Samoan U17 Womens Team Writes Headlines at Dallas Cup

Apia, Samoa – 24 April 2025 – The Samoa U17 Women’s team continues to write history by becoming the first-ever Pacific Island team to reach the semi-finals of the prestigious Dallas Cup in the United States.

Under the leadership of Head Coach Juan Chang Urrea, the first Pacific Island team to participate in the Dallas Cup delivered a historic performance by winning their pool and advancing through the quarter-finals to secure a top 4 finish in one of the most competitive youth football tournaments in the world.

The Dallas Cup appearance was part of Samoa’s preparation for the FIFA Under-17 Women’s World Cup in Morocco in October, after they became the first Samoan football team to qualify for a FIFA tournament when they finished second in the OFC U16 championship.

“This level of preparation is unheard of in the Pacific Islands,” says coach Chang Urrea.

“We are all working together in the Federation to give our team the best preparation possible to make our country and the Oceania Region proud at the World Cup.”

With the support of FIFA Forward Operational funding and OFC, the federation created a detailed plan to prepare the players, scattered across Samoa, Australia, New Zealand and the United States.

Football Federation Samoa (FFS) earlier this year had gathered the team in California for a training camp and coach Urrea says that this time together was already bearing fruit during the Dallas Cup.

In front of huge crowds of US-based Samoan fans who had travelled from different states, the team opened their campaign with a dominant 7-1 win against DKSC, before shocking the Spanish professionals from Villareal with a 2-0 victory.

A 2-2 hard-fought draw against the strong local Dallas Texans completed an unbeaten run and top spot in Pool A.

The fairytale continued in the quarter-finals where the DKSC ECNL team was dispatched 2-0 to set up an intimidating semi-final clash with the FC Dallas.

The academy team from the host city’s professional club proved to be as good as their reputation and despite valiant Samoan resistance, FC Dallas ran out comfortable 5-0 winners to advance to the final.

The stand-out player at the tournament for Samoa was top goal scorer Makea Leonard who bagged 5 goals in 5 games.

Chang Urrea says the wins, but especially the semi-final loss, will provide essential experience against elite opposition and showcased the continued evolution of the team’s style, resilience, and confidence.

“We are incredibly proud of how far these girls have come. This wasn’t just a tournament – it was a major stepping stone toward our World Cup ambitions,” says Chang Urrea.

“Placing in the top 4 of this prestigious tournament is an indication that we are on the right track to compete in the FIFA U17 Women’s World Cup in October this year.”

The team will have their final training camp in June in the United States, before they plan to organise two friendly international matches on their way to Morocco once the World Cup draw has been completed.