The youngest player at the United States' table at the 2026 FIFA Under-17 Women's World Cup is from Syosset. Loradana Paletta, a 15-year-old midfielder who plays her club soccer for New York City FC, has scored three goals and set up three more through the group stage in Morocco, and the Americans play Spain in the round of 16 on Thursday, October 29, at 2 p.m. Eastern.

The only New Yorker on the roster

U.S. Soccer named its 21-player World Cup roster in late September, and Paletta's line stood out twice. She is the only player on it from New York, and she is the only one born in 2011, which makes her the youngest member of a squad built mostly from players two years older. The tournament runs October 17 through November 7, with 24 national teams playing across six groups.

Paletta was also the youngest player on the U.S. roster at the Concacaf qualifying tournament earlier this year that punched the team's ticket to Morocco.

A record-setting debut

Paletta's World Cup debut came on October 19 against Samoa, and it landed in the record books. The United States won 17-0, the most goals any team has ever scored in a single match at a U-17 Women's World Cup, passing the mark France set against Gambia in 2012. Forward Maddie DiMaria scored six times that day; Paletta scored twice and assisted on three other goals in her first World Cup appearance.

Three days later against Kenya she was involved in nearly everything. She helped set up the second goal, was fouled in the penalty area to draw one spot kick, slipped DiMaria through to draw another, and scored herself by weaving through a pack of defenders before finishing from close range. The 6-1 win clinched the Americans' place in the knockout round.

A group-stage stumble, then Spain

The group finale on October 25 went the other way. China PR beat the United States 3-2 despite an American edge in shots and possession, dropping the U.S. to second place in Group E. DiMaria's goal in that match was her eleventh of the tournament, the most any U.S. player has ever scored at a FIFA Women's World Cup at any level.

Second place means a harder road. The United States now meets Spain, winners of Group F, in the round of 16 on October 29 at 2 p.m. Eastern at the Mohammed VI Football Complex in Salé, near Rabat. The tournament becomes single elimination from here: win and advance, lose and fly home.

How to follow it

U.S. Soccer carried the group-stage matches on FS2, Peacock and Telemundo Deportes, and posts lineups, match reports and the knockout schedule on its site. For a Long Island soccer family, the Thursday afternoon kickoff has a local name in the middle of it.

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