PREVIEW: USA taking on Nigeria in FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup quarterfinals

With group stage play behind them, the USA looks ahead to the quarterfinal round at the FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup where it will take on Group A winner Nigeria on Saturday, October 26, in Santiago de los Caballeros (3:30 p.m. ET on Fox Soccer Plus, Universo and Telemundo digitals).

The USA and Nigeria also met in the 2022 FIFA U-17 WWC quarterfinals in India. The USA outshot Nigeria 27-8 but put only three shots on goal and finished regulation tied at 1-1. Agonizingly, the USA lost in PKs, 4-3. This year, the U.S. finished second in Group B play behind two-time defending world champion Spain with a 2W-1L-0D record and six points. Nigeria topped Group A with a 3W-0L-0D record and nine points.

U.S. FINISHES GROUP PLAY STRONG: The U.S. closed out group play with a resounding 5-0 win over Korea Republic. Just 30 seconds into the match, midfielder Melanie Barcenas scored the fastest U.S. goal ever at the FIFA U-17 WWC and the third-fastest goal in tournament history to give the USA a very early 1-0 lead. Just nine minutes later, Barcenas set up a Kennedy Fuller goal to double the team’s lead just ten minutes into the match. After taking the 2-0 lead into halftime, Barcenas came out firing in the second half, adding a second goal to her tally in the 47th minute to make it 3-0. Forward Mary Long made it 4-0 in the 67th minute, blasting a long-distance shot off the crossbar and across the goal line. She was set up when midfielder Kimmi Ascanio stepped in front of an attempted pass from a Korea Republic defender and then passed off to Long. Forward Maddie Padelski topped off the U.S. scoring in the 86th minute when her shot from outside of the box hit the Korean Republic goalkeeper’s hands before spilling over the goal line.

2024 U.S. UNDER-17 WOMEN’S WORLD CUP TEAM ROSTER BY POSITION (CLUB; HOMETOWN; CAPS/GOALS):

Goalkeepers (3): Wicki Dunlap (North Carolina Courage Academy; Raleigh, N.C.; 2), Evan O’Steen (Solar SC; Grapevine, Texas; 4), Molly Vapensky (Carolina Ascent; Evanston, Ill.; 7),

Defenders (6): Trinity Armstrong (UNC; Frisco, Texas; 7/0), Kiara Gilmore (FC Dallas; Allen, Texas; 10/0), Jordyn Hardeman (Solar SC; Midlothian, Texas; 10/1), Daya King (Legends FC; Moreno Valley, Calif.; 10/0), Katie Scott (Penn State; Fairview, Penn.; 12/1), Jocelyn Travers (FC Bay Area Surf; Santa Cruz, Calif.; 10/1)

Midfielders (7): Scottie Antonucci (Legends FC; Rancho Cucamonga, Calif.; 4/0), 10-Kimmi Ascanio (San Diego Wave; Doral, Fla.; 12/4), Melanie Barcenas (San Diego Wave; San Diego, Calif.; 17/5), Kennedy Fuller (Angel City FC; Southlake, Texas; 11/11), Ainsley McCammon (Seattle Reign; Bedford, Texas; 8/1), Jaiden Rodriguez (San Diego Surf; San Diego, Calif.; 4/0), Y-Lan Nguyen (Virginia Development Academy; Fairfax, Va.; 6/1)

Forwards (5): Anna Babcock (Crossfire Premier SC; Sedro-Woolley, Wash.; 3/0), Micayla Johnson (Michigan Hawks, Troy, Mich.; 5/2), Mary Long (Duke; Mission Hills, Kan.; 5/3), Maddie Padelski (Alabama; Nolensville, Tenn.; 5/1), Leena Powell (Tudela FC; Culver City, Calif.; 9/1)

ROSTER NOTES:

• Melanie Barcenas scored 30 seconds into the match against Korea Republic on Oct. 22, marking the fastest goal ever scored by an American at the FIFA U-17 WWC and the third-fastest goal ever scored in the tournament. The previous American record was held by Darian Jenkins, who scored 1 minute and 49 seconds into the match against Korea DPR in 2012.
• Maddie Padelski’s 86th-minute goal vs. Korea was her first ever international goal.
• Mary Long’s goal 67th-minute was goal was her third for the U.S. U-17s.
• The five-goal margin of victory over South Korea marked just the second time the USA has won by that margin at the FIFA U-17 WWC and was its third-largest margin of victory in the tournament. The last time the team won by five goals in the FIFA U-17 WWC came on October 1, 2016, when the USA defeated Paraguay 6-1.
• Following its 5-0 win over Korea Republic, the U.S. earned back-to-back clean sheets for just the second time ever at the U-17 WWC. It was also the first time the team did it with back-to-back wins. The last time it happened was in 2012 when the U.S. drew with France 0-0 and then defeated Gambia 6-0.
• Following her brace against Korea Republic, Melanie Barcenas is the USA’s leading goal scorer with three goals. She also leads the team in combined goals and assists with four. Midfielder Kennedy Fuller is second on the team in both categories with two and three respectively.
• With her goal against Korea Republic, midfielder Kennedy Fuller now has a remarkable 11 international goals in 11 matches for the USYWNT.
• Three USA players have played in all 270 minutes of the tournament: midfielder Ainsley McCammon and defenders Trinity Armstrong and Jocelyn Travers.
• Two additional USA players have logged 200+ minutes: midfielders Kimmi Ascanio (233) and Fuller (240).
• After group stage play, five U.S. players have notched their first U-17 WWC goals: forwards Micayla Johnson, Mary Long, and Maddie Padelski, and midfielders Melanie Barcenas and Kennedy Fuller.
• Twenty of the USA’s 21 players have played in this World Cup with back-up goalkeeper Wicki Dunlap the only player yet to see minutes.
• U.S. head coach Katie Schoepfer named 14 players to the World Cup Team who were part of the USA’s Concacaf championship team and seven players who made late runs to earn a World Cup roster spot, including four players born in 2008 who have seen the majority of their recent WYNT action with the U.S. U-16s.
• The seven players on the World Cup roster who were not a part of the U.S. team at the 2024 Concacaf Women’s U-17 Championship are goalkeeper Evan O’Steen, midfielders Scottie Antonucci and Jaiden Rodriguez and forwards Padelski, Micayla Johnson, Long and Anna Babcock, who can also play in the defense.
• Johnson scored against Brazil in July and Long scored twice against Brazil in July.
• Padelski was an alternate during the pre-tournament training camp in Guatemala ahead of the Concacaf Women’s U-17 Championship.
• The roster features four professional players, goalkeeper Molly Vapensky, who is on the books of the Carolina Ascent in the USL Super League on an amateur contract, four players currently in college and 12 players from nine different youth clubs.
• Six players hail from California and six come from Texas, meaning more than half the roster is from those two states.
• While there are current pros and college players on the World Cup Team, of the 21 players on the roster, 19 represent or represented ECNL clubs, one is from the Girls’ Academy and one is from the NPL.

PROS LEAD THE WAY: For the first time ever, a U.S. roster for the FIFA Under-17 Women’s World Cup features professional players, those being Angel City FC midfielder Kennedy Fuller, San Diego Wave FC midfielders Melanie Barcenas and Kimmi Ascanio and Seattle Reign midfielder Ainsley McCammon. Of the four, Fuller has seen the most NWSL minutes, playing 975 over 19 matches with one goal. Ascanio has played 145 minutes in six matches while Barcenas, who is in her second professional season, has played 446 minutes in 10 matches and scored her first career NWSL goal on Sept. 28 against the Portland Thorns. McCammon made her NWSL debut on Sept. 6 vs. Angel City FC, playing the very end of the match, and earned her first start in her final match before joining the U-17s, playing 63 minutes.

U-17 WYNT VS. NIGERIA

• The USA has played Nigeria once in a FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup, a 1-1 quarterfinal draw in 2022. The U.S. eventually lost in PKs, 4-3.
• Nigeria is making its seventh appearance in a FIFA U-17 WWC.
• Nigeria’s best finish was a third-place finish in 2018.
• Nigeria qualified for the FIFA U-17 WWC by advancing through three rounds of home-and-away matches in the 2024 African U-17 Women’s World Cup qualification.
• Nigeria defeated the Central African Republic 12-0 on aggregate, Burkina Faso 7-1 on aggregate, and Liberia 6-1 on aggregate to be one of the three qualifiers from Africa.
• Forward Harmony Chidi led the team in scoring with 12 goals. Shakirat Moshood and Peace Effiong were tied for second with three goals each.
• Nigeria finished atop of Group A with three wins while outscoring opponents 9-1 in the process.
• Nigeria opened the tournament with a 4-1 win over New Zealand. In its second match, the team shutout Ecuador, 2-0. Nigeria finished group stage play with a 1-0 win over Ecuador.
• Nigeria midfielder Shakirat Moshood is currently the tournament’s leading scorer with four goals. She’s tallied at least one goal in each of her team’s three matches.
• Nigeria has four players who are 14-years-old, the most of any team in the tournament, and the age cutoff for the tournament.
• Nigeria goalkeeper Sylvia Echefu is the youngest goalkeeper in the tournament and the third youngest player in the tournament.

2024 NIGERIA FIFA U-17 WOMEN’S WORLD CUP ROSTER BY POSITION (CLUB)

GOALKEEPERS (3): 1-Christina Uzoma (Edo Queens), 16-Sylvia Echefu (Confluence Queens), 21-Elizabeth Boniface (Sunshine Queens)

DEFENDERS (6): 2-Rokibat Azeez (New Generation Academy), 3-Khadijat Adegoke (Remo Stars), 4-Hannah Ibrahim (Remo Stars), 6-Jumai Adebayo (Naija Ratels), 13-Vivian Ekezie (Heartland Queens), 17-Prisca Nwachukwu (Imo Strikers Queens)

MIDFIELDERS (3): 5-Faridat Abdulwahab (Nasarawa Amazons), 8-Shakirat Moshood (Bayelsa Queens), 10-Taiwo Afolabi (Delta Queens), 20-Muinat Rotimi (Nakamura Football Academy)

FORWARDS (8): 7-Ramotalahi Kareem (Honey Badgers), 9-Harmony Chidi (Imo Strikers Queens), 11-Aishat Animashaun (Naija Ratels), 12-Ololade Isiaka (Abia Angels), 14-Kudirat Arogundade (Green Foot), 15-Peace Effiong (Rivers Angels), 18-Blessing Ifitiezue (Delta Queens), 19-Oghenemairo Obruthe (City Sports)