Samoa have begun their second consecutive FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup campaign with a heavy 0-17 defeat to the USA in their opening match in Group E at the Mohammed VI Academy in Salé, Morocco.
Twelve months after making history by representing Samoa at a FIFA tournament for the first time, they returned as one of OFC’s two representatives after finishing second at OFC U-16 Women’s Championship 2025 but struggled to stem the flow of goals as the USA scored nine in the first half, and a further eight in the second.
Maddie DiMaria opened the scoring inside the first 62 seconds and completed the first hat-trick of the tournament inside the first 20 minutes. She added three more, including two in the second half, to become the first player to score six goals in a single match in FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup history.
Loradana Paletta and Carolina Reyna were the only other two to score multiple goals for the USA, with seven other players also finding the back of the net.
Samoa must now turn their attention towards their remaining Group E fixtures against China PR and Kenya, with two more opportunities to test themselves on the world stage.
They next face China PR in their second match at 4am Samoa time on Friday the 23rd of October.
USA: 17 (Maddie DIMARIA 2′, 18′, 20′, 30′, 70′, 73′, Mia CORONA 12′, Loradana PALETTA 25′, 37′, Grace MURRAY 28′, Amari MANNING 45+4′, Deus STANISLAUS 57′, Carolina REYNA 64′, 78′, Ortiz ISA 75′, Meila BREWER 87′, Gianna HANF 90′)
Samoa: 0
HT: 9-0
Photo credit: FIFA via Getty Images