U20 WWC Stars: Third time lucky? Sheika Scott arrives at the U20 World Cup with European experience and inspiring story
Attacking midfielder from Costa Rica Sheika Scott is set to play at the U20 World Cup for the third time. In her first season in Europe with Paris FC, she showed her enormous potential and arrived at the tournament as one of Costa Rica’s star players.
One of the greatest legends of Costa Rican women’s football is Shirley Cruz. Only the second female player from the country to play in Europe, she represented both Lyon and PSG. During her career, she inspired countless Costa Rican girls, became renowned for her creativity and established herself as an icon. She also captained the national team and wore the number 10 shirt.
Sheika Scott was one of those girls. At just 15, she told the Costa Rican Football Federation that she wanted to represent her country one day and, following Cruz’s example, wear the number 10 shirt.
Cruz ended her distinguished career back home at the age of 37 with Alajuelense. Scott was playing there at the time, and a childhood dream came true when her first minutes for the club came after replacing none other than Shirley Cruz.
A rapid rise
Scott had already shown that she might be capable of following in her idol’s footsteps. At just 14, she became the youngest goalscorer in the history of Costa Rica’s women’s top flight.
Only two years later, she made her senior international debut and went on to feature at the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup.
Her record at U20 level has been even more impressive. At the 2023 Concacaf Women’s U20 Championship, she scored six goals and won the Golden Boot as the tournament’s leading scorer.
Two years later, she added another five goals in four matches at the same competition, with CONCACAF subsequently naming her in the tournament’s Best XI.
Her performances eventually opened the door to Europe. In June 2025, she signed a contract with Paris FC until 2028 and left Costa Rica for club football abroad for the first time in her career.
In her first season, she made 13 appearances in the French top flight, starting five times and scoring two goals. She also made four appearances in the Women’s Champions League.
Already a role model at a young age
In Scott’s profile, Paris FC says that she is committed to the rights of women footballers and actively campaigns for women and girls to have the same conditions as male players.
It is perhaps no coincidence that this issue forms part of her own story. When her grandfather first took her to train with her first team in Talamanca, Costa Rica, at the age of eight, the coach did not want to accept her because she was a girl.
Her grandfather persuaded him to give her a chance. Scott later recalled that once she was on the pitch, she was more than capable of holding her own against the boys. Thanks to her grandfather and her own talent, the foundations were laid for the remarkable rise of a dynamic and creative footballer who will be looking to make an even bigger mark at the World Cup in Poland.
