and teammates celebrate after defeating host Bermuda 7-1, in Hamilton, Bermuda, in a Sunday, Feb. 16, 2025, handout photo. THE CANADIAN PRESS/HO-Canada Soccer, John Lobban, *MANDATORY CREDIT*

HAMILTON — Aidan Evans scored four goals to send Canada to the FIFA U-17 Men’s World Cup with a 7-1 win over host Bermuda in CONCACAF qualifying Sunday.

Evans, who plays club football in England for Fulham’s under-18 team, scored one goal in the first half and added three more during an eight-minute span in the second half.

The young Canadians topped the five-team qualifying group with a perfect 4-0-0 record while outscoring their opposition 28-2 with both goals conceded coming from the penalty spot. Down 1-0 Sunday, Canada scored seven unanswered goals to seal the deal.

Andre Ali-Gayapersad, Kevin Khan and Sergei Kozlovskiy also scored for Canada, which reeled off six goals in the second half. Harlem Bean-Fox had the lone Bermuda goal.

The win was the sixth straight for the Canadian U-17 team, which won a pair of friendlies against Costa Rica and Mexico in November. That is a record for consecutive victories by a Canadian men’s youth team, breaking the previous mark of five achieved multiple times since 1986, according to Canada Soccer.

“I asked them to push their limits every day, and they did just that,” said Canada coach Mike Vitulano. “We wanted them to get that sixth win in a row today, and it’s a first in history. I think this group is special, they can go on to a World Cup and make history again.”

The 2025 U-17 World Cup runs Nov. 5-27 in Qatar.

Canada went into the game tied with Curaçao on points and three ahead of Bermuda.

But with a commanding goal difference advantage over Curaçao (plus-20 compared to plus-three), the Canadians were all but assured of advancing even with a loss to Bermuda, which needed to win by 10 goals to overtake Canada.

Curaçao (3-1-0) finished runner-up to Canada in Group A after beating Anguilla 4-2 in the early game at the National Sports Centre in Devonshire Parish.

The CONCACAF qualifying format is a single-round format with 35 participating teams in North and Central America and the Caribbean split into eight groups. The group winners qualify for the newly expanded U-17 World Cup, which will feature 48 teams and take place on an annual basis between 2025 and 2029.

Panama (Group G), Honduras (Group D), El Salvador (Group H) and the U.S. (Group F) booked their tickets to Qatar on Saturday.

Canada qualified for eight of the 19 previous editions of the FIFA U-17 World Cup but has yet to win a match at the tournament. Canada has scored just 11 goals — one of which was an Argentine own goal — while conceding 70 at the FIFA U-17 tournament.

Bermuda opened the scoring from the penalty spot in the 33rd minute after goalkeeper Milo Beimers took down Kalen Brunson. The Bermuda forward, getting to a ball sent behind the Canadian defence, made it into the penalty box while holding off a chasing Canada captain Richard Chukwu.

Bean-Fox converted the penalty, sending Beimers the wrong way with a stutter-step run-up.

Canada appealed unsuccessfully for a penalty when Marius Aiyenero went down in the Bermuda box after what appeared to be contact with a defender. Rubbing salt in the wound, Aiyenero was booked for complaining.

Canada evened the score in the 41st minute with Evans tapping in a William Daniels cross. Aiyenero came close to making it 2-0 late in the first half but his powerful shot was saved by Bermuda ‘keeper Curtis Jackson.

Evans scored his second in the 60th minute, hammering home a shot from close range, and added two more in the 64th and 68th minutes. Ali-Gayapersad, Khan, from the penalty spot, and Kozlovskiy added to the total in the 74th, 83rd and 89th minutes.

Canada defeated Turks and Caicos 6-0, Anguilla 8-0 and Curaçao 7-1 in its first three outings while Bermuda beat Anguilla 3-1 and Turks and Caicos 5-0 before losing 6-1 to Curaçao.

Canada’s senior men are ranked 31st in the world compared to No. 166 for Bermuda.

As he did the during the entire round, Vitulano rotated his roster made with only Chukwu, Aiyenero and Kozlovskiy retaining their place.

Aiyenero, who scored a hat trick in the win over Curaçao, plays for Los Angeles FC 2 in the MLS Next Pro league, while Chukwu and Kozlovskiy are in the Toronto FC and CF Montreal youth systems, respectively.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Feb. 16, 2024.

The Canadian Press