BUOYED by the Jamaica senior men’s football team’s steady climb up the Fifa world ranking over recent months, the local federation is calling on stakeholders to rally behind the country’s qualification quest for the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.

The latest ranking released this month has the team rated 45th in the world and third in Concacaf, behind regional powerhouses Mexico, who are ranked 11th overall, and world number 23 United States.

Jamaica’s highest-ever world ranking is the 27th placing achieved in August 1998, just after their historic World Cup campaign in France — the country’s only qualification to the men’s global showpiece.

“It has not looked this good for our Boyz in a very long time,” said Jamaica Football Federation (JFF) President Michael Ricketts during a press conference at the federation’s base in New Kingston yesterday.

Once Jamaica remain in the top six in the region by the June 2020 edition of the Fifa world ranking they will qualify for the World Cup qualifying hexagonal round — a six-team group stage featuring home-and-away, round-robin games.

From the hexagonal round the top three teams will automatically qualify for the global football showpiece, while the fourth-placed team will enter a play-off tie.

“We need corporate Jamaica to show up for our Boyz now when they need you the most. Our technical team has laid out plans that will demand a minimum spend of US$2 million per annum,” Ricketts said.

The JFF boss urged “the nation to rally behind” the Reggae Boyz to make the World Cup qualification “dream a reality”.

The Jamaicans have been dominant in the second tier of the Concacaf Nations League, to date winning all four games in Group C. Another point from their two remaining games will hand Jamaica promotion to League A.

“Our Reggae Boyz have made steady strides in the Concacaf Nations League tournament…leading to their climb of seven spots on the Fifa world ranking within the last two months,” Ricketts said.

To strengthen their chances of remaining in the top six in the region Jamaica must beat Antigua and Barbuda away on November 15, and Guyana at Catherine Hall Sports Complex three days later in Nations League fixture. Ricketts noted that it would also be in their best interest to be active during the Fifa international window next March. He said winning all arranged friendly encounters will be crucial.

Though pointing out that World Cup qualification is the priority, Reggae Boyz Head Coach Theodore Whitmore noted that success in the Nations League has pushed them to the brink of qualification for the 2021 Concacaf Gold Cup event.

“Our major objective [is] the qualification for the Fifa 2022 World Cup in Qatar. The other objective [is] the Concacaf Nations League qualification to League A, qualification to the 2021 Gold Cup and winning the 2021 Gold Cup.

“We need to use the competitions available to us to test, grow and develop the players, whilst all the time building a strong unit,” he stated.

He added that he wants to “build the unit into a cohesive group with emphasis on team bonding, [and] camaraderie, driven by commonality of purpose.”

Whitmore said he is looking at the pool of players at his disposal with a view to identifying “three players for each position” on the field.

“We don’t want the complacency to creep in. We always want players to keep challenging [for a place], we always want players to keep looking over their shoulders,” he said.

He noted that the local premier league, which is a conveyor belt for most of the national players, should be “supported and nurtured to allow it to grow to its true potential”.

Jamaica’s goalkeeper Amal Knight joined the cry for support, urging fans and potential sponsors to support the team.

“I’m very privileged to be a part of this set-up and I think we have a very good chance of making it to the 2022 World Cup in Qatar. We have made tremendous strides in the past few months, and I think going forward we need the support of the Jamaican public. We need corporate Jamaica to come on board and we need the stadium to be filled,” Knight said.