U.S. U-17 Women’s National Team roster revealed for final round of Concacaf Qualifiers

ATLANTA – United States Under-17 Women’s National Team head coach Ciara Crinion has selected a 21-player roster to represent the USA in the Final Round of the 2025 Concacaf Women’s Under-17 Qualifiers, which will be played from March 17-22 in Costa Rica.

The USA opens the tournament on March 17 vs. Bermuda (2:30 p.m. ET / 12:30 p.m. local), faces Haiti on March 19 (5 p.m. ET / 3 p.m. local) and then finishes the competition on March 22 against Puerto Rico (2:06 p.m. ET / 12:06 p.m. local).

The other two groups feature Canada, El Salvador, Dominican Republic and Nicaragua in Group A and Mexico, host Costa Rica, Panama and Jamaica in Group C.

The U.S. team will arrive in Costa Rica on March 14 after a few days of training in Houston. The entire qualifying tournament will be held at the Costa Rican Football Federation headquarters in San Rafael, Alajuela.

This is the second year of this Concacaf qualifying format for the FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup. With the world championship now staged annually and expanded from 16 to 24 nations, instead of a tournament in which the top three Concacaf finishers qualify for the Women’s U-17 World Cup, 12 teams were drawn into three groups of four teams each with the winner of each group and the best second place team qualifying for the World Cup, set for October-November 2026 in Morocco. The next four editions of the tournament will be held in Morocco.

“We can’t wait for the opportunity to compete for a berth to the World Cup,” said Crinion. “As a coaching staff, we look forward to continuing to develop the players individually and collectively as a team. It is a huge honor to represent the crest and U.S. Soccer, and we are all very excited for the journey ahead.”

Final Round of the 2026 Concacaf Women’s Under-17 Qualifiers by Position (Club; Hometown; U-17 Caps/Goals)

Goalkeepers (3): Alexis Fischer (Eclipse Select SC; Chicago, Ill; 1), Avellina Saunders (Utah Royals FC Arizona; Phoenix, Ariz.; 2), Lola-Iris Ta (FC Dallas, Dallas, Texas; 0)

Defenders (6): Sophia Ahrens (St. Louis Scott Gallagher; Fenton, Mo.; 4/2), Kendra Hansen (Pateadores SC; Tustin, Calif.; 2/0), Madeline Maves (Crossfire Premier SC; Seattle, Wash.; 3/0), Sam Ogden (Kansas City Current II; Overland Park, Kan.; 2/0), Anaiah Williams (Eclipse Select SC; Glendale Heights, Ill.; 4/0), Gigi Zuniga (Mountain View Los Altos SC; Watsonville, Calif.; 4/0)

Midfielders (6): Mia Corona (Legends FC; Cypress, Calif.; 4/0), Jordyn Heathcock (FC Dallas; Edmond, Okla.; 4/0), Taylor Morrell (Virginia Development Academy; Leesburg, Va.; 2/2), Grace Murray (Beach FC; Redondo Beach, Calif.; 2/0), Loradana Paletta (New York City FC; Syosset, N.Y.; 8/3), Elena Vera (Bay Area Surf SC; Fairfield, Calif.; 2/0)

Forwards (6): Giselle Aguilar (Solar SC; Cleburne, Texas; 2/1), Maddie DiMaria (St. Louis Scott Gallagher; Fenton, Mo.; 10/4), Gianna Hanf (Match Fit Academy; Chesterfield, N.J.; 4/0), Amari Manning (Players Development Academy; Flemington, N.J.; 4/2), Deus Stanislaus (UNC; Fort Washington, Pa.; 4/2), Mak Whitham (Gotham FC; Granite Bay, Calif.; 5/2)

This is the third U.S. U-17 Women’s World Cup qualifying squad to include professional players. In 2024, midfielder Melanie Barcenas from San Diego Wave FC and forward Alex Pfeiffer, then from Kansas City Current and now Bay FC, were the pros on the roster. Last year, San Diego Wave midfielder Kimmi Ascanio and forward Micayla Johnson from the Chicago Stars represented the National Women’s Soccer League at the qualifying tournament.

Midfielder Mak Whitham from Gotham FC is the only professional on this year’s U-17 qualifying roster while forward Deus Stanislaus, who has enrolled early at the University of North Carolina, is the only college player. Sam Odgen plays for the Kansas City Current II while the other 18 players represent 15 youth clubs across the country.

The Concacaf qualifying competitions are an important part of the Federation’s continued focus on the U.S. Way philosophy, which emphasizes increased programming for Youth National Teams to create more opportunities for young players to advance through the pathway to the senior National Team with the goal of representing their country at a world championship.

ADDITIONAL NOTES:

Last year’s change in tournament format means the USA can no longer win a Concacaf U-17 Women’s Championship, of which it has won six and the most recent four in a row. The USA won the Concacaf U-17 Women’s Championship in 2008, 2012, 2016, 2018, 2022 and 2024. The 2020 competition was cancelled due to the global COVID-19 pandemic.
Players born on or after Jan. 1, 2009, are age-eligible for the 2026 FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup. Seventeen players selected by Crinion for this roster were born in 2009 with three in 2010 and the youngest player on the roster, Loradana Paletta, born in 2011.
This group of U.S. U-17s comes into World Cup qualifying having had four international matches together, two games against Denmark in January and two at the MIMA Cup in February. All four matches were in Spain.
At the MIMA Cup, the USA defeated Wales and World Cup host Morocco, both by 5-0 scores, to make it to the championship game, which was cancelled due to inclement weather. The USA was awarded the tournament title based on its superior goal difference.
Forward Maddie DiMaria and midfielders Mak Whitham and Paletta were involved in last year’s U-17 cycle, making the trio the two most experienced players on the qualifying roster, with DiMaria having 10 caps and four goals while Paletta has earned eight caps and scored three goals. Whitham has five caps and two goals, one of them scored at last year’s U-17 Women’s World Cup against Norway. Paletta was too young to play in last year’s World Cup but otherwise might have earned a roster spot.
DiMaria was also on the USA’s 2025 FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup Team, and she scored in the 5-2 win over China PR in group play.
Heading into qualifying, DiMaria has scored three goals this year, as has Paletta, while Sophia Ahrens, Deus Stanislaus and Amari Manning have two each.
This age group of players has had just three training camps together – November of 2025 in Atlanta and the two trips to Spain this year.
Eight players on the roster will be playing in their second Concacaf age group championship. Taylor Morrell, Mia Corona, Paletta, Stanislaus, DiMaria, Manning, Elena Vera and Whitham also helped the USA win the 2024 Concacaf Girls’ U-15 Championship. Crinion was also head coach of that team.
Whitham signed a professional contract with Gotham FC on July 26, 2024, at 13 years old, via the NWSL’s U-18 entry mechanism, which made her the youngest player in NWSL history.
She became the youngest player in top-division American soccer history when she appeared as a substitute against the Washington Spirit in the NWSL x Liga MX Femenil Summer Cup group stage on July 28, 2024.
Whitham made her NWSL regular-season debut on March 15, 2025, as a stoppage-time substitute in the season opener against the Seattle Reign. That appearance made her the youngest player in league history at 14 years, 8 months, surpassing the San Diego Wave’s Melanie Barcenas.
Before heading to Costa Rica, the U-17s will train in Houston for four days. Crinion will bring three alternates to camp in Houston for training purposes, but they will not travel to Costa Rica. Those three players are defender Sam Tovar (Sting Dallas), midfielder Georgia Restovich (St. Louis Scott Gallagher) and forward Jordyn Sullivan (Match Fit Academy).
The players hail from 12 different states, but six are from California, three from SoCal and three from NorCal. The states of Texas, Illinois, New Jersey and Missouri each have two representatives on the roster.
Just three countries thus far have qualified for the 2026 FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup. In addition to host Morocco, New Zealand and Samoa have qualified from Oceania via the 2025 OFC U-16 Women’s Championship.