MIAMI – The 2025 Concacaf Women’s U-20 Championship opened its proceedings on Thursday as Canada and Mexico earned victories in Group B at Estadio Alejandro Morera Soto in Alajuela, Costa Rica.
Canadian forward Annabelle Chukwu, and Mexican duo Abril Fragoso and Montserrat Saldívar each struck braces on the opening matchday to kick off the race for the Top Scorer Award.
Canada 7, Panama 1
Canada earned a 7-1 win against Panama to collect its first win of the campaign.
Jadea Collin started the scoring in the 12’ before assisting Jeneva Hernandez Gray in the 18’. Annabelle Chukwu joined the scoresheet in the 21’, getting past two defenders to chip the ball in the box.
Panama captain Sherline King pulled one back for her side in the 24’, recovering a ball outside the box and dribbling into the box to strike a left-footed shot.
Chukwu secured her brace with a left-footed attempt in the box in the 45’+1’. Léa Larouche, who assisted Chukwu’s second goal, closed the first half with the fifth goal for Canada in the 45’+9’, assisted by Hernandez Gray.
The Canadians added two more goals in the closing minutes of the second half. Stephanie Schoeley increased the lead in the 85’ off an assist from Nikolina Istocki. Liana Tarasco struck in the 90 '+3’ with a right-footed hit from close range.
Post-Match Data
Annabelle Chukwu became the tenth Canadian player to score in two consecutive editions of the Women’s U-20 Championship, doing so in 2023 (4 goals) and 2025 (2 goals so far). She also recorded Canada’s 24th brace in the tournament’s history. With the two goals against Panama, she now has six in total, placing her fourth on Canada’s all-time scorers list in this competition.
Jadea Alexus Collin, Jeneva Hernández Gray, Léa Larouche, Stephanie Schoeley, and Liana Emma Tarasco all scored their first goals. Stephanie Schoeley’s goal was Canada’s 160th in the Women’s U-20 Championship, positioning Canada as the third-highest scoring nation (161 goals), behind only Mexico and the United States.
Jadea Alexus Collin, Léa Larouche, and Jeneva Hernández Gray became the 7th, 8th, and 9th Canadian players to both score and provide an assist in a single match in the Women’s U-20 Championship (since 2020).
Panama’s Sherline King scored her first goal and the 27th for Panama in the history of the Women’s U-20 Championship. She became the third Panamanian player to score against a North American side in the tournament, after Amarelis De Mera versus Mexico (May 27, 2004) and Keisilyn Yorleny Gutiérrez against the United States (December 7, 2015).
Mexico 6, Nicaragua 0
Mexico earned a 6-nil victory against Nicaragua to close the opening matchday.
Abril Fragoso struck an early candidate for goal of the tournament with a right-footed hit from outside the box in the 2’. Montserrat Saldívar doubled the Mexican advantage in the 9’ as Alice Soto collected her second assist.
Saldívar collected her brace in the 26’, controlling a long pass from Michel Fong in the box to score. Julia Valadez wrote her name on the scoresheet in the 40’ with an assist from Berenice Ibarra.
Fragoso struck again in the 61’ of a service from Daniela Gallegos. Soto added a sixth goal in the 64’, assisted by Valadez, to conclude the scoring.
Post-Match Data
Mexico’s Alice Fernanda Soto reached five assists in the Women’s U-20 Championship, tying Destinee Paolinetti for the most assists by a Mexican player (since 2020). Soto also equaled Paolinetti as the only Mexican players to deliver two assists in a single game on two different occasions.
Abril Anahí Fragoso scored her second goal, while Montserrat Saldívar and Alice Fernanda Soto each netted their third. Both players scored in consecutive editions, becoming the sixth and seventh Mexican players to score in back-to-back Women’s U-20 Championships. Mexico now has 25 braces in the tournament, the second-most behind the United States’ 38.
Julia Valadéz of Mexico scored her first goal and became the seventh Mexican player (since 2020) to both score and register an assist in the same match at the Women’s U-20 Championship.
The 6-0 win over Nicaragua was Mexico’s third all-time victory against them and the widest margin so far. Nicaragua has yet to score a goal against Mexico. It was also the second time in history that Mexico won a match with a 6-0 scoreline, the previous one being against the Cayman Islands on January 10, 2014, in Group B.
