U20 Women’s World Cup: Statistical leaders from the Group Stage

The group stage of the 2026 U-20 Women’s World Cup is now complete. Who stood out among the rest?

Goals

The most important statistic in football is goals! Who’s leading so far?

Annika Paz

Argentina’s Annika Paz’s six goals made up over half of her team’s as she powered them into the knockout round. She seemed to be able to make a goal out of anything, particularly as she scored this stunner against Mexico on the final matchday.

Paula Comendador 

Paula Comendador has had an incredible tournament so far with her four goals and one assist. Most recently, she scored this banger to secure her team’s spot at the top of their group table.

Rachel Maltby

Aston Villa’s 19-year-old Rachel Maltby scored four goals and assisted one more in the group stage of this tournament. In England’s match against Tanzania, she secured a hattrick with this goal.

Expected goals (xG)

Expected goals, or xG, is a statistic measuring how likely a shot is to turn into a goal. Players who have racked up a lot of expected goals are creating or getting on the end of high-quality chances. Who tops the list here?

Annika Paz 

It’s no surprise that the current Golden Boot leader is also the xG leader with 5.07 expected goals. Annika Paz’s highest-xG goal came in Argentina’s match vs. Benin, where she made sure she positioned herself well to earn an easy tap-in on the rebound.

Marisa García

Although Marisa García finished the group stage with only three goals, less than the 4.48 that was expected, she made sure every goal counted. Her highest-xG goal for Spain was the opener against Nigeria, where she earned every bit of that chance by beating her defender fair and square.

Alex Buck

Alex Buck has scored three goals from 3.52 xG so far this tournament and shows no signs of stopping. She scored the game-winner that kept the United States’ knockout hopes alive against New Zealand in the final group stage match by making sure she stayed open for the cross from her teammate. 

Goalkeeper saves

Elizabeth Aben

Although New Caledonia conceded the most goals in this tournament, goalkeeper Elizabeth Aben was working overtime to make sure that they didn’t concede even more with her 27 saves across three group stage matches.

Brooke Neary

New Zealand’s Brooke Neary had a similar story. Although her team conceded 14 goals in the group stage, her 15 saves kept even more shots on target out of the back of the net. 

Katie Cox

England’s Katie Cox faced 17 shots on target and with her 13 saves she made sure only three of them made it through. Her heroics will continue to power England through the knockout stage.