Samuel Charron

Team captain Samuel Charron is the greatest Canadian player in Para soccer and as of October 2023, he is still only 25 years old.

In 2022, Charron was named Canada Soccer’s Para Soccer Player of the Year for a third time. He has been part of the Canadian program since 2010, and also won the award in 2016 and 2019. He has represented Canada at five International Federation of Cerebral Palsy Football World Cups and was named most valuable player of the tournament in 2019 and 2022.

In Salou, Spain at the 2022 World Cup, he helped Canada finish ninth overall, matching their previous best record at an IFCPF World Cup. Charron led Canada with five goals and three assists in five matches. He notably scored the 1:0 winner against Netherlands in the group phase and sparked a late two-goal comeback against Australia in the playoffs.

That result marked Canada’s fourth top-10 finish in nine editions of the IFCPF Men’s World Cup since 2005.

Charron has played in 51 international games with 50 starts as of October 2023. He’s scored 43 goals and been credited with 14 assists.

Charron was 12 years old when he made his debut in Canada Soccer’s Para Soccer National Team Program in 2010 with coach Drew Ferguson. He scored his first international Para Soccer goal for Canada on 8 June 2012 in Barcelona, at the 7-a-side Futbol Tournament. He represented Canada at the 2013, 2015, 2017, 2019 and 2022 World Cup/world championships, as well as the 2015 Parapan American Games

He was the second Para soccer player to make his 50th appearance for Canada (30 November 2019).