TCU Soccer Player Heading to U-20 Women’s World Cup

Sophomore goalkeeper Emily Alvarado of TCU Soccer will be heading to France in August for the FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup. She was chosen as one of the 21 players to represent Mexico in the competition.

Alvarado, a member of the 2017 Big 12 All-Freshman team, saw action in six games last season and started three.

This is not her first experience with the Mexico national team program either. She was the youngest member of Mexico’s top national team in the 2015 Women’s World Cup in Canada. She has appeared with the U-17 and U-20 Mexico teams and was a major part of Mexico’s qualification for the upcoming U-20 Women’s World Cup.

Alvarado was key to Mexico winning their first CONCACAF Women’s U-20 Championship title in January of this year, which is how they earned their spot in France. She started four of their five games and allowed four goals. One of the games she started was the final, in which she stopped two shots in a penalty shootout to help Mexico take down four-time defending champion United States. For her efforts, Alvarado was named the top goalkeeper of the tournament.

Joining Mexico in Group B of the tournament next month will be North Korea, the defending champions from the 2016 U-20 Women’s World Cup, Brazil, and England. Mexico’s first match will be against Brazil on August 5, followed by North Korea on August 8, and England on August 12.

The tournament runs through August 24, which means, depending on how Mexico does, Alvarado could be missing for at least the first three TCU matches of the season. However, the ability to play against top players from around the world should have her well in form when she returns to Fort Worth.

The Horned Frogs’ season opens on August 17 at home against Alabama.