US U-17 Women Beat Samoa 17-0 in Biggest World Cup Win Ever

The United States opened its U-17 Women's World Cup campaign with a scoreline no team has ever produced at a FIFA World Cup. The Americans beat Samoa 17-0 in Morocco on Monday, the biggest win in World Cup history at any level, men's or women's, senior or youth.

Maddie DiMaria scored the first goal after 62 seconds. She had a hat trick inside 20 minutes and four goals before the half-hour mark. She finished with six, the most goals any player has scored in a single U-17 Women's World Cup match and the most by a United States women's national team player in any match at any level.

The United States led 9-0 at halftime and added eight more goals after the break. Ten different players scored. Loradana Paletta, a 15-year-old from Syosset, New York, who plays in the New York City FC academy, scored in the 25th and 37th minutes and added three assists on her tournament debut before coming off in the 73rd minute. Carolina Reyna scored twice. Her brother Gio Reyna scored for Strasbourg against Paris Saint-Germain two days earlier. Mia Corona, Grace Murray and Amari Manning were among the other scorers before halftime, and Deus Stanislaus, Isa Ortiz, captain Meila Brewer and Gianna Hanf finished the scoring.

The United States took 58 shots. Samoa goalkeeper Susahna Peacock faced the pressure all game, and the Pacific island team kept playing to the final whistle in its second straight U-17 World Cup, after a first appearance in 2025.

"We are really happy with the result," United States coach Ciara Crinion said. "We knew the first game can be a tough game with the emotions and everything that goes with it. So we wanted to have a good performance, and we felt like we got that and continued to be able to put the ball in the back of the net."

Why it matters

A 17-goal margin resets the record book, and it also changes the group. Goal difference is the first tiebreaker in the group stage, so the United States now holds a cushion no rival in Group E can reasonably chase. With the top two teams in each group and most third-place teams advancing, one win this size nearly books a knockout place after a single match.

The harder tests come fast. The United States faces Kenya on October 22 and China on October 25, both in Morocco. Those games will show whether this attack travels against teams that sit deeper and foul earlier. For Samoa, the task is simpler and harder at the same time: recover in three days and keep the scorelines respectable while a young squad learns at a level few of its players have seen.

What happens next

Group E continues this week in Morocco. The United States plays Kenya on October 22 and China on October 25. Samoa plays the same two teams in reverse order and needs points to keep its tournament alive.