SAN RAFAEL, Costa Rica (March 22, 2026) – The U.S. U-17 Women’s National Team defeated Puerto Rico, 4-0, to win its third consecutive match and take first place in Group B at the Final Round of the Concacaf Women’s U-17 Qualifiers. The group title earned the USA a berth to the 2026 FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup.

Forward Maddie DiMaria (from the penalty spot) and midfielder Mia Corona scored first-half goals while forward Mak Whitham and midfielder Taylor Morrell both came off the bench at halftime to score as the USA patiently broke down a gritty Puerto Rico side to book its ticket to the U-17 Women’s World Cup in Morocco this fall.

After making nine changes to the starting lineup from the first game to the second, U.S. head coach Ciara Crinion started eight of the players who were in the XI for the first game, but inserted Sophia Ahrens into the center defense, Grace Murray into the midfield and Avellina Saunders in goal.

The USA scored 32 goals in the tournament and allowed zero. Puerto Rico had conceded just one goal in its first two games heading into this contest, but the USA quadrupled that number by the time the clock hit 90 minutes.

As usual in the Concacaf women’s youth competitions, Puerto Rico fielded a team made up almost entirely of players who were born — and currently play club soccer — in the USA.

The USA went into the match needing a win or a tie to take first place in the group, and while Puerto Rico put up much more of a fight than Bermuda (a 19-0 U.S. win) and Haiti (a 9-0 U.S. win), the young Americans still controlled the match to earn their World Cup berth.

It took a penalty kick to get the USA on the board as left back Kendra Hansen burst into the penalty box on the left side and Puerto Rico defender Mía Colón tripped her. The referee immediately pointed to the spot, and DiMaria stepped up to coolly give the USA a 1-0 lead in the 21^st minute.

Once the U.S. scored, it behooved Puerto Rico to defend with fervor and keep the score as low as possible with hopes that its six points and a superior goal difference would be enough to earn a World Cup berth as the best second-place team over the three groups.

And defend it, did. Playing a compact 4-5-1 formation, Puerto Rico rarely ventured into the U.S. half with possession but did well to pack its defensive third with players, making it hard for the USA to find space and create quality scoring chances.

The USA unlocked the Puerto Rico defense in the 36^th minute as Corona scored a beautiful goal to make it 2-0, meaning Puerto Rico now needed three goals to win the group, an unlikely prospect for a team that managed just four total shots on the afternoon. Puerto Rico goalkeeper Victoria Moore, who plays for the Florida Kraze Crush, played a fine match while making four saves.

Whitham scored her fifth goal off the tournament, an absolute banger in the 50^th minute, and Morrell added the fourth goal after a beautiful pass from Corona in the 55^th set her up for the score.

U.S. goalkeeper Avellina Saunders earned the shutout and was called into action just once but came through with flying colors, making a great leaping save on Aleeya Olmo’s drive in the 64^th minute to push the shot over the bar for a corner kick. Off the ensuring corner kick, Puerto Rico hit the left post on a header, but that was as close as the islanders got to a goal.

Three more teams from Concacaf will qualify for the 2026 FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup upon the completion of the matches in Groups A and C.