Cecil Named To U.S. U17 FIFA Women’s Wold Cup Roster

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – Freshman defender Pearl Cecil has been named to the U.S. U-17 Women’s World Cup roster for the upcoming 2025 FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup it was announced by U.S. Soccer on  Tuesday (Sept. 30).

The 2025 FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup will be played in Morocco from October 17 through November 8.

The USA will open the tournament against Ecuador (3 p.m. ET / 8 p.m. local time) on Saturday, Oct. 18. The USA will then face China PR on Tuesday, Oct. 21 (Noon ET / 5 p.m. local) and finish Group C play against Norway on Friday, Oct. 24 (9 a.m. ET / 2 p.m. local). All three of the USA’s Group C games will be played at the Football Academy Mohammed VI (Pitch 3) in Sale, which is just outside of the capital of Rabat.

The 2025 FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup marks the first time this tournament will feature 24 nations, up from the previous 16. The 24 countries are divided into six groups of four teams each. After round-robin play within the groups, the top two teams in each group plus the four best third-place finishers will advance to the Round of 16, at which time the competition becomes a knockout tournament. This year’s tournament marks the first of what will now be an annual competition with the next first editions being held in Morocco.

Cecil has played in four games with one start for the Cavaliers, tallying a goal in the Cavaliers’ win over Xavier. She then was tabbed for service with the U.S. U-17 Women’s National Team for a pair of friendlies in Spain where she served as captain of the squad. She also played for the squad in the 2025 Concacaf qualifying tournament and served as captain of the squad in the matchup against Honduras.