U-17 Women's World Cup next showcase for teen New York City FC prospect Loradana Paletta

The FIFA U-17 Women's World Cup kicks off this weekend in Morocco, and New York City FC will have a player there representing the club.

That player is 15-year-old Loradana Paletta of the United States U-17 team, who also might count as one of the most highly-regarded girls coming through the domestic development pipeline at this moment.

Paletta, from Syosset on Long Island, is the highest-profile member of the NYCFC girls youth academy, and at 15 she's the youngest player of the 21 called up by US Soccer for the U-17 World Cup. Her development has really sped up here in 2026 thanks to two recent stints with two different United States youth national teams.

She was part of the United States U-17 roster that participated in Concacaf qualifying for this U-17 World Cup, traveling to Costa Rica in March to guide the United States through three qualifiers and into the final tournament field. Paletta started two of the three US U-17 qualifiers and collected two goals and two assists as the US U-17s won all three of their matches by a combined scoreline of 32-0, a lopsided aggregate total boosted by a 19-0 win over Bermuda's U-17s to open that successful qualification tournament.

That was one big national-team nod for Paletta this year, but the 15-year-old also prepared for this U-17 World Cup by training with the United States U-20 team, one of four non-rostered players invited to train with the U-20 squad in Poland leading up to the start of that tournament.

A 15-year-old playing up two age groups with the U-17s is impressive, but Paletta competing alongside players in the U-20 cohort is a serious case of competitive acceleration, and a further testament to how highly she's regarded inside US Soccer and how advanced her game is at such a young age.

She's very highly-regarded at club level, too, as TopDrawerSoccer, trusted resource for all things youth soccer in the United States, ranks Paletta as the very top club prospect in the country among the "Class of 2029," players who turn 18 in that calendar year.

Paletta already has made 16 appearances for the United States at the U-17 level, and will now try to lead the US U-17s to some World Cup glory in Morocco. She was involved in the United States U-17 World Cup cycle even back in 2025 for the previous U-17 World Cup, the first year the tournament became an annual event, but Paletta at 14 was still too young to be eligible to participate in last year's tournament. Her youth means that she'll still be eligible for the next U-17 World Cup in 2027, though by then, she may have advanced beyond this level of competition in the eyes of her US Soccer coaches.

The United States U-17s play Samoa, Kenya, and China PR in their Group E slate of games. The United States has never won the U-17 Women's World Cup, and this is the country's eighth time appearing in the tournament. There are 24 teams competing for the trophy, up from 16 involved in the 2025 edition of the tournament. The top two teams in each group advance to the Round of 16, as do the four best third-place finishers, but the United States will be hoping to be in the last 16 as group winners.

Paletta, meanwhile, has made some big individual moves at a very early age. In July 2025 while 14-years-old, Paletta signed a name, image, and likeness agreement with storied Italian soccer brand LOTTO. She played with the NYCFC U-15 boys team at the Generation adidas Cup, the first time a girl played at that competition.

By all appearances, she is a budding star developing right under our noses here in New York City and within the US Soccer youth setup.

New York City FC has produced its share of highly-regarded prospects over the years, sending players to emerge from its academy to MLS and to prestigious leagues like the German Bundesliga and the English Premier League. Paletta now might be the next big player to emerge from the NYCFC Academy, and the first to break out from the girls side of the program.

Who knows what her professional path might look like, but also, Paletta remains a 15 year old with ample time remaining for the pro pathway to be laid out in front of her. The fact that she's set to represent NYCFC on the international stage at a World Cup is the biggest thing in the here and now, but it will be very interesting to keep monitoring her progression as she grows into, possibly, one of the next great American players.