CloseBill Connelly is a writer for ESPN. He covers college football, soccer and tennis. He has been at ESPN since 2019.
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We've passed a key mile marker this week and are now less than 100 days from the summer's FIFA Women's World Cup in Australia and New Zealand. We know who the favorites are, and we know the primary questions each favorite will need to answer. And if you're a casual women's soccer fan, we know you'll recognize plenty of veteran faces.
Alex Morgan (six goals and three assists in the 2019 World Cup) will likely start up front for the U.S., and 2019 Golden Boot winner Megan Rapinoe (six and two) should certainly still command a role. Silver Ball winner Lucy Bronze is still heavily involved for England, and Australia's Sam Kerr (five goals) is still doing Sam Kerr Things.
Injury has taken away the Netherlands' Vivianne Miedema (definitely) and England's Beth Mead (probably), among others, and two-time Ballon d'Or winner Alexia Putellas is still trying to work her way back into form after last summer's ACL tear. But each Women's World Cup seems to pack in more known star power than any before it, and that should be the case again this summer.
Sophia Smith is going to have a much bigger role for the USA given the major injury suffered by Mallory Swanson. Brad Smith/USSF/Getty Images for USSFIt should also pack more young star power, too. Generation Z is going to play a massive role in this year's tournament, and with women's club soccer easier than ever to find on television or via streaming, you don't have to wait until July to get to know this crop of up-and-comers.
Here are 15 of the most intriguing 23-and-under players likely to serve key roles for their World Cup squads this summer. Watch them as the NWSL season gets underway and/or their European club reaches the homestretch of its given season, then watch them thrive Down Under.
15. HAITI: Melchie Dumornay, Reims (19)
She played the full 90 minutes in an Olympic qualifier against the U.S. at age 16. She joined Reims at 17. She has scored 13 goals with seven assists in parts of two seasons in France, and she's fourth in the Division 1 Feminine in combined non-penalty xG and xA, a nice approximation of scoring contribution. (The three players ahead of her are 25, 28 and 33 years old.)
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When Haiti upset Chile 2-1 to qualify for the World Cup, who did the scoring? Dumornay, who put them ahead right after halftime and then put the match away with a second in the 98th minute. Haiti is in a brutal Group D with three FIFA top-15 teams (England, Denmark and China), but Dumornay needs only some half-chances to make things difficult for a favorite or two.
14. NETHERLANDS: Esmee Brugts, PSV Eindhoven (19)
The Dutch have fallen into a rut of late, losing four of nine matches before Tuesday's friendly win over Poland. The squad has grown a bit old -- their top five minutes earners over the past two years are all 28 or older, and Brugts is the only player under 22 to have recorded even 100 minutes in that span -- but she certainly has forced her way into new coach Andries Jonker's plans, playing 391 minutes over seven national team matches and scoring three goals with an assist in that span.
Brugts is a versatile, no-nonsense star who could push the Dutch into World Cup contention. Rene Nijhuis/BSR Agency/Getty ImagesBrugts can play anywhere from left back to right wing, and she recorded a hat-trick against Telstar 1963 in league play last month. If or when a youth movement arrives for the Dutch team, Brugt's PSV could be a key supplier of more talent: they're currently fifth in the Eredivisie Vrouwen despite eight of 12 regulars coming in under 24 years of age.
13. BRAZIL: Kerolin, North Carolina Courage (23)
Brazil is one of women's soccer's more storied countries, reaching the World Cup finals in 2007, finishing third in 1999 and winning back-to-back Olympic silver medals in 2004 and 2008. Recent results haven't been as friendly -- they were knocked out in the World Cup round of 16 twice in a row -- but no one has made better use of recent tuneup matches. They drew with England in front of 83,000 at Wembley on April 6, losing on penalties as part of the UEFA-CONMEBOL Women's Finalissima, then topped Germany 2-1 in front of 32,000 in Nuremberg, two very positive results.
Kerolin was key in both. She made her penalty against England and served up an assist to Ary Borges on a corner against Germany; this was a continuation of her work with the Courage last season, in which she tied for fifth in the NWSL in assists, 12th in shots on goal and 15th in goals. She has scored in one of her two Courage matches this season, too.
12. ZAMBIA: Racheal Kundananji, Madrid CFF (22)
Tournaments are a lot more fun when the underdogs have certified badasses capable of taking a game over at times, and one of the World Cup's biggest underdogs boasts one of the most dominant young players in Europe.
¡¿PERO QUà TE HAS INVENTADO, @KKundananji!?