Sixteen-year-olds don’t usually play in the World Cup, men’s or women’s. In fact, Norman Whiteside, at 17 years and 40 days of age, holds the title of youngest player at a men’s World Cup. 

However, at 16 years and 26 days old, Casey Phair played in the 2023 Women’s World Cup for South Korea. Her off-the-bench appearance made Phair the youngest to ever play at any World Cup. 

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However, the tournament didn’t go exactly as Phair and the South Korean team would’ve hoped, finishing at the bottom of Group H. Despite the results, though, the World Cup set Phair on a rapid trajectory to the top of the women’s game. 

At the zenith of world soccer, the World Cup introduced Phair to the highest level, and she felt returning to anything less than the most competitive situation wouldn’t be right.

“I played in the World Cup with and against the best players,” Phair said in an interview with ESPN. “Coming back from that, I don’t really see how I could play U-17 and then go to college. I wanted to keep getting better and not just peak at the World Cup, then go down and go to college and then have to get back up to a professional level.”

So, in January, Angel City announced the club had signed Phair via the National Women’s Soccer League’s U-18 Entry mechanism, which permits clubs to sign up to four players before they would be eligible for the NWSL Draft. Angel City has used this function multiple times during this past offseason, also signing midfielder Kennedy Fuller and Gisele Thompson, sister of Alyssa. 

While Phair did not make the bench for this past weekend’s home opener against expansion club Bay FC, it’s only a matter of time until we see Phair make her NWSL debut. She has positional versatility as a forward, with the ability to play as a central striker or on the wing. But wherever she’s stationed on the field, Phair wants to lead a direct attack.

“I’m very direct and I like to go one-[on]-one with people,” Phair said in an interview with the Daily Trojan. “I hold the ball up well, but then I also like to make runs in behind. And I think I’m a very defensive-minded forward as well and I like to press from high up the field.”

Her World Cup experience also served as a launch pad to the professional level, providing her with an extended glimpse into how senior-level soccer works ahead of joining Angel City.

“Until I went to the World Cup, I was just playing club [soccer] at my own age [level], so I wasn’t really used to playing with players older than me and just with that speed and that environment,” Phair said. “I think going to the World Cup and playing with and against some of the best players in the world has really given me that experience and confidence to come into Angel City.”

But Phair had no shortage of professional suitors. She went on trial with the NWSL’s Gotham and the Kansas City Current as well before settling on Angel City due to how comfortable she felt in the club’s setup. 

“It’s just where I felt the most welcomed, and I felt the most comfortable,” Phair said. “It also reminded me a lot of Korea, just how comfortable and confident I felt within the team within the environment.” 

Phair also mentioned how L.A. as a city felt like a strong fit.

“I love L.A., and the two weeks I was here before, it seemed like a really nice place to live,” Phair said, also referring to her trial visit pre-signing. “And with Koreatown so close, that helped a lot with my mom and just, like, my Korean side.”

But Phair had to adjust to routine training at a high professional level. With teammates’ advice, she adapted. 

“Someone, I forget who it was, but they said, like, ‘Everyone at this level makes mistakes. But the people that really thrive are the people that can just brush it off and move on to the next rep,’” Phair said. “Just learning to move on and leave a mistake in the past has really helped and really stuck with me.”

In addition to ideally capturing Angel City’s first NWSL title and growing on the pitch, Phair also hopes to become more acquainted with Los Angeles. 

Phair said her off-the-pitch goals were to “develop as a person and become more within the L.A. community, because obviously, this is my second month in L.A.,” and to “become more familiar with the area and become closer with the community.”

However Phair progresses on the pitch, she speaks like a player with no ego and a rock-solid work ethic. When asked what she hopes she’d be like in five years’ time, Phair spoke about wanting to mentor younger players. 

“Being with Angel City, they don’t put me on the spot, and they’re making me ask questions, but they also come to me. They want to help you,” Phair said. “So, I think, learn from them and in five years, maybe [I’ll] be that nurturing older player — I won’t even be that old, I’ll be 21 — but that older player, I guess, and be able to help younger players and also be a role model to young girls.”

Jack Hallinan is a junior writing about the top wunderkinds in men’s and women’s soccer in his column, “Rising Ballers,” which runs every other Thursday. He is also the Talkin’ Troy Podcast Editor at the Daily Trojan.