Jamaica eyes historic third FIFA Women’s World Cup berth

Jamaica enters the 2026 Concacaf W Championship seeking a third consecutive FIFA Women’s World Cup appearance.

MIAMI – The 2026 Concacaf W Championship will take place from November 27 to December 5, with eight of the region’s top women’s national teams competing for the continental title and qualification to the FIFA Women’s World Cup Brazil 2027 and the Los Angeles 2028 Olympic Games.

Jamaica secured qualification for what will be its eighth participation in a W Championship by winning Group B of the 2025/26 Concacaf W Qualifiers with a perfect 4W-0D-0L record. The Reggae Girlz opened their qualifying campaign with a dominant 18-0 victory over Dominica – the largest margin in Jamaica’s history – followed by a 3-2 win over Nicaragua, and 4-0 and 2-0 shutouts of Antigua and Barbuda and Guyana respectively.

Forward Khadija Shaw was one of the leaders for the Caribbean nation in the Qualifiers, netting nine goals to finish tied for third among the competition’s leading scorers. Notably, with her nine strikes in qualifying, Shaw reached 40 total goals in Qualifiers history to become the all-time leading scorer in competition history.

The Reggae Girlz possess a 7W-1D-18L all-time W Championship record in 26 matches played, scoring 32 goals and conceding 77. The Caribbean nation’s best results in the tournament came in 2018 and 2022, finishing third on both occasions.

Shaw leads Jamaica in goals in the competition with six, followed by Jody Brown with four. Both players may have the opportunity to add to their tallies after being included in the team’s preliminary roster for the tournament.

Deneisha Blackwood, Shakira Duncan, and Shaw share the team’s all-time lead in W Championship assists with three each.

Jamaica will look to secure a third FIFA Women’s World Cup appearance, having made history as the first Caribbean nation to qualify for the tournament in 2019, before achieving a new milestone in 2023 by advancing to the Round of 16 in its second-ever appearance in the tournament.

Jamaica will open its W Championship campaign on Friday, November 27 with a Quarterfinals matchup against Costa Rica. The winner will secure their spot in the FIFA Women’s World Cup 2027 and a spot in the 2026 W Championship Semifinals.