Maddie DiMaria scored four first-half goals, and the United States beat Kenya 6-1 at the Mohammed VI Football Complex in Rabat on Thursday to clinch a place in the round of 16 of the FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup. The Americans have six points and 23 goals from two Group E matches, with the top spot in the group still to be decided.

DiMaria needed five minutes to score, knocking in a cross from the middle of the box, and added a left-footed shot in the 22nd minute. She then converted two penalties, in the 35th minute and in first-half stoppage time, and the U.S. led 4-0 at halftime. She scored six times in the 17-0 opening win over Samoa and leads the tournament with 10 goals. Her six and her four are the two biggest single-match totals across the tournament’s last five editions.

Lordana Paletta made it 5-0 in the 48th minute, finishing an individual run with her right foot, and Gianna Hanf added the sixth goal in second-half stoppage time. The Americans kept 74.4 percent of the ball and completed 89 percent of their passes. They have scored 23 goals in two matches, nearly twice as many as Korea DPR, which is second with 12.

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Reed Tingley scored twice in the first half, and Canada held on to beat Norway 3-2 at the Mohammed VI Football Complex in Rabat on Wednesday for its first points at the FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup. The win lifted Canada level with Norway on three points in Group C and put a place in the round of 16 within reach going into the final group match.

Tingley opened the scoring in the 15th minute with a left-footed shot from inside the box. In the 32nd minute a video review found that Vilde Vinje had fouled Adri Giese in the area, and Tingley converted the penalty for a 2-0 lead. She also scored Canada’s first goal in Sunday’s 6-2 opening loss to Brazil.

Norway answered in first-half stoppage time, when Stine Ariell Klæbo-Solemdal headed in from inside the area. Adalyn Fairweather restored the two-goal margin in the 78th minute with a right-footed shot from outside the box. Hanne Nesse scored for Norway in the 84th minute, and Canada had to protect a one-goal lead through the closing stretch. Canada has won five of its last seven matches at the tournament, with one draw and one loss. It won five of the 17 before that.

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Germany took control of Group A at the FIFA U-17 Women's World Cup on Tuesday, beating the hosts, Morocco, 4-2 at the Mohammed VI Football Academy in Salé. It was Germany's second win in two matches, built on four goals in a 23-minute spell either side of halftime, and it guarantees the Germans a place in the round of 16 with a match to spare.

Morocco arrived on a high after opening the tournament with a 4-0 win over New Zealand, but Germany took the game away before the break. Marie Kleemann scored in the 27th minute and Lena Martens doubled the lead seven minutes later. Clara Choisy added a third in first-half stoppage time, and Mia Giesen converted a penalty five minutes after the restart to make it 4-0. Morocco refused to fold. The hosts pulled two goals back in the second half, the second a stoppage-time penalty from Nessma Mouradi, and those goals matter: they keep Morocco second in the group, ahead of Argentina on goal difference.

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The United States opened the FIFA U-17 Women's World Cup with a 17-0 win over Samoa on Monday in Salé, Morocco, setting tournament records for goals in a match and margin of victory, and Maddie DiMaria became the first player to score six times in a single game at the event.

DiMaria scored after 63 seconds, the earliest goal of this year's tournament, and had a hat-trick by the 20th minute. She added a fourth on the half hour and finished her six with goals in the 70th and 73rd minutes. The Americans led 9-0 at halftime, only the second team to score nine in a first half at the tournament after Germany against South Africa in 2010, and finished with 58 shots. Ten different players scored. Loradana Paletta and Carolina Reyna each scored twice, and Mia Corona, Grace Murray, Amari Manning, Deus Stanislaus, Isa Ortiz, Meila Brewer and Gianna Hanf added one apiece.

DiMaria arrived in Morocco as the most-capped player and leading scorer on Ciara Crinion's roster. The United States finished third in 2024, its best result since 2008, and went out of last year's round of 16 when the Netherlands won a 7-6 shootout after a 1-1 draw.

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