Nathan-Dylan Saliba (born February 7, 2004) is a Canadian professional

soccer Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...

player who plays for

Major League Soccer Major League Soccer (MLS) is a men's professional soccer league sanctioned by the United States Soccer Federation, which represents the sport's highest level in the United States. The league comprises 29 teams—26 in the U.S. and 3 in Canada ...

club

CF Montréal CF Montréal is a Canadian professional soccer club based in Montréal, Québec, Canada. The club competes in Major League Soccer (MLS) in the Eastern Conference. Founded in 1992 as the Montreal Impact (french: Impact de Montréal, links=no), ...

Early life

Saliba began playing youth soccer at age nine with

CS Longueuil Club Soccer Longueuil is a Canadian semi-professional soccer club based in Longueuil, Quebec. Since 2014, the club has competed in the Première Ligue de soccer du Québec. History The club was originally founded in 1970. In 2014, the club joine ...

. In 2017, he joined the

Montreal Impact Academy Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-most populous city in Canada and List of towns in Quebec, most populous city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian ...

. He is of Haitian descent through both his parents, and can speak English, French and

Haitian Creole Haitian Creole (; ht, kreyòl ayisyen, links=no, ; french: créole haïtien, links=no, ), commonly referred to as simply ''Creole'', or ''Kreyòl'' in the Creole language, is a French-based creole language spoken by 10–12million people wor ...

Club career

In December 2020, he signed his first professional contract with the Montreal Impact (later re-named CF Montreal) of

. He served as an unused substitute in their

CONCACAF Champions League The CONCACAF Champions League, known officially as the Scotiabank CONCACAF Champions League for sponsorship reasons, is an annual continental club football competition organized by CONCACAF. The tournament is contested by clubs from North Ameri ...

match against

C.D. Olimpia Club Deportivo Olimpia is a professional Honduran football club based in Tegucigalpa, Francisco Morazán. The club is the nation's most successful team both in the domestic league and in international club competitions. History Olimpia was f ...

on December 15, 2020. In 2022, he played with

CF Montréal U23 CF Montréal U23, formerly Montreal Impact U23, is a Canadian soccer team based in Montreal, Quebec, Canada that plays in the Première ligue de soccer du Québec. They are the reserve club of Major League Soccer club CF Montréal and represent ...

in the

Première ligue de soccer du Québec The Première ligue de soccer du Québec (PLSQ) is a semi-professional soccer league created in 2012. The Quebec Soccer Federation operates both men's and women's divisions at the pro-am tier of the Canadian soccer league system. The league is pa ...

, scoring four goals in seven appearances. In December 2022, he signed a two-year extension with Montreal. During the 2023 pre-season, he sought to earn a spot with the first team squad, rather than to pursue a loan to the

Canadian Premier League The Canadian Premier League (CPL or CanPL; french: Première ligue canadienne, links=no) is a professional men's Association football, soccer league in Canada. At the top of the Canadian soccer league system, it is the country's primary nationa ...

, as other Montreal young players had gone on in previous seasons and he scored a goal against the PLSQ All-Stars in a pre-season exhibition match. He made his professional debut on February 25, 2023, starting the season opener against

Inter Miami CF Club Internacional de Fútbol Miami, known as Inter Miami CF or simply Inter Miami, is an American professional soccer club based in the Miami metropolitan area. Established in 2018, the club began play in Major League Soccer (MLS) in the 2020 ...

International career

In 2016, he represented Canada at the

Danone Nations Cup The Danone Nations Cup is a football tournament for children between the ages of 10 and 12 (U12s category); it is organized every year since 2000 on the initiative of Groupe Danone.2019 CONCACAF Boys' Under-15 Championship The 2019 CONCACAF Boys' Under-15 Championship is an international football tournament, the third edition of the CONCACAF Boys' Under-15 Championship. The competition was initially set to feature up to 39 teams from the CONCACAF region as well as ...

. In 2022, he was named to the provisional roster for the Canada U20 team ahead of the

2022 CONCACAF U-20 Championship The 2022 CONCACAF Under-20 Championship will be the 7th edition of the CONCACAF Under-20 Championship (28th edition if all eras included), the men's under-20 international football tournament organized by CONCACAF. It will be hosted in Honduras, ...

, although he was not named to the final roster. On February 26, 2024, Saliba was named to the Canada national soccer team provisional roster for the

2024 Copa América qualifying play-offs The 2024 Copa América qualifying play-offs or play-in round were contested by four CONCACAF teams to earn the final two places in the 2024 Copa América. It was the second time that a qualifying tournament was organized for CONCACAF teams to ent ...

against

Trinidad and Tobago Trinidad and Tobago (, ), officially the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago, is the southernmost island country in the Caribbean. Consisting of the main islands Trinidad and Tobago, and numerous much smaller islands, it is situated south of ...

Notes

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Saliba, Nathan Living people 2004 births Canadian men's soccer players Canada men's youth international soccer players Canadian people of Haitian descent Sportspeople of Haitian descent CS Longueuil players CF Montréal players CF Montréal U23 players Ligue1 Québec players Major League Soccer players Homegrown Players (MLS) Men's association football midfielders