United States women's national under-18 soccer team
| Nickname(s) |
Team USA The Stars and Stripes The Yanks |
|---|---|
| Association | United States Soccer Federation |
| Confederation | CONCACAF (North America) |
| Head coach | Jitka Klimkova |
| Most caps | Maya Hayes (43) |
| Top scorer | Kelly Wilson (31) |
| FIFA code | USA |
| CONCACAF Women's U-20 Championship | |
| Appearances | 7 (first in 2002) |
| Best result | Winners (2006, 2010, 2012, 2014) |
| FIFA U-20 Women's World Cup | |
| Appearances | 8 (first in 2002) |
| Best result | Winners (2002, 2008, 2012) |
The United States U-20 women's national soccer team is a youth soccer team operated under the auspices of U.S. Soccer. Its primary role is the development of players in preparation for the full women's national team. The team most recently appeared in the 2016 FIFA U-20 Women's World Cup in Papua New Guinea, where they lost to Korea DPR in the semifinals after extra time, then fell to Japan in the third-place match. The team competes in a variety of competitions, including the biennial FIFA U-20 Women's World Cup, which is the top competition for this age group. The head coach since April 2017 is Jitka Klimkova.
The United States U-20 team has been active since 1998; however, it was run as a U-18 team from its inception until 2001. It was led by Shannon Higgins-Cirovski, the first coach in the team's history, through the middle of 1999 before she left for the Maryland Terrapins soccer team. Jay Hoffman, who served as Higgins-Cirovski's assistant, took charge of the team and led them to a gold medal for the 1999 Pan American Games, the first time the tournament was open to women's teams. Among the U-18 women playing at the 1999 Pan American Games were future senior national team members Cat Whitehill and Hope Solo.
In 2001, the United States Soccer Federation decided to change the age limit from the U-18 team to U-19. The move was in preparation for FIFA's introduction of the first ever FIFA U-19 Women's World Championship (which has since changed). The new U-19 squad won the inaugural 2002 FIFA U-19 Women's World Championship in Canada, where they beat the hosts on a golden goal by captain and future United States women's national team mainstay Lindsay Tarpley. Five other members of that same team would join Tarpley as teammates on the senior international team: Rachel Buehler, Lori Chalupny, Heather O'Reilly, Leslie Osborne and Angie Woznuk. Other notable 2002 team members were Kelly Wilson, the all-time leading goal scorer in the history of the U-20 team, as well as two-time Hermann Trophy winner Kerri Hanks, who would go on to become one of the most decorated players in women's collegiate soccer.
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