The Canadian Men’s National Team have recruited an important piece to their attack as England Youth international, Ike Ugbo has declared to play for Les Rouges.
Nigerian parents gave birth to Ugbo in London and he played youth level football at Brampton East SC and Woodbridge Strikers. From there, he returned to England and joined Chelsea’s U-10 team. He became a professional player in 2015 but didn’t get a chance to play for Chelsea’s first team.
He went on loan to many English lower league teams like Barnsley, MK Dons, and Scunthorpe United before heading Roda JC in the Netherlands. He moved to Cercle Brugge in Belgium’s first division, from the Netherlands in 2020.
Ugbo made 34 appearances for Cercle Brugge and bagged 17 goals. His Cercle Brugge form earned him a permanent transfer to KRC Genk in Belgium.
In the international scene, Ugbo never played for the English men’s national team but he played for their U-17 and U-20 teams.
In a press release, John Herdman, Head Coach of the Canadian Men’s National Team said: “This is great news for Canada Men’s Soccer Team program and the country as he’s another young, top-level player with his best football years ahead of him.”
While welcoming him, the Canadian Men’s National Team tweeted:
Ugbo is expected to play for Canada in the upcoming round of CONCACAF World Cup Qualifiers in Edmonton, Alberta against Costa Rica on November 12, and against Mexico four days later.
