For many, having the opportunity to play in a FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup™ is a once-in-a-lifetime experience. There aren’t many who get to do it, and rarer still is the player who participates in two editions of the tournament.
And then, there is Sheika Scott.
The 19-year-old Costa Rican attacking dynamo will be heading to Poland this September to play in her third U-20 Women’s World Cup – an astounding accomplishment. For not even reaching her twenties yet, Scott’s list of achievements is considerably long.
Not only did she become the youngest Costa Rican to appear in the FIFA Women’s World Cup™ when she played at Australia & New Zealand 2023 at age 16, but she has already made an imprint across the pond in Europe after joining Paris FC in June 2025.
In a recent conversation with FIFA, Scott talked about her eagerness to set the world alight in Poland and be the leading voice in the Ticas’ dressing room.
Sheika Scott: I feel very happy and very grateful. I want the World Cup to start today. Each time that I’m with my team-mates in the national team, it is such an honour for me to wear this shirt, so I’m quite happy to be in another World Cup.
I would say that it’s the camaraderie. We are always close-knit. I’ve been with some of the team that’s going to Poland since we were little. We have grown up together. There are still 4-5 of us from the 2006 age category from the last World Cup in Colombia (2024), so I’ve been feeling really good. I’m already really excited, I feel very proud, and I just want it to start.
I think I’ll be able to help them mentally because I know how it feels to be in a World Cup. In Poland there will be a lot more of everything. It’s a bigger burden. One always tries to go into a World Cup feeling excited, so I’ll be telling them to be calm and enjoy it. It’s the most wonderful thing they’ll experience, because to be in a World Cup is exciting. There is going to be a lot of pressure. There are so many new things, and I think for many of them it will be their first World Cup, so they just need to be relaxed, enjoy things and be themselves on the pitch.
Yes, of course we’re motivated. For the coaching staff, the players and myself personally, it excites us a lot to try to win a World Cup match. We’ll go in with the faith that each one will do their best and as a group. We always want to win, so we’ll be aiming for that World Cup victory.
We feel so motivated. We are together and I feel like all of us, as a group, want to go to the World Cup. It’s really driving us, so I think we’re going to do a good job and be able to qualify for the World Cup.
Yes, obviously! It’s really exciting for us that it is in Brazil, because we all know that Brazil is a beautiful country, a true footballing country, so we certainly hope to be able to make it there.
We’re doing really well and personally I have felt good. In the beginning it was tough for me because of the language barrier, and the weather that is here. When I first arrived it was quite cold, so that was a little rough for me, but after a while I’ve been able to adapt and now everything is good.
I feel like I have grown a lot, personally, because the football here is on another level compared to Costa Rican football. So football-wise, physically and mentally I have changed a lot.
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Photos courtesy of Concacaf
