The Gambian women's national team goalkeeper has drowned while trying to cross from Libya to Europe on a boat.

Fatim Jawara, who was 19-years-old according to Fifa records, is thought to have died in Libyan waters last month, Gambia’s soccer federation spokesman Bakary B Baldeh said.

Her family has confirmed the news of her death.

Jawara was a member of the Gambia team that played at the under-17 World Cup in Azerbaijan in 2012.

She played for Gambia’s senior national team this year.

The UN refugee agency estimated at the end of last month that at least 3,740 migrants and refugees have died this year trying to cross the Mediterranean Sea.

Speaking to the AFP news agency, Gambian football federation president Lamin Kaba Bajo said: “She will be remembered for saving a penalty kick in a friendly encounter involving the national soccer team and the Glasgow Girls from Scotland.”

Ms Jawara was one of more than 7,000 Gambians who have fled the small West African country so far this year, making it the largest contributor to illegal migration into Italy, relative to the size of its population.

An estimated, 240 migrants have drowned off the coast of Libya since 1 November including some believed to be West African, the U.N.'s migration agency said on Thursday.

Gambia has been stable since President Yahya Jammeh seized power in a coup in 1994. Although many of his political opponents have fled in recent years, citing repression, the majority of the current wave of migrants are thought to be fleeing poverty.

In pictures: Life on board a refugee rescue ship Show all 10 1 /10 In pictures: Life on board a refugee rescue ship In pictures: Life on board a refugee rescue ship Refugees sleep on the deck of MV Aquarius Alva White/MSF In pictures: Life on board a refugee rescue ship An overcrowded rubber vote before a rescue by the MV Aquarius Alva White/MSF In pictures: Life on board a refugee rescue ship Young boy being rescued from a rubber boat by the MV Aquarius Isabelle Serro/SOS Mediterranee In pictures: Life on board a refugee rescue ship The rescue of a wooden boat with more than 400 peopl on board by the MV Aquarius on 21 August Isabelle Serro/SOS Mediterranee In pictures: Life on board a refugee rescue ship Women rescued on MV Aquarius approaching Italy in the early morning Alva White/MSF In pictures: Life on board a refugee rescue ship Crew on the MV Aquarius search for a missing boat Alva White/MSF In pictures: Life on board a refugee rescue ship Rescue on the 21st August of a wooden boat carrying more than 400 people and a rubber boat with 120 people crammed on board. Ferry Schippers/MSF In pictures: Life on board a refugee rescue ship The night rescue of 124 people after they had been on the water for 20 hours by the MV Aquarius Peter Eickmeyer/SOS Mediterranee In pictures: Life on board a refugee rescue ship The MV Aquarius rescue vessel operated by Doctors Without Borders (MSF) and SOS Méditerranée in the Mediterranean Sea Alva White/MSF In pictures: Life on board a refugee rescue ship Jacob Goldberg, MSF's team leader on board the MV Aquarius rescue ship Alva White/MSF

Gambia, which exports peanuts and rosewood, ranked 175 out of 188 countries in the 2015 U.N. Human Development Index.