The Jamaica Reggae Girlz have created football history after defying the odds and eliminating Brazil to be the only Caribbean team to advance to the 2023 Women’s World Cup last of 16.
Ranked 43rd in the world, Jamaica held on to a 0-0 draw against 8th-ranked Brazil, to end Group F unbeaten and in 2nd with 5 points.
The draw gave Jamaica the edge over Brazil which finished the group in 3rd with 4 points.
Jamaica’s Team Manager Lorne Donaldson spoke about the mentality of the team heading into this year’s World Cup and how it differed from the 2019 edition.
“We were not expected to be in the World Cup in 2019…The programme was fairly new and we said, ‘Oh, we’re in!’ It was like being deer in headlights,” she said.
“We were very young and happy to be there. This time around we said, ‘Hey, we’re not just going to show up. We’re going to get out of the group.’ Our mentality was that nothing is impossible,” she added.
Brazil had recalled their all-time leading scorer in men’s or women’s World Cups, Marta, who has a total of 17 goals, but even for her Jamaica’s defence proved difficult to breach.
Jamaica will face either Colombia or Germany in the last 16, while France advances through as Group F winners following their victory over Panama in the other match.