Abdulai and Comendador among Women’s U20 World Cup’s leading scorers

Mukarama Abdulai remains the only African player on the list of leading scorers in the history of the Women’s U20 World Cup, having scored seven goals for Ghana in 2018. Her total came despite the Black Maidens being eliminated in the quarter-finals.

Abdulai, who captained Ghana, finished as the competition’s leading scorer in 2018. She joined a group of prolific forwards that includes Spain’s Pau Comendador and Lorena Navarro, as well as several players who made their mark in earlier editions.

The first edition produced the tournament’s initial standout goalscorer, with Germany’s Dzsenifer Marozsan scoring six goals. Since then, four players have shared the record for the most goals scored during a single edition, each finishing with eight.

Spain’s Lorena Navarro reached that mark in 2016, while Yeo Min-ji did so for the Republic of Korea in 2010. Ri Un-sim scored eight for the DPR Korea in 2012, before Yu Jong-hyang matched the total in 2025.

Yu also achieved a historic double at the 2025 tournament. She became the first player to win both the top-scorer award and the best-player award at the same edition of the Women’s U20 World Cup.

Leading scorers by edition

2008: Dzsenifer Marozsan (Germany) – 6 goals

2010: Yeo Min-ji (Republic of Korea) – 8 goals

2012: Ri Un-sim (DPR Korea) – 8 goals

2014: Deyna Castellanos and Gabriela Garcia (Venezuela) – 6 goals each

2016: Lorena Navarro (Spain) – 8 goals

2018: Mukarama Abdulai (Ghana) – 7 goals

2022: Loreen Bender (Germany) – 4 goals

2024: Pau Comendador (Spain) – 5 goals

2025: Yu Jong-hyang (DPR Korea) – 8 goals