Trinity Rodman, Linda Caicedo and the top young talents to watch at the CONCACAF W Gold Cup

There have been several debutantes for the USWNT in recent months, with Korbin Albert the latest name to claim that first cap in December. The 20-year-old midfielder is one of several young American talents to have chosen to forgo part of their college career to turn pro, doing so just over 12 months ago when she flew to France and signed for Paris Saint-Germain. It has quickly proved to be a smart decision as she’s already a regular starter for one of the biggest and best teams in Europe.

That experience at the highest level will no doubt help Albert as she sets her sights on becoming a fixture with the USWNT. She is not a starter right now, but her dynamism, superb passing range and ability to strike from range can all be assets for the team from the bench, for sure.

Simi Awujo was the second-youngest member of Canada's World Cup squad last summer, and while she might not have seen any action as the Olympic champion suffered a shocking and disappointing group-stage exit, she’s been granted a few opportunities in the months since and goes into this Gold Cup looking a lot more likely to have an impact.

Able to play as a holding midfielder or as a more attack-minded one, Awujo is still only 20 years old and has a very bright future. Tournaments like this will no doubt play a key role in accelerating her development and neutrals will hope to see her talent on show this time.

One of the hottest properties in the women’s game, Linda Caicedo's 2023 was quite something. She was unveiled as a Real Madrid player just two days after her 18th birthday and, a few months later, she took the Women’s World Cup by storm as Colombia enjoyed its best-ever tournament.

Her goal against Germany in the group stages was absolutely outstanding, cementing her status as one of the most exciting talents on the planet and announcing her to the world after a promising start to life in Spain.

With Mayra Ramirez, the Chelsea striker, not part of Colombia’s Gold Cup squad, there will be even more emphasis on Caicedo to perform. As someone who has worn the armband for her country at youth level and who represents one of the biggest clubs around, such pressure won’t bother her. She has the mindset and the talent to not just cope, but thrive.

Unlikely qualifier Puerto Rico has a very young squad, with 11 of the names on its roster aged 21 or under, and Jailene de Jesus is one of those who people should be excited to get a glimpse of on this stage. The 20-year-old anticipates play well, she loves to get in dangerous areas to score goals and she’s composed in those moments, too.

The winger’s brace against El Salvador last summer demonstrated these raw talents in various ways, and this Gold Cup experience should only aid her development further.

One of the most talented teenagers on the planet, Aline Gomes is absolutely a name you should be making a note of, if you haven’t already. At the Under-20 World Cup in 2022, she was the youngest player in Brazil’s squad and yet, she was the one that caught the eye of Pia Sundhage, then-head coach of the senior team, the most. “The way that Aline has taken off – the way she takes players on, uses space, is a threat on the flanks – has been really impressive,” the Swede said.

It wasn’t long before she was brought into the senior team and, after a domestic season that saw her out-scored by just two other players in Brazil’s top flight, now we’ll get to see the teenager in a major tournament environment for the first time at the top level, with her the youngest member of the Selecao’s Gold Cup squad.

Dalila Ippolito’s stock has been rising steadily since she went to the 2019 Women’s World Cup with Argentina as a 17-year-old. It was there that she became the youngest player in tournament history to register an assist, from the bench in a crazy 3-3 draw with Scotland.

A skilful player with great pace, dribbling abilities and the confidence to be creative, Ippolito has added international experience at club level to her armory in the last few years, becoming the first Argentinian woman to play in Italy when she signed for Juventus in 2020.

Now representing Pomigliano, with whom she previously had a successful loan spell, the 21-year-old has turned heads plenty of times in Serie A with her playmaking abilities and, as someone who can play out wide or more centrally, she’s now starting to make a real mark on Argentina’s starting XI, though she’s still a very effective super-sub, too.

A player who already has a World Cup under her belt at 21 years of age, Lauren is a centre-back with plenty of promise and her exposure to three different leagues at this early stage in her career – in Brazil, Spain and now the United States – has certainly helped her round out an already impressive game.

Captain of the U20 Brazil side that won the South American Championship in 2022, Lauren’s leadership is as much of an asset as her ball-playing talents and ability to read play, the latter making her wise beyond her years.

By no means as under the radar as some of the names on this list, Olivia Moultrie made headlines when she filed an antitrust lawsuit against the NWSL, the top-flight in the United States, for age restrictions that prevented her playing for the Portland Thorns at 15 years old. The league’s minimum age restriction of 18 was soon removed and Moultrie made history as its youngest-ever player. This was all monumental – but it was just the start.

A tidy midfielder who can wear many different hats, Moultrie has steadily become a regular starter for one of the best teams in the league, winning the NWSL Championship in 2022, and is now a senior U.S. international after making her debut in December.

Odaliana Gomez was the Dominican Republic’s first-choice goalkeeper throughout qualifying for this tournament, until Paloma Pena was given the chance to start in the decisive play-off with Guyana. A year Gomez’s junior, Pena had never started a match for her country before, twice coming off the bench. However, she didn’t let the opportunity faze her, keeping a clean sheet in a 1-0 win.

Gomez will hope to win her place back, but she’ll have her work cut out for her in usurping a talented 18-year-old who took to such a huge occasion with great composure, making a particularly outstanding save in the first half to deny Shanice Alfred what looked a certain goal.

If Pena can keep hold of the shirt, the Gold Cup would be a huge experience and opportunity, at 18 years old, to show everyone what she can do - especially with a high-profile meeting with the U.S. on the Dominican Republic's schedule.

It feels crazy to still be able to include Trinity Rodman in a list like this, but she’s only 21 years old and still has so much more to show. The hype was set in 2021 when she helped fire the Washington Spirit to a shock NWSL Championship title in her rookie year, and that has been a difficult act to follow, with the Spirit underwhelming since. We’ve absolutely not seen the best of her in her country’s colours yet either, in part due to the USWNT's overall disappointments.

Could that all change in 2024 as the team prepares for Emma Hayes to take charge? How Rodman gets on in this Gold Cup will be interesting. There is a whole new generation of forwards coming through and Rodman is right among the most talented of them. If the attack clicks, it’s likely that she’ll light up the tournament.

It’s no mean feat to become an integral part of one of the sternest defences in the international game at the age of 21, but that’s exactly what Jade Rose has done, with her likely to line-up alongside Olympic gold medallists Kadeisha Buchanan and Vanessa Gilles as part of Canada’s back three at this tournament.

Boasting an excellent passing range, wonderful leadership qualities and a reading of the game that allows her to stifle even the most feared forwards – just see her performance against Sam Kerr as a 19-year-old back in 2022 – Rose looks set to be a fixture in this Canada team for years to come.

Another name on this list that was present at last year’s World Cup, we should get to see a little bit more of Sheika Scott’s talismanic powers this time around. The draw was tough on Costa Rica last summer, but the nation’s Gold Cup group should mean their playmaking 17-year-old gets on the ball a little more and shows everyone why she’s so good.

Scott’s hype train doesn’t have too many passengers outside of her home country just yet, probably because of the lack of visibility of the Costa Rican domestic league, but she is one of the most interesting talents in the game. Get onboard!

One of many bright young American talents to benefit from the NWSL’s change in age restriction, Jaedyn Shaw burst onto the scene midway through the 2022 campaign when she scored in each of her first three matches for the San Diego Wave. She was only the second player in league history to mark each of their first three outings with a goal.

No teenager has scored on more occasions in the NWSL than Shaw, and those efforts helped fire the Wave to a first major title in its history in 2023, the club winning the Shield in just its second-ever season. Such form also helped the 19-year-old become a member of the USWNT.

Capable of playing as a winger, a No.10 or as a centre-forward, Shaw’s versatility and ability to use both feet makes her not only an incredibly valuable asset for the U.S., but also an incredibly unpredictable threat for opponents.