U-19 USWYNT: 20 Players called up for friendly tournament in Spain

With just a few months to go until the Concacaf qualifying tournament for the 2026 FIFA Under-20 Women’s World Cup, the United States Under-19 Women’s Youth National Team is holding its first camp of the calendar year and its second camp of the annual cycle, following one in October 2024.

Head coach Carrie Kveton has called up 20 players, all born in 2006, for a friendly tournament that will be hosted by Spain and that will also feature the U-19 WNTs of England and the Netherlands. (Links to each opponent’s roster and quick discussions of those rosters are included at the end of this post.)

The USA’s roster includes just one professional, Miri O’Donell, who plays for Sporting CP in Portugal. Age-eligible NWSL players such as Jordyn Bugg and Emeri Adames, both of the Seattle Reign, who played in last year’s U-20 WWC, were not called into the camp. The other 2006 player from that roster, Claire Hutton, has been called up to the full USWNT for this month’s SheBelieves Cup.

Of the remaining 19 players, 13 played NCAA Division I soccer last fall, including Notre Dame’s Izzy Engle, who scored 19 goals during her freshman season. Engle’s tally, which did not involve any penalty kick goals, was only one behind MAC Hermann trophy winner Kate Faase (UNC profile), who had 20 goals, including three penalty kicks conversions, and was tied with Ohio State’s Kailyn Dudukovich (OSU profile), who had two penalty kick conversions.

The other six players on the roster are now college students after enrolling in January. Among those six are two players from the USA’s squad for last year’s U-20 WWC: Goalkeeper Caroline Birkel, now of Stanford, and midfielder Addison Halpern, now of the University of Virginia. A third player, defender Reese Klein, now of Clemson, was a pre-tournament alternate for the 2024 U-20 WWC. Klein played for Fort Lauderdale United of the new USL Super League via an amateur contract during the fall of 2024.

From the October 2024 camp, which did not include any NCAA athletes, just three players return: Halpern, Klein, and O’Donnell. The only NWSL pro at that camp was the Houston Dash’s Zoe Matthews, who has a 2007 birth year.

The most experienced youth international on this roster is Texas forward Amalia Villarreal, who played in the 2022 FIFA Under-17 Women’s World Cup as well as the 2023 Pan American Games.

Five other players on the roster were also on the USA’s youthful 18-player squad for the last Pan Am Games (roster release), which did not feature any NCAA or pro players: Aven Alvarez, Lizzie Boamah, Eleanor Klinger, Ava McDonald, and Grace Restovich. Boamah was a replacement for Reese Klein (USYNT x.com post). Additionally, Izzy Engle and Miri O’Donnell were named as alternates.

Six players are apparently attending their first proper U.S. youth national team camp: Kara Croone and Paloma Daubert of UCLA; Lily Joseph and Abby Mills of Notre Dame; Michigan State’s Emily Graham; and Arkansas goalkeeper Keegan Smith.

Smith and Engle were both state-level Gatorade Players of the Year for the 2023-2024 high school year (Gatorade.com). Remarkably, Smith won her award as an attacking midfielder for her high school team, which she led to a New York state championship in 2023. During the 2023 post-season, she scored six of her team’s seven goals (Gatorade.com), including the lone goal in the state final (Democrat and Chronicle article). (Some previous USWYNT goalkeepers, such as Hope Solo and Claudia Dickey, played high school soccer as a field player while playing goalkeeper for their club team.)

Match Schedule

U.S. Soccer’s press release did not include kick-off times for the USA’s matches, but the press releases for the other three teams did have the times.

No details regarding live streaming of the matches have been announced.

Edit (25-Feb-2025): A YouTube link for the live stream of the final match, versus Spain, was added.

Thursday, February 20th

  • Spain vs. England: 12:00 CET / 6:00 am ET
  • USA vs. Netherlands: 12:00 CET / 6:00 am ET

Sunday, February 23rd

  • Spain vs. Netherlands: 12:00 CET/ 6:00 am ET
  • USA vs. England: 16:00 CET/ 10:00 am ET

Wednesday, February 26th

Looking Ahead: Concacaf Qualifying

The United States and Mexico, as the two highest-ranked teams according to Concacaf’s Women’s Under-20 rankings, were given byes to this cycle’s Concacaf Women’s Under-20 Championship, which is suppose to be played sometime in May 2025 (Concacaf press release from October 2024).

Despite being named an “Under-20” event, technically, all players will be U-19 or younger as they must be born in 2006 or later (regulations PDF). There is also a lower age limit: All players have to be born in 2010 or earlier. This is the second-straight cycle that Concacaf’s final qualifying tournament for a FIFA U-20 WWC was held over a full year ahead of the U-20 WWC.

The 2025 Concacaf Women’s Under-20 Championship will be the traditional format of eight teams divided into two round-robin groups, with the top two teams from each group advancing to the knockout stage with semifinals and a final, plus most likely, a third-place match.

With the expansion of the U-20 WWC to 24 teams, four teams from Concacaf will qualify, so the USA will only need to finish as one of the top two teams in its group. Based on the Concacaf rankings, Mexico should not be in the USA’s group, so the most challenging group opponent the USA could face will likely be Canada, which the USA has consistently defeated in recent Concacaf U-17 and U-20 tournaments.

The USA will likely hold at least one more domestic training ahead of announcing its roster for the Concacaf Women’s Under-20 Championship. Depending on the actual dates of that tournament, there may also be room for a second camp.

The next domestic training camp should include some players with 2007 birth years and perhaps even some NWSL pros, especially if it is held during the April international window. With the FIFA Under-17 Women’s World Cup now an annual event, players with 2008 birth years will likely not be called in before that tournament and, thus, not before these U-19s transition to U-20s over the summer.

The preliminary stage of qualifying for the 2025 Concacaf Women’s Under-20 Championship gets underway on February 20th. In the United States, those matches will be televised on FOX Sports 2 and FOX Soccer Plus. Unfortunately, live streaming of those matches requires an underlying cable/satellite/etc. subscription for those channels. Also, depending on one’s multichannel service provider, FOX Soccer Plus may be only available in an add-on sports tier or as an à la carte channel. To see which matches will be televised, on TitanTV.com, search for “2025 CONCACAF Women’s U-20 Qualifiers”.

Alphabetical Roster, By Position

Parenthetical Key: Current team (with link to profile), first NCAA fall season; Hometown.

Note: For the six players who have yet to play NCAA soccer, the early enrollment status of all but Reese Klein (Clemson), have been independently confirmed via press releases or social media (see the hyperlinked “2025”s). Klein is now listed on Clemson’s roster, so it is fair to presume that she is enrolled.

Goalkeepers (2):

Defenders (6):

  • Alvarez, Aven (North Carolina, 2024; New Hill, N.C.)
  • Boamah, Elizabeth “Lizzie” (Stanford, 2024; San Diego, Calif.)
  • Daubert, Paloma (UCLA, 2024; Rescue, Calif.)
  • Klein, Reese (Clemson, 2025; Cooper City, Fla.)
  • Mills, Abby (Notre Dame, 2024; Southlake, Texas)
  • Munson, Hope (North Carolina, 2025; Holladay, Utah)

Midfielders (6):

  • Derrien, Ines (Southern California, 2024; San Diego, Calif.)
  • Halpern, Addison (Virginia, 2025; Middlesex, N.J.)
  • Joseph, Lilyana “Lily” (Notre Dame, 2024; Hamden, Conn.)
  • Klinger, Eleanor (Stanford, 2024; Cleveland, Ohio)
  • Restovich, Grace (Notre Dame, 2024; St. Louis, Mo.)
  • Robinson, Avery (UCLA, 2024; St. Johns, Fla.)

Forwards (6):

  • Croone, Kara (UCLA, 2024; Atlanta, Ga.)
  • Engle, Izzy (Notre Dame, 2024; Edina, Minn.)
  • Graham, Emily (Michigan State, 2025; Fort Wayne, Ind.)
  • McDonald, Ava (Texas, 2025; Allen, Texas)
  • O’Donnell, Miri (Sporting CP / Portugal; San Ramon, Calif.)
  • Villarreal, Amalia (Texas, 2024; Lansing, Mich.)

Detailed Roster

Table 1: U-19 USWYNT Roster for February 2025 Camp — Basic Player Details

PLAYER               P.   HEIGHT    D.O.B.      AGE    NCAA
Birkel, Caroline     GK   5'10"   08/25/2006   18.48   2025
Smith, Keegan        GK   5'11"   10/11/2006   18.35   2024
-----------------------------------------------------------
Alvarez, Aven        DF   5'8"    11/14/2006   18.26   2024
Boamah, Elizabeth    DF   5'9"    04/19/2006   18.83   2024
Daubert, Paloma      DF   5'6"    02/15/2006   19.00   2024
Klein, Reese         DF   5'7"    09/23/2006   18.40   2025
Mills, Abby          DF   5'10"         2006           2024
Munson, Hope         DF   5'6"    07/18/2006   18.58   2025
-----------------------------------------------------------
Derrien, Ines        MF   5'11"   09/18/2006   18.41   2024
Halpern, Addison     MF   5'5"    12/05/2006   18.20   2025
Joseph, Lilyana      MF   5'5"          2006           2024
Klinger, Eleanor     MF   5'7"    11/04/2006   18.28   2024
Restovich, Grace     MF   5'6"    08/15/2006   18.51   2024
Robinson, Avery      MF   5'6"    02/09/2006   19.02   2024
-----------------------------------------------------------
Croone, Kara         FW   5'7"    06/15/2006   18.67   2024
Engle, Izzy          FW   5'9"          2006           2024
Graham, Emily        FW   5'4"          2006           2025
McDonald, Ava        FW   5'7"    09/07/2006   18.44   2025
O'Donnell, Miri      FW   5'5"    08/01/2006   18.54    PRO
Villarreal, Amalia   FW   5'2"    03/27/2006   18.89   2024

Key:

  • P. = Position (per the U.S. Soccer roster release)
  • D.O.B. = Date of Birth (in “mm-dd-yyyy” format)
  • Age = Calculated age as of the start of the camp (15-Feb-2025)
  • NCAA = Year of first NCAA fall season, if applicable

Sources: Heights are mostly from NCAA rosters or FIFA rosters. (Klein’s height is from a Fort Lauderdale United game notes PDF.) Dates of birth are mostly from USWNT Media Guides, though some are from NCAA profiles.

2024 NCAA Players Stats

Of the 13 freshman who played the 2024 NCAA fall season, all but two had at least 1100 minutes of playing time:

  • UCLA forward Kara Croone, who was unavailable during the first half of the 2024 NCAA fall season, only played the final nine matches of UCLA’s season. Her one goal came against California Baptist in the NCAA playoffs (x.com video).
  • Another UCLA player, midfielder Avery Robinson, appeared in 18 matches, but only had limited playing time, averaging just 24 minutes per match. She is also the only field player who did not score a goal during the fall season.

Notre Dame forward Izzy Engle, who had a fantastic freshman season with 19 goals, hails from the same hometown as NWSL rookie forward Maddie Dahlien, who was a key contributor for the USA at last year’s FIFA Under-20 Women’s World Cup. Both played together on their high school’s soccer and track teams as well as their club soccer team (Star Tribune article).

Of the NCAA players on this roster, Texas forward Amalia Villarreal has the second-most goal contributions, netting 10 goals and registering 8 assists. Engle’s Fighting Irish teammate Grace Restovich had the most assists, with 11, while also scoring five goals.

Table 2: NCAA 2024 Fall Season Statistics for Selected Players

PLAYER               P.   NCAA TEAM     MA   MS    G.   A.   MIN.   MIN/M
Smith, Keegan        GK   Arkansas      21   20   -12    0   1748    83.2
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Alvarez, Aven        DF   UNC           27   13     1    1   1606    59.5
Boamah, Elizabeth    DF   Stanford      23   11     3    1   1255    54.6
Daubert, Paloma      DF   UCLA          22   17     1    1   1438    65.4
Mills, Abby          DF   Clemson       19   19     1    1   1561    82.2
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Derrien, Ines        MF   USC Trojans   23    7     1    3   1127    49.0
Joseph, Lilyana      MF   Notre Dame    22    5     8    6   1332    60.5
Klinger, Eleanor     MF   Stanford      23   13     1    4   1150    50.0
Restovich, Grace     MF   Notre Dame    22   21     5   11   1603    72.9
Robinson, Avery      MF   UCLA          18    1     0    0    432    24.0
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Croone, Kara         FW   UCLA           9    5     1    1    366    40.7
Engle, Izzy          FW   Notre Dame    22   12    19    1   1444    65.6
Villarreal, Amalia   FW   Texas         24   20    10    8   1675    69.8

Key:

  • P. = Position (per the U.S. Soccer roster release)
  • MA = Total Matches Played (equivalent to “GA”)
  • MS = Total Matches Started (equivalent to “GS”)
  • G. = Goals Scored (for field players), a negative number represent goals allowed for goalkeepers
  • A. = Assists (includes secondary assists, A/K/A “hockey assists” — see Rule 10.5 of the NCAA Soccer Rule Book)
  • MIN. = Minutes Played
  • MIN/M = Minutes per Match (Minutes Played / Total Matches Played)

Sources: Each player’s NCAA team profile (linked in the above Alphabetical Roster)

Opponent Rosters

While the USA is bringing only players born in 2006, each of the three other teams will have some players born in 2007.

All three opponents will have players from one or both of last year’s FIFA youth Women’s World Cups, including some who faced the USA’s squad at each tournament. The USA lost to Spain in the group stage of both youth WWCs and defeated the other two nations in third-place matches: The Netherlands, at the U-20 WWC. and England, at the U-17 WWC.

Also, the USA has only called up 20 players for this camp, presumably for budgetary reasons. The other three teams named either 23 (Netherlands) or 24 (England and Spain) players.

Netherlands

(roster release) Head coach Roos Kwakkenbos has named five of the eight eligible players from her squad for the 2024 FIFA Under-20 Women’s World Cup. Those five include three players who appeared in the third-place match against the USA: Midfielder Ilse Kemper (PEC Zwolle), who was a starter, plus two substitutes, forward Eva Oude Elberink (FC Twente) and defender Inske Weiman (PEC Zwolle), The remaining 2024 U-20 player called up are goalkeeper Netty Booms (AZ Alkmaar) and forward Zoe Zuidberg (PEC Zwolle).

England

(roster release) Seven players from England’s team for last year’s FIFA Under-17 Women’s World Cup were called in by head coach Lauren Smith (September 2024 press release announcing her hiring), including one USA-based player: Forward/midfielder Lauryn Thompson of Indy Eleven, who attended three U.S. youth national team camps and is a verbal commit for Florida State (x.com post). The other six players are defenders Sophie Harwood (Arsenal), Nelly Las (Leicester City), Rachel Maltby (Aston Villa), Zara Shaw (Liverpool), and Cecily Wellesley-Smith (Arsenal and Oxford United); plus midfielder Lola Brown (Chelsea). Both Thompson and Brown were listed as forwards on England’s U-17 WWC roster.

Of those seven players, all but Thompson appeared in the U-17 WWC’s third-place match against the USA. Harwood was the only one who did not start that match. Thompson has played against a U.S. youth national team: In February 2023, she appeared in the first of two U-17 friendlies hosted by England (15-Feb-2023 match report; 18-Feb-2023 match report). Other England players from those matches were also called up for their present camp.

Spain

(roster release) Of the 24 players called up by head coach Javier Lerga, 15 hail from two clubs: Real Madrid and Barcelona, who have 8 and 7 players, respectively.

Several players from Spain’s 2024 FIFA Under-17 Women’s World Cup squad were named to the roster, including Real Madrid’s Pau Comendador, who was the tournament’s top goal-scorer and the recipient of the Silver Ball award as the second-best overall player. Other 2024 U-17 players include goalkeepers Laia Lopez (Real Madrid) and Ziara Vega (Athletic Club Femenino); defenders Airara Agirerezabala (Real Sociedad), Amaya Garcia (Real Madrid), and Martina Gonzalez (Barcelona); midfielder Lorena Cubo (Barcelona); plus forwards Alba Cerrato (Sevilla) and Celia Segura (Barcelona).

Of the U-17 WWC players, all three forwards, all three defenders, and goalkeeper Lopez started the group-stage match against the USA, while the midfielder, Cubo, appeared as a substitute. Alba Cerrato, who was named the best player at the 2024 UEFA Women’s Under-17 Championship (UEFA.com), scored the final goal in that match.

The only 2006 birth year player on Spain’s squad for last year’s FIFA Under-20 Women’s World Cup, FC Barcelona defender Aïcha Camara, was also called up. She played the full 90 in the group-stage match against the USA.

U.S. Soccer press release: “U.S. Under-19 Women’s National Team Heads to Spain for Three Matches at L’albir U-19 Women’s International Tournament”