At just 16, Nubia Medina displays maturity well beyond her years, both on and off the pitch. It is all the more remarkable given the speed of her footballing journey: from playing only with boys on a small Costa Rican island to representing her country at a second FIFA youth Women’s World Cup.

“I’ve played football on Chira Island for as long as I can remember. I must have been four or five when I started, but there were no girls’ teams. So I played in a boys’ team until I moved to Jacó at 11,” she explained in Lodz, where she is competing at the FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup Poland 2026™.

Money was tight for her family and they could not afford football boots. “I played barefoot or in trainers, and once I even wore a broken pair of boots,” recalled the skilful, pacy and prolific forward, who has never forgotten her humble origins.

Her first break came when coach Greivin Moscoso was encouraged to travel to Chira Island to watch her play. He arranged for her to take part in a match against older players, some of them adults, and Medina duly bagged a hat-trick. That display earned her a move to the district of Jacó, where she joined her first women’s team, Escorpiones de Garabito.

Nubia’s mother played a vital role, for a time accompanying her almost every day on the 105-kilometre journey between the two places. The arrangement looked impossible to sustain until a family in Jacó took her in and helped her pursue her dream.

“They gave me my first brand-new pair of football boots. I was so happy I couldn’t sleep that night!” she remembered with a beaming smile.

Then, midway through 2021, came the opportunity that would transform her career: a place in the FIFA Talent Development Scheme run by the Costa Rican Football Federation (FCRF).

“At a match, I met a girl who was in the FIFA Talent pathway. She told me I was very good and that she wanted me to join the programme. I started before I turned 12, and whenever there was a tournament they moved me up an age group. And here I am.”

The TDS helped Medina hone her game and grow as a person. “I was so excited to take that first big step and to be accepted for who I am: a footballer. Coming from such a small place, I thought things would be different. I was proud of myself when I realised how quickly I had reached the national team.”

Her progress was so swift that, in 2025, she became the youngest of six players identified through the TDS to feature at the FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup™ in Morocco.

Shown a clip from an interview she gave at the time, she bursts out laughing. “What a huge change! I’ve changed so much as a person, physically and mentally. I went through things I wouldn’t wish on anyone, but they helped me grow. They helped me in football too. I learnt how to handle it.”

For Nubia, representing her country again, this time at a U-20 Women’s World Cup, “is a huge step. It makes me proud and it’s wonderful. I’m grateful to all the coaches, especially Patri [Patricia Aguilar], who has shown a lot of faith in me, particularly because I’m the youngest player in the squad. That support means so much”.

Medina started Costa Rica’s opening match and is already a role model for many young women, which is a responsibility she carries with ease. Earlier this year, she was among the speakers at the FIFA Talent Academy Elite Event in Costa Rica, where the academy’s progress was formally recognised, along with the FCRF’s commitment to nurturing young talent and applying FIFA’s standards.

She spoke there about her own experience of the TDS and the difference it has made to her career and her life. Her message to girls hoping to follow in her footsteps is simple: “I would tell them to fight for their dreams and believe in themselves. Football is the most beautiful thing in the world!”