CanWNT continues to invest in future with Annabelle Chukwu call-up: "A talent like that is quite rare"
After a big showing for Canada’s U20 women’s national team at the Concacaf Championships earlier this month, Annabelle Chukwu has parlayed that into a larger opportunity, as she earned her third CanWNT call-up this week.
This one feels significant, however, as it is Chukwu’s first call-up under head coach Casey Stoney, following her two previous call-ups in 2022 and 2023, where she was just 15 and 16, respectively.
Yet to make her debut in either of those camps, Chukwu could have a role to play for Canada this time around, however, especially after her exploits at the U20 level.
Already having become the all-time leading scorer for Canada at the youth level at last year’s U20 World Cup, doing so despite being just 17 at the time, she picked up where she left off as Canada began a new U20 cycle in 2025, one she still remained eligible for due to her young age.
We have a new All-Time Women’s Youth Goals Leader!!!
— CANWNT (@CANWNT) September 4, 2024
Annabelle Chukwu’s big night sees her leapfrog the 🐐 with Olivia Smith closing in behind!#CANW20 #U20WWC pic.twitter.com/jSOsxJhm8D
After scoring seven goals in qualifications for the U20 Championships in February, she scored five goals in the actual tournament earlier this month, including the winning goal in the final, as Canada won their first U20 Concacaf Championship since 2008, while also qualifying for their third straight U20 World Cup.
What a way to take the lead 🔥 Chukwu scores a screamer and it is 3-2 for Canada! 🇨🇦 pic.twitter.com/99CqADxhZ5
— Concacaf W (@ConcacafW) June 8, 2025
With that, she showed why she’s one to watch for this Canadian program, one who would love to have her services long-term.
“We’ve observed her a lot, especially since I’ve been in this role, there’s been a clear, conscious and intentional plan around when to involve her,” Stoney said this week. “And we feel that this is the right time, as she’s ready to perform.”
It’s still early, but this call-up is a strong start in that quest to keep her with Canada in the years to come. Given that she’s also eligible to play for England and Nigeria, Canada may face a battle to earn her commitment, as one has to imagine both countries will be pushing hard for her services.
Unable to fully cap-tie her until next year at the earliest, with a swath of friendlies on the schedule before then, this at least shows her that Canada has the early track long-term.
That’s exciting because Chukwu has certainly shown that she has the potential to be a transformative player for this Canadian team - at least that’ll be the case if she reaches her full potential as an attacker.
Just look at what she was able to do at those U20 Championships, where her impact extended beyond the five goals that she scored. There, she played 366 minutes, and had a tournament-leading 25 shots, hitting the target with 10 of them, creating three chances, completing 20 dribbles, taking 33 touches in the box and winning nine fouls.
Annabelle Chukwu extends the lead for Canada! 🇨🇦 pic.twitter.com/gABSQ0jrCo
— Concacaf W (@ConcacafW) May 31, 2025
Most impressively, the shots she took ended up being of a good quality - she finished with 4.4 xG, showing that she was full value for the five goals she scored, too.
Yet, that shows why she’s so dangerous - she’s a pure goalscorer, one who wants to get into the box and find the back of the net. If she’s on the ball, she wants to drive it into the box, and if she doesn’t have it, she wants to get open so that she can get off a shot.
GOLAZO 🇨🇦
— OneSoccer (@onesoccer) February 25, 2025
OKAY HOLD ON ANNABELLE CHUKWU 🤯
You can't do it to 'em like that 🥶#CanWNT | #CanW20 pic.twitter.com/Zb305mjF6W
Armed with an ability to finish with both feet, good speed and adept dribbling, she can score in many ways, too - she is just as comfortable finishing a chance on her first touch as she is dribbling a player and then getting an attempt off from a tight angle.
Given her scoring record, which has seen her score 34 times in 29 appearances across the U15, U17 and U20 levels with Canada, her approach has paid off for her, too.
Now, the big challenge for Chukwu will be to translate her goalscoring to higher levels, as she adjusts to what’s next with her, such as this CanWNT opportunity, as well as the NCAA level with Notre Dame, and perhaps even beyond as she continues to field professional offers.
She got a taste of what that looks like in her first season with Notre Dame last fall - despite being just 17 to start the season, she made 16 appearances, scoring three goals and adding two assists.
Not bad for your first collegiate goal 🫡
— Notre Dame Women's Soccer (@NDSoccer) August 15, 2024
Watch on ACCNX. https://t.co/Mw9EpBIOjn pic.twitter.com/bsW26HZjrS
Already solid numbers for an attacker her age at that level, they look even more impressive when you look at the numbers, as she generated six xG, indicating that she actually underperformed offensively - perhaps a sign that she was still adjusting to that level in terms of the finishing required.
GOOOAAALLLLLL!!!
— Notre Dame Women's Soccer (@NDSoccer) September 22, 2024
Welcome back @AnnabelleChukwu!
The freshman delivers in the 47th minute.
ND 1 - UVA 0 | @ACCNetworkExtra #GoIrish ☘️ pic.twitter.com/Nt26iRsPGZ
That’s quite encouraging, as it’s usually very hard for young forwards to generate chances when they move up the levels, as it can take time for them to even know how to get shots they used to get as a youth player. Chukwu has shown that she can still get into the right areas against elevated competition, but will just have to get used to finishing them - that’s only natural for a young attacker, and something you’d expect comes with time, given her ability to score as a youngster.
Yet, much as she did at the recent U20 Concacaf Championships, she had a similar overall offensive impact in her first college season, too, averaging over three shots a game for Notre Dame, as well as 6.99 dribbles (at a 51.8% success rate) and 4.21 touches in the box, showing that she didn’t need to tweak her game too much.
When seeing that, you can see why she earned a senior call, as they’ll hope she can replicate similar numbers in their environment now.
A Canadian team that is becoming more dangerous offensively under Stoney, Chukwu seems like a natural fit, as she brings the sort of direct attacking play and aggression that Stoney has liked to see from her attackers.
For example, a lot of the numbers Chukwu has put up are similar to someone like Adriana Leon, who loves to drive at defenders and get shots off - sound familiar?
Annabelle Chukwu is IN ✅
— OneSoccer (@onesoccer) June 18, 2025
The #CanWNT U-20 🇨🇦 star has earned another senior team look, with Casey Stoney outlining her progression path and calling the young forward "incredibly technically gifted" 😎
(Which, to be fair, might actually be an understatement 👀) pic.twitter.com/wAHERaHWMc
Of course, Chukwu has a long way to go to reach someone like Leon, who at 32 now has 44 goals for Canada, which is third all-time in the program.
No doubt, however, Chukwu could have plenty to learn from attackers like Leon, Evelyne Viens, Jordyn Huitema and others in this Canadian squad, which is what Stoney will be banking on. For example, she’ll want to add more chance creation to her game, become more defensively responsible, and round out her overall striker play - things that will all come with time, but will quickly improve around strikers who have gone through similar growth.
As seen with the emergence of someone like Holly Ward in recent months, a camp like this can be a great way to push a youngster to a new level, and Chukwu certainly has the potential to benefit similarly in this environment.
Because of that, look for her to make the most of the opportunity to earn this first Canadian call, starting with a debut soon. At just 18, this could be the first of many calls for her, but she’ll want to make the most of the opportunity first, and then push from there.
Certainly, Canada wouldn’t mind that, especially if she finds a way to translate her proficiency for Canada’s youth teams to the higher levels, something they’ll want to see more of long-term throughout Stoney’s tenure.
“I think she’s an incredibly technically gifted player,” Stoney said. “She’s unplayable at times when you see her receiving the ball with her back to goal, and then she can turn, she can face people, she can beat them 1v1, she can score goals, and talent like that is quite rare.”
“So we want to make sure that we harness it, we look after her as a person and as a player, and we want her in this senior camp because we think it’s the right time to bring her in, to see her on the field, and we’re looking forward to working with her.”
