Casey Phair

Casey Phair
Phair with Angel City in 2024
Personal information
Full name Casey Yu-Jin Phair[1]
Date of birth (2007-06-29) 29 June 2007[1]
Place of birth Anyang, Gyeonggi, South Korea
Height 5 ft 10 in (1.78 m)[1]
Position Striker
Team information
Current team
 Angel City
Number 9
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2024– Angel City 5 (0)
2025 → Djurgården (loan) 12 (0)
International career‡
2023–2024 South Korea U-17 9 (8)
2023– South Korea 17 (4)
Medal record
AFC U-17 Women's Asian Cup
2024 Indonesia
* Club domestic league appearances and goals as of 05:32, 24 January 2026 (UTC)
‡ National team caps and goals as of 03:49, 16 July 2025 (UTC)

Casey Yu-Jin Phair (Korean: 케이시 유진 페어; born 29 June 2007) is a South Korean professional footballer who plays as a striker for Angel City FC of the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL) and the South Korea national team. Phair was the youngest player ever to feature in a FIFA Women's World Cup, having made her debut at the age of 16 years and 26 days in 2023. A Korean American who was raised in the United States, she was the first multiracial footballer to play for South Korea at a World Cup.

Early life

Phair was born in South Korea to an American father and South Korean mother.[2][3] Her family moved to the United States when she was one month old.[3] Formerly residing in Exeter, New Hampshire,[3] she then moved to Warren Township, New Jersey, where she subsequently started playing soccer at the Pingry School, and training at the Players Development Academy (PDA) in New Jersey.[2][4][5] She played one season for the Pingry School as a freshman in 2022, scoring 25 goals in 15 games and earning first-team all-conference honors.[3][6] In 2023, she was named the ECNL conference player of the year and tabbed ECNL All-American for her club season with PDA.[7][8]

Club career

Following her strong 2023 FIFA Women's World Cup performance, Phair trialed with local NWSL club NJ/NY Gotham FC as well as the Kansas City Current and Angel City FC.[9] On 18 January 2024, Angel City announced that they had signed Phair to her first professional contract on a three-year contract under the NWSL Under-18 Entry Mechanism.[10] She was the youngest player ever to sign with the club.[10] On 26 July 2024, she made her debut for Angel City as a 66th-minute substitute for Messiah Bright in a 2–0 win over Bay FC in the Summer Cup.[11]

On 22 February 2025, Phair scored her first goal for Angel City at the Coachella Valley Invitational preseason tournament, scoring an 86th-minute header to secure a 1–1 draw with the Seattle Reign.[12] On 18 April 2025, she made her NWSL debut as a 76th-minute substitute for Riley Tiernan in a 4–0 loss to Gotham FC.[13]

On 21 July 2025, Angel City signed Phair to a new three-year contract and loaned her to Swedish club Djurgården through the end of the year.[14]

International career

Phair was called up to the United States under-15 team in March 2022.[15] She also played for the South Korea under-17 team before she was called up to the senior team for the 2023 FIFA Women's World Cup.[16] She helped the under-17 team qualify for the 2024 AFC U-17 Women's Asian Cup, scoring two goals against Tajikistan and three goals against Hong Kong.[2]

At the 2023 Women's World Cup, Phair became the youngest player to ever appear in a senior World Cup— men's or women's— at the age of 16 years and 26 days, coming on as a substitute in South Korea's opening game against Colombia on 25 July 2023;[17] the distinction had been previously held by Ifeanyi Chiejine.[18][19] In the process, she also became the youngest footballer to have reportedly won a cap for a women's senior national team, a record that was later broken by Una Rankić in September of the same year.[20] She was also the first multiracial player to represent South Korea at a World Cup.[16] Phair played in all three of South Korea's group stage matches and went on to make her first start in the team's final match against Germany, which ended in a 1–1 draw.[21]

On 26 October 2023, Phair scored her first senior goal, as well as her first hat-trick, in a 10–1 win over Thailand in the second round of the 2024 AFC Women's Olympic Qualifying Tournament:[22][23] in the process, at 16 years and 119 days of age, she became the second youngest goalscorer in the history of the South Korean women's senior national team,[22][23] behind only Ji So-yun.[23] She also became the youngest player to ever score a hat-trick for any South Korean national team, in men's or women's football.[23]

On 10 October 2024, Phair was named to the South Korea under-17 roster for the 2024 FIFA U-17 Women's World Cup.[24]

Career statistics

Club

As of match played 21 September 2025
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club Season League Cup Playoffs[a] Total
Division Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
Angel City FC 2024 NWSL 0 0 1 0 – 1 0
2025 5 0 – – 5 0
Djurgården (loan) 2025 Damallsvenskan 6 0 – – 6 0
Career total 11 0 1 0 0 0 12 0
  1. ^ Includes NWSL Playoffs.

International

As of match played 15 July 2025
Appearances and goals by national team and year
National team Year Apps Goals
South Korea 2023 6 3
2024 6 1
2025 5 0
Total 17 4
Scores and results list South Korea's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Phair goal.
List of international goals scored by Casey Phair
No. Date Venue Opponent Score Result Competition Ref.
1 26 October 2023 Xiamen Egret Stadium, Xiamen, China  Thailand 1–0 10–1 2024 AFC Women's Olympic Qualifying Tournament [22][23]
2 6–0 [22][23]
3 7–0 [22][23]
4 24 February 2024 Cidade do Futebol, Oeiras, Portugal  Czech Republic 2–0 2–1 Friendly [25]

References

  1. ^ a b c "Phair Casey Yu-Jin Stats, News, Bio". ESPN. Retrieved 5 July 2023.
  2. ^ a b c Yoo, Jee-ho (10 June 2023). "Half-Korean forward named to S. Korean training camp roster ahead of Women's World Cup". Yonhap News Agency. Retrieved 5 July 2023.
  3. ^ a b c d Anzidei, Melanie. "Casey Phair, the US-based rising star poised to make World Cup history for South Korea". The Athletic.
  4. ^ "U.S. Under-15 Women's Youth National Team Will Bring 36 Players to March Training Camp in Chula Vista, Calif". U.S. Soccer. 14 March 2022. Retrieved 5 July 2023.
  5. ^ Olivola, James (25 September 2022). "Girls' Soccer: Phair's Hat Trick Propels Pingry to Comeback Win at Bridgewater-Raritan". TAPinto. Bridgewater/Raritan, New Jersey. Retrieved 5 July 2023.
  6. ^ "Skyland Conference Girls Soccer Coaches' All-Star Selections, 2022". NJ.com. 30 November 2022. Retrieved 19 December 2025.
  7. ^ "ECNL Girls Announces 2022-23 Awards". Elite Clubs National League. 29 August 2023. Retrieved 19 December 2025 – via TopDrawerSoccer.
  8. ^ "ECNL Girls 2022-23 All-American Teams". Elite Clubs National League. 24 August 2023. Retrieved 19 December 2025 – via TopDrawerSoccer.
  9. ^ "After 16-year-old Casey Phair became the youngest-ever World Cup player with Korea, the NWSL is next". ESPN.com. 18 January 2024. Retrieved 18 January 2024.
  10. ^ a b "Angel City Signs South Korea International Casey Phair". Angel City. Archived from the original on 18 January 2024. Retrieved 18 January 2024.
  11. ^ Best, Katelyn (26 July 2024). "Match Recap: Angel City 2, Bay FC 0 (Summer Cup) | 7.26.24". Angel City FC. Retrieved 1 August 2024.
  12. ^ "Reign FC Earns 1-1 Draw Against Angel City FC to Remain Unbeaten During Coachella Valley Invitational". Seattle Reign FC. Retrieved 27 February 2025.
  13. ^ Anzidei, Melanie (19 April 2025). "Angel City's Casey Phair, youngest World Cup competitor, makes NWSL debut vs. Gotham". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 5 May 2025.
  14. ^ Anzidei, Melanie. "Casey Phair signs 3-year extension with Angel City, will spend rest of season in Sweden with Djurgårdens IF". The Athletic. Retrieved 21 July 2025.
  15. ^ "U15 GNT camp roster for California camp". United States Soccer Federation. 15 March 2022. Retrieved 19 December 2025 – via TopDrawerSoccer.
  16. ^ a b Church, Michael (4 July 2023). "South Korea call up US-born teenager Phair for Women's World Cup". Reuters. Retrieved 5 July 2023.
  17. ^ "Youngest 2023 Women's World Cup players: Phair, Dragoni, Scott". ESPN. 3 August 2023. Retrieved 7 August 2023.
  18. ^ Dure, Beau (25 July 2023). "Colombia v South Korea: Women's World Cup 2023 – live". the Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 25 July 2023.
  19. ^ Subramaniam, Tara (25 July 2023). "US-born Casey Phair becomes youngest player in World Cup history". CNN. Retrieved 25 July 2023.
  20. ^ Todić, Maja (25 September 2023). "Una Rankić, čudo od deteta i svetska rekorderka!". Sportklub (in Serbian). Retrieved 27 September 2023.
  21. ^ "South Korea Sends Germany Out, Letting Morocco Move On". The New York Times. 3 August 2023. Retrieved 7 August 2023.
  22. ^ a b c d e Yoo, Jee-ho (26 October 2023). "S. Korea rout Thailand to begin women's football Olympic qualifiers". Yonhap News Agency. Retrieved 26 October 2023.
  23. ^ a b c d e f g Jeong, In-seon (26 October 2023). 여자축구, 올림픽 예선서 태국 10–1 대파…케이시, 해트트릭 폭발. Naver (in Korean). The Hankyoreh. Retrieved 26 October 2023.
  24. ^ 여자 U-17 월드컵 참가 선수 명단 발표. 네이트 스포츠 (in Korean). Retrieved 16 October 2024.
  25. ^ "Czechia vs Korea Republic - 24 February 2024". Soccerway. Retrieved 25 February 2024.
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