Pathway Spotlight: USWNT Players at the FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup
62 different players who have played in a FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup for the USA have gone on to earn at least one cap for the senior National Team
The U.S. U-20 Women’s National Team is days away from beginning its campaign at the U-20 FIFA Women’s World Cup in Poland, starting with its opener against Italy on Sept. 6.
The 21-player roster is full of both professional and collegiate talent, and while none of the players have yet competed for the senior Women’s National Team, history suggests that could soon change.
Over the last 24 years, 62 different players who have competed in a FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup for the USA have gone on to earn at least one cap for the senior side. That’s an average of 5.6 players per U.S. U-20 World Cup Team, or about 25% of each roster.
Here is a look back at some of the USWNT stars who began their international journeys at the youth level and competed at a U-20 WWC:
The inaugural tournament – which was then the FIFA U-19 Women’s Championship – was won by a USA team that featured a record 12 future WNT players on the roster. One of which was forward Heather O’Reilly, who became the eighth-most capped player in USWNT history with 231 appearances. O’Reilly recorded 47 goals and 55 assists, won three consecutive Olympic gold medals and lifted the 2015 FIFA Women’s World Cup trophy. She said that the 2002 team helped shape not only the player she would become, but the teammate she wanted to be.
“That team and that experience was just really important to my formative years and the way that I recognized team composition and how truly important it was,” O’Reilly said on the U.S. Soccer Podcast.
Former USWNT captain and center back Becky Sauerbrunn was a part of the 2004 U-20s squad that competed in Thailand. She earned her first senior team cap in 2008 and became a mainstay with the team, totaling 219 caps over the next decade and a half. She played every minute of both the 2015 and 2019 FIFA Women’s World Cup Finals and also won gold in the 2012 Olympics.
Another recent retiree and National Soccer Hall of Fame inductee is Tobin Heath, who appeared alongside future USWNT players Kelley O’Hara and Amy Rodriguez at the 2006 tournament in Russia. Heath appeared in three consecutive FIFA Women’s World Cups, winning the title in 2015 and 2019, and was on the Olympic gold medal teams in 2008 and 2012 and the 2020 team which earned bronze. She finished her international career with 36 goals and 42 assists in 181 appearances.
USWNT legendary striker Alex Morgan played a key role in helping the U.S. win the 2008 U-20 FIFA Women’s World Cup. She scored four goals in the tournament, including the game-winner in the Final against North Korea. Morgan made her senior debut a few years later, going on to win two FIFA Women’s World Cups and an Olympic gold medal. She is the USWNT’s fifth-highest scorer with 123 goals in 224 appearances.
Forward Sydney Leroux competed in both the 2008 and 2010 U-20 FIFA Women’s World Cups, earning the Golden Shoe and Golden Ball in 2008 and the Bronze Ball in 2010 after scoring five goals in eachtournament. She was named U.S. Soccer Young Female Player of the Year in 2011, the same year she made her senior debut. She is among the top 20 USWNT scorers with 35 goals in 77 appearances.
Defender Crystal Dunn played every minute of the 2012 U-20 FIFA Women’s World Cup, helping the team win its third title. It was her third FIFA World Cup at the youth level, after playing for the USA at the inaugural FIFA U-17 WWC in 2008 and the FIFA U-20 WWC in 2010, She was called up the senior team in 2013. She was a part of both the 2019 FIFA Women’s World Cup and 2024 Olympic-winning squads, earning 160 caps before retiring earlier this year.
“I always think representing your Youth National Team sets you up in such a way,” Dunn told USSoccer.com. “You're learning so many things at a young age, how to travel on your own, how to deal with pressure. It introduced me to some really incredible teammates. It set me up and created such a strong foundation for me to go on and be a proper professional.”
Among those still currently competing with the USWNT is midfielder and captain Lindsey Heaps (formerly Horan). Heaps was one of few players who earned a senior cap before competing in a U-20 WWC. She was named 2013 U.S. Soccer Young Female Player of the Year before winning the Female Player of the Year award in 2021, becoming one of just six players to win both. She currently has 40 goals and 38 assists in 178 caps.
Forward Mallory Swanson (formerly Pugh) competed in both the 2014 and 2016 U-20 FIFA Women’s World Cups, captaining the latter squad due to being the most experienced player on the team at the time. Months before the 2016 tournament, she competed as the youngest player on the 2016 Olympic team, making history as the first United States women's player to play in both tournaments in the same year.Swanson won the FIFA Women’s World Cup in 2019 before scoring the gold medal-clinching goal in the 2024 Olympics. She recently returned to the USWNT earlier this year from maternity leave.
Before captaining the Stanford Cardinal to the 2019 NCAA Championship, defender Naomi Girma competed in the 2018 U-20 FIFA Women’s World Cup alongside future USWNT players Emily Fox, Mandy McGlynn, Sophia Smith (now Wilson) and more in France. Girma also won U.S. Soccer Young (2020) and Female Player of the Year (2023) and was the only field player to play every minute of the 2024 Olympics on the way to a gold medal.
Striker Alyssa Thompson scored one goal in three games at the 2022 U-20 FIFA Women’s World Cup just two months before making her senior debut. The Los Angeles native was named to the 2023 World Cup roster. Earlier this year, she was named the Visa SheBelieves Cup Most Valuable Player after scoring the game-winner in the title-clinching match against Colombia.
Forward Ally Sentnor is one of the six players who won bronze at the 2024 U-20 FIFA Women’s World Cup to have already appeared with the USWNT. Sentnor captained the squad in the tournament and won the Bronze Ball after scoring three goals. That year, she made her senior debut later and was named U.S. Soccer Young Female Player of the Year. The 22-year-old has seven goals and three assists in 23 international appearances.