Yee Named to Canada's FIFA U-20 Women's World Cup Roster
August 21, 2026 | Soccer
NEWS
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. – Junior forward and Richmond, British Columbia native, Emma Yee has been named to Canada's roster for the FIFA U-20 Women's World Cup in Poland, the association announced Friday (Aug. 21).
"We are so excited for Emma to play in the World Cup and represent Canada," said head coach Katie Hultin. She is a special player who has earned this and we can't wait to watch her shine. Her Illini FamILLy will be cheering her on!"
Yee will represent Canada for the first time in three years after becoming a 2023 FIFA Blue Stars Youth Cup Champion with the Vancouver Whitecaps, a club she played on for five years. She was named the 2023 Vancouver Whitecaps FC Student-Athlete of the Year and played in the 2022 Canada Summer Games. She's been in the player pool for Canada for several years and it's led to this moment of her being called up to the world stage.
"I am always super grateful for any opportunity to represent Canada," said Yee. "It feels extra special to get to play in a tournament as big as the U-20 World Cup and I am super excited to get started!"
She's coming off a stellar sophomore season at Illinois after she scored six goals and recorded one assist to score 13 points last season which was the second most on the team. She recorded her first career brace against Valparaiso on Sept. 7 and netted two game winners on the season as well. First, against DePaul on Aug. 28 and the second came on Sept. 25 to upset No. 18 Penn State in a 4-3 thriller at Demirjian Park. So far in her junior season she's started both games for Illinois at forward playing in 143 minutes.
