Mikaël Cantave-Cedar Herald Index

Mikaël Gabriel "Miki" Cantave (born 25 October 1996) is a professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for Vancouver FC. Born in Canada, he represents the Haiti national team.

Early life

Born in Ottawa, Cantave began playing soccer at age five with FC Capital United. At age 13, he moved to France joining the FC Nantes academy, after a couple of trials over the previous two years, formed through a relationship between Capital United and Nantes. Afterwards he went to Nacional in France before joining Getafe's U19.

Mikaël Cantave

Club career

In January 2016, he signed with Spanish club Guadalajara in the third tier Segunda División B. He made his debut on March 13 against La Roda. In August 2016, he left the club after making only three appearances for a total of 56 minutes.

Mikaël Cantave

Later in 2016, he joined RSD Alcalá B, followed by playing for Albacete B, Lorca FC B, and Deportivo Rayo Cantabria.

Mikaël Cantave

Later in 2018, he joined CD Tropezón.

In 2019, he joined CD Lealtad. He scored his first goal in a preseason friendly against Sporting de Gijón B on July 31. He scored his first official goal on August 25, on a penalty kick, against Lenense. He scored a brace on January 12, 2020 against Lenense.

In 2020, he joined CD Olímpic de Xàtiva. He scored his first goal on November 21 against UD Benigàmin. He departed the club at the end of 2020.

In January 2021, he joined CP Villarrobledo in the Segunda División B. He scored his first goal for Villarrobledo on February 10 against Melilla in the 94th minute to earn a 1-1 draw.

In August 2021, he joined Romanian club AFC Chindia Târgoviște in the top tier Liga I.

In July 2022, he returned to his native Canada and signed a multi-year deal with Canadian Premier League side Cavalry FC. He made his debut for Cavalry on July 28 against Forge FC. In the reverse fixture on August 12, Cantave scored his first goal, a late winner in a 2-1 victory over the Hammers at ATCO Field.

On June 29, 2023, he joined Vancouver FC in an inter-league swap for Maël Henry. On July 7, 2023, he scored his first goal for Vancouver, netting the game-winner in a 2-1 victory over the HFX Wanderers.

International career

Born in Canada, Cantave's father is from Haiti and his mother is from Guadeloupe.

Cantave played with Canada U17 at the 2013 CONCACAF U-17 Championship, where he won a bronze medal, and also at the 2013 FIFA U-17 World Cup.

In 2018, he switched allegiance to Haiti. He made his international debut on 29 May 2018, in a friendly match against Argentina. He scored his first goal on November 17, 2018, in his official competitive debut, against Nicaragua in 2019–20 CONCACAF Nations League qualifying. At the 2019 CONCACAF Gold Cup, he helped Haiti reach the semi-finals.