On Saturday, Trojan fans will see a familiar face at the 2024 Women’s U-20 World Cup in Colombia with Mexico’s women’s national team. Rising sophomore Maribel “Mary” Flores will be among the 25 players called to represent La Selección at the event.
The USC forward will help lead Mexico’s attack against Cameroon in the first match of the group stage on August 31. Flores trained with the team until August 19 before heading to Colombia for the tournament.
The rising star is no stranger to major tournaments, having worn the Mexico team jersey on the international stage before. Flores previously helped the squad to a U20 CONCACAF Championship in 2023. She also represented El Tri at the 2022 U17 World Cup and the 2022 U17 CONCACAF Tournament where she scored eight goals and had seven assists.
Flores has thrived as a Woman of Troy, netting six goals and five assists as the 2023 Pac-12 Freshman of the Year, earning All-American second team status and leading all freshmen in the conference for scoring. Her 17 total points placed her 11th overall in the league, and her contributions helped the team to the second round of the NCAA tournament, finishing third in the conference behind UCLA and Stanford. Her skills and determination will transfer from the Pac-12 to the Big Ten conference as USC makes the move for the upcoming season.
The California native from Fullerton made local news when she chose to decommit from Stanford, the school she originally signed with in 2021, to join USC for her freshman season as she continued participating with the Mexican national team. Although she has the skill set and talent to successfully play at the professional level, Flores chose to pursue a college career rather than a professional one straight out of high school.
“I have always had in the back of my head, what would it be like if I just went pro right now and didn’t finish school,” Flores said in a recent interview with The Daily Trojan. “But my family [and] everyone I talked to is like, ‘You have to finish school,’ and I think I’m starting to see the bigger picture now. So I will be finishing school because nobody can take away my education.”
With increasing support and attention towards women’s sports in recent years and the exponential success of the National Women’s Soccer League and La Liga MX Femenil, many young players are forgoing the traditional collegiate path and signing contracts with pro teams. Local NWSL club Angel City F.C. made headlines with record breaking signings of Alyssa Thompson, Gisele Thompson, Casey Phair and Kennedy Fuller who all joined prior to their high school graduations.
Flores will be one of four collegiate athletes on the U20 team, playing alongside three collegiate rivals from UCLA as they work to advance to the knockout stage and beyond. The rest of the squad is composed of players from Liga MX Femenil clubs including Pachuca, Atlas and Club América.
Flores’s call up gives her the opportunity to showcase the skills she’s built both at USC and on the national level. Her selection is also part of a new shift in the Mexico national team-one that has begun to encompass more Mexican-American players.
Editor’s Note: A previous addition of this story did not properly attribute a quote from Maribel Flores to the Daily Trojan