The excitement surrounding the FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup Dominican Republic 2024™ continues to build, as the Caribbean country makes its final preparations to host the 16-team tournament which begins on 16 October.

It is a landmark event for the Dominican Republic, as it marks the first-ever World Cup at any level to be played in the country. The fact that it is a women’s tournament is even more significant to Lucia Leon.

The 27-year-old right-back was born in Madrid, Spain, but represents the Dominican Republic at international level and serves as captain of the senior women’s national team with 12 caps to her name. In an exclusive interview with FIFA, a very thoughtful Leon spoke about how the upcoming World Cup can ignite significant growth in women’s football in her country.

When you were in the Dominican Republic last May, did you get a sense of excitement about the upcoming World Cup there?

Lucia Leon: Yes, the country is very excited about the World Cup. There has been a lot of remodeling of the stadiums and everyone is preparing for it. I even have a team-mate from the national team who is helping out with whatever she can, like with the teams coming in from English-speaking countries, accommodating with transportation, or whatever else is needed.

What do you think about a World Cup coming to your country?

It’s wonderful. I think the progress of women’s football in the Dominican Republic is becoming more evident, with us qualifying for the Concacaf W Gold Cup and getting promoted to League A in qualifying. Our U-15s just had a very good performance in the Concacaf U-15s finishing as runners-up, and now we have the U-17s in the World Cup at home. To have the opportunity to have this World Cup at home is going to mark football history in general in the Dominican Republic.

For you personally what does it mean to have a World Cup played in your country?

I think it’s super important that girls continue playing football, that young Dominican girls feel like they can represent their country. I think it’s very important that groups like FIFA and Concacaf had a hand in organizing this World Cup in our country. We are going to have a lot of countries who are at an elite level come to our country not only to play football but to see our country, see what it’s like, see what the Caribbean is like, so I think it’s going to be positive in a lot of senses.

How else will this World Cup help the Dominican Republic?

I think this World Cup will show a lot of people in the Dominican Republic what football actually is, how it is organised and managed. It’s much more difficult than what people think. It’s going to be a challenge for the federation and I think this World Cup will teach us a lot about football and what it can be for us in the future. I think this can be the start of many more competitions to be organised there.

What is your advice to the players on the U-17 team?

The most important piece of advice I think is that they enjoy every moment and prepare themselves as well as possible. If they do that, they’ll be able to enjoy it more while playing in it because they’ll know that they did everything possible to get ready. They should understand that they are the few fortunate and privileged ones and so many of us would love to be in their shoes. No matter what happens in the tournament, we are going to be very proud of them.

Have you had a chance to talk with any of the players or their coach, Betzaida Ubri?

Yes, I’ve spoken with Betzaida just a short while ago. I also know Renata Mercedes, who was a starter in the Gold Cup with us and is captain of the U-17s. I know several others and we follow each other on Instagram, we exchange short messages, also with the players who were on the U-15 team. I send them messages. I like to stay close to those youth teams and encourage them.

Why is it important to you to help those young players?

I like to help however I can. What I tell those young players is that no matter where you play, whether it’s Europe, South America, Mexico or even Santo Domingo, you have the chance to go to the national team if you are good enough. Certainly it’s tougher in the Dominican Republic because there is not a professional league there, and we are fighting to get that. I want girls to feel valued, to feel good and be in a league where they can play and compete, whether it’s professional or not. If someone writes to me via Instagram to ask me things, I always like to answer because I enjoy that closeness. I love that they feel motivated and that they continue playing football, because football is what has motivated me to do many things in my life, both professionally and personally.

What can the Dominican Republic do to take a step forward in women’s football?

I think first and foremost women’s football needs to have its own league. We have youth leagues for players 19 and under, but we need a professional league for senior players starting 20 and up, even if it’s just four teams and they play each other three times over the course of three months. It doesn’t matter, just as long as there is something in which the players can compete and train twice a week at least. It’s not the same training on your own as opposed to training in a team, and you can tell that affects the players who are based in the Dominican Republic when the national team plays.

Obviously, it needs investment as well because there is a business side to it in addition to the football. You need people to help with it financially to pay for small things like transportation, kits, food, things like that.

So do you feel like this World Cup can be the start of a movement toward a women’s league there?

Hopefully so. I think the people from FIFA who will be there in the country can help the people in the Dominican Republic, so that they can see how all the logistics work. I think it will be very beneficial not only for the football itself but for everything that makes football function properly.

What is your message to all of the people in the Dominican Republic about this tournament?

I would just tell the people to continue supporting our team, supporting the tournament and show what football in the Dominican Republic can be.