Kimmi Ascanio

Kimmi Ascanio
Ascanio with the San Diego Wave in 2026
Personal information
Full name Kimmi Ascanio[1]
Date of birth (2008-01-21) January 21, 2008[2]
Place of birth Orlando, Florida, U.S.
Height 5 ft 5 in (1.65 m)
Positions
Team information
Current team
 San Diego Wave
Number 8
Youth career
Florida United
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2024– San Diego Wave 51 (5)
International career‡
2022 United States U-15
2024–2025 United States U-17 18 (6)
2025– United States U-19 2 (1)
2025– United States U-23 1 (0)
Medal record
Women's soccer
FIFA U-17 Women's World Cup
Bronze medal – third placeDominican Republic 2024
* Club domestic league appearances and goals as of August 8, 2026
‡ National team caps and goals as of October 28, 2025

Kimmi Ascanio (born January 21, 2008) is an American professional soccer player who plays as a midfielder or forward for San Diego Wave FC of the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL). She signed with the Wave at age 16 in 2024. She won bronze with the United States at the 2024 FIFA U-17 Women's World Cup.

Early life

Ascanio was born in Orlando and raised in Doral, Florida.[3] Her parents were born and raised in Venezuela, her father in Caracas and her mother in Valencia.[4] She played UPSL club soccer for Florida United SC, winning two state titles.[3] Her idol growing up was Tobin Heath; she later drew comparisons to the player.[5]

Club career

San Diego Wave FC announced on March 22, 2024, that the club had signed Ascanio to her first professional contract on a three-year deal through the NWSL's Under-18 Entry Mechanism.[3] She made her professional debut on April 13, coming on as a second-half substitute in a 0–0 draw with Racing Louisville.[6] Two weeks later, she made her first start and recorded her first assist in a 2–1 win over Bay FC, becoming the third-youngest goal contributor in NWSL history.[7] She finished her rookie season with 9 appearances in all competitions.[8]

Ascanio playing for the Wave in 2025

On April 26, 2025, Ascanio scored her first professional goal against the Chicago Stars, sealing a 3–0 victory in stoppage time; in the game, she joined Trinity Armstrong and Melanie Barcenas as the first 17-year-old trio to start together in the NWSL.[9] Consistently on the scoresheet for a month, she recorded three goals and an assist in a five-game window, including the 1–0 game-winner against eventual champions Gotham FC on May 16.[10] With that goal, she became the youngest NWSL player to score in consecutive matches and the second-youngest to score a game-winning goal.[10] Under new head coach Jonas Eidevall, she finished the season appearing in all 27 matches and scoring 4 goals.[11] San Diego placed sixth and lost 1–0 to the Portland Thorns in the playoff quarterfinals.[11] At the end of the year, ESPN ranked her as the sixth-best teenager in the NWSL, calling her "free-flowing, smooth, confident ... a rare combination".[5]

On May 15, 2026, Ascanio scored her first goal of the season against the Washington Spirit, scoring a late header to secure a 2–1 victory.[12] Helping the Wave top the standings at the summer break, she was named to the NWSL Team of the Month for the first time in May.[13] Eidevall said she had improved both offensively and defensively from the previous season.[14] On August 2, she became the youngest NWSL player to make 50 regular-season appearances during a 1–0 win against the Spirit.[15] The following week, she tied Christen Westphal's club record for consecutive appearances.[16]

International career

Ascanio helped the United States under-15 team win the 2022 CONCACAF Girls' U-15 Championship.[3][17] She was the youngest player for the under-17 squad at the 2024 CONCACAF Women's U-17 Championship, where she scored a six-minute hat trick against Haiti in the semifinals and had a goal against Mexico in the final.[3][18]

Ascanio started every game for the United States as they placed third at the 2024 FIFA U-17 Women's World Cup, their best result since 2008.[19] She scored in a 2–0 win over Nigeria in the quarterfinals.[20] While she was age-eligible for another cycle of the tournament, her club San Diego Wave did not release her for the 2025 FIFA U-17 Women's World Cup.[21]

Career statistics

Club

As of November 11, 2025
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club Season League Cup[a] Playoffs[b] Continental[c] Other Total
Division Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
San Diego Wave FC 2024 NWSL 6 0 0 0 — 1 0 2[d] 0 9 0
2025 26 4 — 1 0 — — 27 4
Career total 32 4 0 0 1 0 1 0 2 0 36 4

Honors

United States U-15

United States U-17

References

  1. ↑ "24_CWU17C_Final_Rosters_v2.pdf" (PDF). CONCACAF. Retrieved July 4, 2024.
  2. ↑ "Kimmi Ascanio". United States Soccer Federation. Retrieved April 14, 2024.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 "San Diego Wave FC Sign U.S. Women's Youth National Team Midfielder Kimmi Ascanio". San Diego Wave FC. March 22, 2024. Retrieved April 14, 2024.
  4. ↑ U.S. Soccer YNT [@usynt]; (February 10, 2024). "Kimmi Ascanio is the youngest player on the #U17WYNT roster ..." Retrieved April 29, 2024 – via Instagram.
  5. 1 2 Kassouf, Jeff (October 16, 2025). "NWSL U19 ranking: Thompson, Hutton lead top young players". ESPN. Retrieved August 12, 2026.
  6. ↑ "16-Year-Old Makes Debut with San Diego Wave in 0–0 Draw with Racing Louisville". Times of San Diego. April 13, 2024. Retrieved April 14, 2024.
  7. ↑ "San Diego Wave FC Defeats Bay FC 2–1 at Snapdragon Stadium". San Diego Wave FC. April 27, 2024. Retrieved April 29, 2024.
  8. ↑ Kimmi Ascanio at Flashscore
  9. ↑ Grueskin, Birgen (April 26, 2025). "San Diego Wave FC Defeats Chicago Stars FC 3-0 at SeatGeek Stadium". San Diego Wave FC. Retrieved April 27, 2025.
  10. 1 2 Grueskin, Birgen (May 20, 2025). "17-Year-Old Kimmi Ascanio Emerging as San Diego Wave FC's Offensive Leader". San Diego Wave Fútbol Club. Retrieved November 12, 2025.
  11. 1 2 Kimmi Ascanio at FBref.com
  12. ↑ "San Diego Wave FC Finds 2-1 Win in Final Minutes Over Washington Spirit". San Diego Wave FC. May 15, 2026. Retrieved May 16, 2026.
  13. ↑ Grueskin, Birgen (June 5, 2026). "San Diego Wave FC Midfielder Kimmi Ascanio Named to NWSL Best XI of May". San Diego Wave FC. Retrieved June 5, 2026.
  14. ↑ Ramirez, Fernando (July 10, 2026). "Wave hope new graduate Kimmi Ascanio can help lead second-half surge". The San Diego Union-Tribune. Retrieved August 12, 2026.
  15. ↑ "San Diego Wave FC Extends Road Unbeaten Run to Five Matches with a 1-0 Win over Washington Spirit". San Diego Wave FC. August 12, 2026. Retrieved August 12, 2026.
  16. ↑ Lauletta, Dan (August 11, 2026). "NWSL Stats and Minutiae through Week 16". The Equalizer. Retrieved August 12, 2026.
  17. ↑ "U15 GNT Camp Roster - California". United States Soccer Federation. January 10, 2022. Retrieved April 14, 2024 – via TopDrawerSoccer.
    Hindle, Tom (August 8, 2022). "U15 GNT Wins CONCACAF Championship". TopDrawerSoccer. Retrieved May 22, 2024.
  18. ↑ Olorunfemi, Victor (February 9, 2024). "Goals Galore as U.S. U17 Book Final Berth". TopDrawerSoccer. Retrieved April 14, 2024.
    Olorunfemi, Victor (February 11, 2024). "Record Setting U.S. Win U17 Concacaf Title". TopDrawerSoccer. Retrieved April 14, 2024.
  19. ↑ "USA Defeats England 3–0 to Take Third Place at 2024 FIFA U-17 Women's World Cup". United States Soccer Federation. November 3, 2024. Retrieved November 3, 2024.
  20. ↑ "U.S. U-17 WYNT Reaches Semifinals for the First Time Since 2008 to Square Off With Korea DPR". United States Soccer Federation. October 29, 2024. Retrieved October 30, 2024.
  21. ↑ "Schoepfer on USA ambitions and Ascanio absence". FIFA. October 3, 2025. Retrieved October 4, 2025.
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