Isabella Sanabria Cora couldn’t put down her phone.
It was Aug. 31, the deadline for teams to submit their final rosters for the 2026 FIFA U17 World Cup, and the 17-year-old Moorpark High striker lay in bed beside her mom, Karel, praying for a text, a call — any word on whether her dream was becoming a reality.
As the predawn hours ticked away, so did their optimism. Her mother got up to head to bed.
“We had lost hope,” Sanabria Cora said. “We were like, ‘It’s over. I didn’t make it.’ ”
The ding of a WhatsApp message froze her in her tracks.
Sanabria Cora was named to the official roster for the Puerto Rico U17 national team headed to Morocco to represent the U.S. territory in its first appearance at the World Cup at any level.
“Being a Boricua and
being from the island, it means so much more to me than anything else in my life,” Sanabria Cora said. “I wear it every single day. To be able to show everybody in the world at the World Cup, it means the world to me.
“To be able to play the sport that I love, supporting the nation that I love, playing for the team that I love. Everything I am doing is for love.”
The FIFA U17 World Cup will kick off Oct. 17 in Rabat.
In group play, Puerto Rico will face North Korea, Poland and Nigeria as part of Group B. The first match for Puerto Rico will be against North Korea on Oct. 17. The team will face Nigeria on Oct. 20. The final group stage match will be against Poland on Oct. 23.
If Puerto Rico qualifies by finishing in the top two of Group B, or is one of the eight best performing third-place teams among the six groups, it will play in the round of 16 beginning Oct. 28.
Sanabria Cora said she expects to play less at striker and more on the wing for Puerto Rico.
Puerto Rico qualified for the World Cup as the top runner-up at the Confederation of North, Central America and Caribbean Association Football (CONCACAF) Women’s U17 Qualifiers in Costa Rica back in March, defeating both Haiti (3-1) and Bermuda (9-0) but losing to the United States (4-0).
The team tied with host Costa Rica with six points, but advanced by tiebreaker due to having more goals scored.
Team staff from the Puerto Rican program first reached out to Cora after seeing her play at ECNL Phoenix — an elite club showcase.
“That is kind of where it all unraveled,” Sanabria Cora said.
She was invited to the team’s training camp Aug. 19-27 at the Chula Vista Elite Athlete Training Center, an Olympic training facility, where she worked out with other prospective members of the team.
Sanabria Cora traces her path to representing the U.S. territory, her family’s home, all the way back to a walk through a Moorpark neighborhood with her parents at 6 years old.
Although she is the cousin of former Boston Red Sox manager and Dodgers player Alex Cora and his brother Joey Cora, who is a former major leaguer and coach, she didn’t play sports growing up — even softball — until reaching California.
Passing a park, she saw girls her age playing soccer. It was a practice for a local youth program, Eagles Soccer Club. Cora, who had never kicked a ball, was intrigued.
That same day, her parents bought her first pair of cleats and she joined the team.
“They learned how to do soccer, they got a coaching license,” Sanabria Cora said. “They were my first real coaches.”
Sanabria Cora developed her own style of play.
“I am very aggressive,” Cora said. “On my first couple of teams, my nickname was ‘The Train.’ I would just bulldoze through people. I love that direct style of play. You are not going to watch me play and get bored.”
A passion for the sport developed quickly, and so did her talents.
Sanabria Cora played for multiple club teams under Moorpark High soccer head coach Mike Alexander, who remains heavily involved in youth coaching in the area.
“Watching her develop in both clubs has been awesome. You are seeing a kid that has went from playing at a level that we knew she could play at to just exploding, going to the next level,” Alexander said. “It’s cool to watch.”
The senior was an All-Coastal Canyon League first-team selection last fall for the Musketeers. In April, she announced her commitment to play Division I soccer at the University of Montana. She also runs track at Moorpark.
“The kid has a burning desire to win games,” Alexander said. “If the game is on the line, you want to put the ball in a player like that’s hands. She has a mentality that she won’t be denied.”
Everyone in Sanabria Cora’s family; her mother Karel, her father Yamil Sanabria and her two older brothers, Yovan and Kaleb, were born in Puerto Rico.
Everyone but her. Sanabria Cora was born in Boston after the family moved to the United States.
“That is the biggest regret that I cannot control,” Sanabria Cora said. “I wasn’t born on the island.”
The chance to represent her family home for the first time, means so much more to Sanabria Cora. It is the opportunity to tie her Boricua identity even closer to her heart.
“I have always been very proud to be Puerto Rican,” Sanabria Cora said. “I don’t think I have ever been able to explain it in words. It feels like a part of me. I feel like I have always carried the flag on my back … but I always felt like I wished there was something more I could do to show how amazing this place is, how proud I am to be a part of it.”
Dominic Massimino is a staff writer for The Star. He can be reached at dominic.massimino@vcstar.com. For more coverage, follow @vcsdominic on Twitter and Instagram.
This article originally appeared on Ventura County Star: Moorpark soccer player makes Puerto Rico U17 World Cup team
