Jamaica: The First Caribbean Country To Reach The FIFA Women’s World Cup Knockout Stage
For the first time in their second World Cup campaign, The Reggae Girlz, who were unblemished in group play, have moved on to the elimination round. In the group stage, they didn’t allow a single goal.
At the FIFA Women's World Cup, Jamaica did something that no other Caribbean nation had ever done.
At the FIFA Women’s World Cup, Jamaica did something that no other Caribbean nation had ever done.
For the first time in their second World Cup campaign, The Reggae Girlz, who were unblemished in group play, have moved on to the elimination round. In the group stage, they didn’t allow a single goal.
In its last group stage match, Jamaica matched Brazil 0-0 to send Marta, an icon of international football, home. Brazil last failed to advance to the knockout round in 1995.
On Tuesday (4 a.m. ET, Fox Sports 1), Jamaica will face the victor of Group H, which is presently being dominated by Colombia, in the Round of 16. Jamaica became the first country from the Caribbean and the third CONCACAF nation to advance to the Round of 16.
Khadija “Bunny” Shaw, a former Tennessee soccer player, and Kameron Simmonds, a present-day Lady Vol, are touring Australia and New Zealand with Jamaica. Due to collecting two yellow cards in Jamaica’s first match against France, the second of which was a contentious decision, Shaw only started two games and missed the other. Simmonds participated as a substitute in Jamaica’s 1-0 victory over Panama, the Caribbean nation’s first-ever World Cup victory.
With 56 goals in international play, Shaw, who is only 26 years old, is already Jamaica’s all-time best scorer in both men’s and women’s competitions. She was instrumental in Jamaica’s first two appearances at the Women’s World Cup. Despite making it to their first World Cup, the Reggae Girlz dropped all three of their matches.
They achieved historic feats in each game this time. Jamaica’s first game ended in a tie, giving the country it’s first-ever point. The Reggae Girlz won for the first time in the second game. The Round of 16 was waiting for them, so even though their third game ended in a tie, it felt like their biggest triumph yet.
They accomplished all of this despite their disagreements with the Jamaica Football Federation, about which they had already made public statements before departing for the World Cup. The athletes made a united statement on social media in which they expressed their dissatisfaction with the planning, transportation, training environment, and remuneration, all of which influenced World Cup preparation.
Jamaica is not the only team to proceed despite receiving little help from its federation. Despite the public’s issues with their federations before the tournament, South Africa and Nigeria, where Tennessee alum Michelle Alozie plays, also made it to the Round of 16.
