Casey Phair leads Korean lineup for U-17 Women's World Cup

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Casey Phair leads Korean lineup for U-17 Women's World Cup

Published: 03 Oct. 2024, 14:22 Updated: 03 Oct. 2024, 16:18

PAIK JI-HWAN
paik.jihwan@joongang.co.kr

Korea's Casey Phair reacts during a friendly against the United States at Allianz Field in Minnesota on June 4. [AFP/YONHAP]

Angle City forward and senior squad regular pick Casey Phair leads the Korean roster for the FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup, manager Kim Eun-jung announced Thursday.

Phair, 17, joins the 21-member squad for the World Cup kicking off in the Dominican Republic on Oct. 16. She is the only player playing overseas in the entire squad.

For the age group, Phair is already something of a seasoned veteran. She not only has six U-17 caps but also five senior caps, some of which she earned at the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup in July last year where she became the youngest player ever to play in the World Cup, at 16 years and 26 days.

Phair, whose mother is Korean and father is American, started playing for Korea at the U-17 level in April last year and helped the squad earn a spot in the 2024 AFC U-17 Women’s Asian Cup. She was then called up to the senior team a couple months later and played Korea’s all three group stage games at the World Cup. She was the first multiracial footballer to receive a call up for a Korean national team.

She made more senior caps in the 2024 AFC Women’s Olympic qualifying tournament where she scored a hat-trick against Thailand and became the youngest player to do so in both the men and women’s national teams and also the second youngest player to score for the Korean women’s national team behind Korean football legend Ji So-yun.

Winning this year’s U-17 World Cup would mark Korea’s first time doing so since 2010. Korea face Colombia, Spain and United States in Group B.

A total of 16 countries, divided by four groups, compete in the tournament, with top two teams from each group reaching the quarterfinals.

The U-17 Korean squad completed their last training session in Korea on Tuesday and will jet off to the Dominican Republic on Friday. Korea will play Colombia on Oct. 16.

BY PAIK JI-HWAN [paik.jihwan@joongang.co.kr]