The Reggae Girlz made history by becoming the first Caribbean country to qualify for the World Cup. Jamaica knocked off Panama in penalties at the CONCACAF Women’s Championship last October, punching their ticket to the 2019 Women’s World Cup in France. Just getting to this point was reason for celebration, but now Jamaica are looking to do the improbable and make it to the knockout rounds.
The 2019 Women’s World Cup in France will begin on Friday, June 7, and run through the final on Sunday, July 7. All of the action can be seen on FOX, FOX Sports, Telemundo, and Universo.
FIFA Women’s World Cup 2019 – Reggae Girlz Specials
To Score a Point +100
To Win a Match +400
To Qualify from Group C +1000
To Win Group C +2500
Make the Semi Finals +2500
To Win the World Cup +50000
Jamaica is facing a tough uphill climb if it is to get out of the Group Stage. The Reggae Girlz have been drawn into Group C, where they will be facing Australia, Brazil, and Italy. While none of those teams have yet to win a Women’s World Cup, they are still among the best teams in the world. They are all ranked in the top 15 teams in the world according to FIFA.
How They Got Here
Over the past year, we have seen tremendous growth from the young Reggae Girlz. After losing at home to Cuba in the CFU Women’s Challenge Series and dropping matches to Venezuela and Costa Rica in Barranquilla in June, they turned a corner. They ended their time in Colombia by knocking off the Colombians 2-1, and then they set their sights on being one of the top three teams in the Caribbean Zone in order to qualify for the CONCACAF Women’s Championship.
The Reggae Girlz quickly showed that they were the class of the Caribbean. They outscored the other four teams in the final round 23-2, and they hammered the other top teams in the region. Jamaica knocked off Trinidad and Tobago 4-1 and crushed Cuba 6-1 in a match where the Reggae Girlz scored five goals inside of 40 minutes.
To qualify for the Women’s World Cup, Jamaica needed to be one of the top three teams at the CONCACAF Championship in October. They finished second in their group, losing to Canada before upsetting Costa Rica and thumping Cuba, and that put them in the knockout rounds. They were soundly beaten by the Americans 6-0, but they were able to beat Panama 4-2 in penalties in the third place play-off to get to France.
Recent Form
Jamaica have played four matches thus far in 2019, and they will play one more match against Scotland in Edinburgh before the World’s Cup starts in two weeks. The Reggae Girlz beat Chile 1-0 and 3-2 in a set of friendlies in Jamaica in late February and early March, and they went on the road to draw South Africa in Johannesburg in April. On Sunday, they beat Panama 3-1 with superstar Khadija Shaw netting two goals and an assist.
Player to Watch
Shaw is one of the best players in the world already at the age of 22. She has tallied 26 goals in 20 appearances for the international team, and she has been one of the best collegiate players in the United States the last two seasons. Shaw played for the University of Tennessee and knocked in 14 goals in 17 games in 2017, and he followed that up by netting 13 times in 14 games in 2018. She is a goal scoring phenom and should net at least a goal or two in France.
Other Players to Watch
Jamaica has a lot of talent up top. Aside from Shaw, Shakira Duncan and Trudi Carter are forwards that can score too. Duncan is the Reggae Girlz captain and has 23 goals in 12 career games, while Carter showed enough talent that she was signed by AS Roma.
This team is incredibly young though. Many of the players that will likely start are collegiate players in the United States, so experience will be at a premium. Duncan is the only 30 year old that is expected to be named to the 23 woman roster on Friday.
Prediction
It’s a bit tough to ask Jamaica to score a victory over Australia or Brazil, but they could pick off Italy. The Italians have yet to lose in 2019, but they have filled their tune-up schedule with a lot of lesser teams. I think the Reggae Girlz can at least secure a draw in that game and earn a result in their World Cup debut.
Log into BookMaker Sportsbook and get the best Soccer Betting Odds ,Soccer Betting Articles and information about this and all other sports betting events!
