New York City FC Academy phenom Loradana Paletta made the United States U-17 roster for this month's U-17 Women's World Cup qualifying tournament for the Concacaf region.
Paletta, who just turned 15 in January, is the youngest member of this U-17 qualifying squad, as seventeen of her teammates were born in 2009, and three were born in 2010.
She will try to guide the US U-17s to the World Cup while playing alongside another local product of the New York soccer scene, as Gotham FC forward Mak Whitham is also on this U-17 squad.
Whitham is the only active professional player called up by United States U-17 coach Ciara Crinion as part of her 21-player squad, which you can see in full below.
This final stage of Concacaf qualifying takes place in Costa Rica and will be exclusively held at the Costa Rican Football Federation's headquarters in San Rafael, Alajuela.
The United States plays Bermuda, Haiti and Puerto Rico while competing in Group B, and will need to finish at minimum 2nd Place in their group if they want to reach the U-17 Women's World Cup scheduled for set for this October and November in Morocco.
Paletta and Whitham are two of the three most-experienced U-17 players on this United States roster. They were both involved in U-17 matches held last year, with Paletta earning eight caps and scoring three goals, while Whitham has five caps and two goals. Whitham also played in the 2024 U-17 Women’s World Cup and scored a goal there against Norway.
The United States U-17s will travel to Houston for a four-day training camp before heading to Costa Rica for the final round of qualifying. Their match schedule begins when they face Bermuda on March 17 at 2:30 pm ET. They then play Haiti on March 19 at 5:00 pm ET, then close out their group games by facing Puerto Rico at 2:06 pm ET on March 22.
Paletta, according to US Soccer, was too young to participate in the 2025 U-17 Women's World Cup, but now has a chance to make the tournament at just 15-years-old. She has drawn lots and lots of headlines during her time developing inside the NYCFC Academy, notable for being the only girl on the NYCFC U-15 boys' team, and for being signed to a name, image, and likeness deal by soccer brand LOTTO.
Whitham of Gotham knows about making history at a young age, as she signed with the Goths at 13-years-old to become the youngest signee in NWSL history, then debuted for Gotham at 14 years, 8 months, making her the youngest player to take the field in the league's history.
Perhaps the combined powers of these two teen New York soccer phenoms will be enough to propel the United States to another U-17 World Cup.
