Another disappointing qualification for Jamaica

There are three rounds left until the end of the CONCACAF qualification for the World Cup in Qatar 2022, but it is already known that “Reggae Boyz” will not participate in this competition. Still participating in the 1998 World Cup in France is the only time Jamaica has found itself at the World Cup. These qualifiers are really disappointing because Jamaica has achieved only one victory, against the last-placed Honduras. Jamaica no longer has a theoretical chance of participating in the playoffs. Like some previous championships, this world championship will be watched by “Reggae Boyz” from home. Canada, Mexico and the USA are definitely the best national teams, but Jamaica had to provide much better games against other teams and at least get involved in the fight for the fourth place that leads to the playoffs.

The best player of this national team and the first star of the team is definitely the West Ham player, Michael Antonio, but next to him there are a handful of quality players who mainly play in England and MLS. No problem is that Jamaica will not play in Qatar as the World Cup has been awaited for more than two decades, but the way this national team has played these qualifiers is truly disappointing. In December of previous year, coach Theodore Whitmore was replaced and his assistant Paul Hall took over instead. Nothing much has changed. Jamaica recorded all three defeats in the recently played qualifying cycle. The remaining three matches will be of a revival character. This team led against both Panama and Mexico, but in both matches, they suffered defeat in the end.

Even if they had won those two games in that situation, Jamaica would not have had a much better chance of going to the World Cup, but obviously, this team does not have the character needed to go to one big competition. Already in the middle of the qualifications, it was clear that Jamaica does not have the quality needed to qualify for the World Cup. To be precise, Jamaica has a very good list of players, but the paper does not play games but players and they have done their job so far in a very bad way. Luckily, Honduras was even worse, so Jamaica will not finish in last place, at least that is how it should be. Players playing for teams like Fulham, Queens Park Rangers, West Ham had to provide much better games.

We will see how things develop in the future and whether Hall or someone else will lead the national team in some of the next qualifiers. The interim coach did not have much time to play the team and implement the desired system of the game, so he is the least to blame for the recent results. Jamaica will finish this qualification in March, and one of the remaining matches will be played against Canada, which is convincingly in the first place and which failed to beat Jamaica in their first match. That match will be a great opportunity for additional play and to see once again how close or far Jamaica is to the best national teams in North and Central America.