As the 2026 CONCACAF Under-20 Championship draws near, the Antigua and Barbuda Football Association (ABFA) has finalized its 21-player squad for the regional tournament, which is set to kick off later this month in Mexico. The roster brings together a dynamic mix of homegrown talent developed through the country’s domestic league and rising prospects plying their trade at elite academies and youth programs across Europe and North America, with the team scheduled to depart for their pre-tournament training camp on July 2.
This 43-day extended preparation period will give the squad ample time to acclimate to conditions and build on-field chemistry before Antigua and Barbuda kicks off its group stage campaign on July 24. The tournament, which wraps up with the final on August 9, doubles as a qualifying route for both the upcoming FIFA Under-20 World Cup and the 2028 Olympic Games men’s football tournament. Antigua and Barbuda secured its spot in the 12-team field as the only qualifier from the Eastern Caribbean subregion, joining three other Caribbean nations — Jamaica, Cuba, and Haiti — in the main draw.
Headlining the selected squad is 17-year-old Vaughn Jackson Jr., a prodigious young talent who already has a senior international cap to his name. Jackson made his senior debut as a substitute in a 2025 FIFA World Cup qualifying match against Cuba last June, and currently plays his youth football at Brooke House College in England, where he has recently taken part in trial sessions with a number of professional clubs across the United Kingdom and continental Europe. Born in September 2008, Jackson remains one of the youngest players in the travelling squad, and is part of a large 11-player contingent of overseas-based prospects.
Among that overseas group is 15-year-old Blake Philogene-Bidace, who holds an elite scholarship with the Tottenham Hotspur Academy in England and currently competes in the Premier League club’s Under-18 setup. Another standout prospect is goalkeeper Gavin Gonsalves, who recently penned an academy contract with Miami FC for the 2026 USL Championship season, becoming the fifth academy prospect at the club to earn a place in the first team squad this year.
Dajari Barthley, who cut his teeth at England’s Bede’s Senior School, has earned two nominations for the UK’s National Junior Sportsman of the Year award, while Marco Micheal recently completed a trial with Spanish second-tier side FC Andorra — a club backed by former Barcelona defender Gerard Piqué — through the Future Pro UK player development pathway. Greg Williams is attached to the Ackworth PSG Academy in England, and Conroy Browne competes for SG Wattenscheid 09’s youth setup in Germany.
Three additional prospects are based in the United States: Seth Black-Layne, who plays at North Carolina’s Combine Academy; Tegan Gumbs, a goalkeeper who competes in NCAA Division I with Purdue University Fort Wayne; and Brenden Skilling, who lines out for Florida-based ONE FC. Gumbs was particularly critical to Antigua and Barbuda’s qualifying run, where he kept four consecutive clean sheets as the side won all four of its qualifying matches without conceding a single goal. The nation secured its place at the tournament thanks to a late match-winning goal from Jamaica-based striker Brandon Stachell against the Dominican Republic during February’s qualifying tournament in Costa Rica.
The remaining 10 spots on the squad are filled by domestic-based players who have worked their way up through the Antigua Premier Division and represented Antigua and Barbuda at multiple previous youth international levels.
Drawn into Group B, Antigua and Barbuda will face a tough opening test against tournament hosts Mexico on July 24 at Puebla’s Estadio Cuauhtémoc, before taking on Guatemala three days later and closing out the group stage against Costa Rica on July 30. Only the top eight teams from the group stage will advance to the knockout round, with the final scheduled to take place at Mexico City’s Estadio Banorte on August 9.
Head coach Shyan Jeffers says his squad has earned the chance to compete on one of North and Central America and the Caribbean’s biggest youth football stages, and is heading to Mexico with the goal of advancing to the knockout rounds. “This group has earned the right to be in Mexico,” Jeffers said. “We have players who have developed across the UK, Germany and the United States, and a strong domestic core that has come through the Premier Division. Together, we are going to Mexico to compete.”
Jeffers will be supported by a full coaching and support staff, including team manager Roderick Williams, assistant coaches Donavan Peart and Derrick Edwards, goalkeeping coach Janiel Simon, trainer Coull Graham, and physiotherapist William Richards. Antigua and Barbuda will enter the tournament targeting a top-eight finish that would keep its dream of qualifying for both the FIFA Under-20 World Cup and the Olympic Games alive.