Jamaica’s senior Reggae Boyz will begin their hunt for a 2022 Fifa World Cup berth away from home against tough opposition, as arch rivals Mexico is first in their line of sight in the Concacaf qualifying campaign set to begin in June 2021.

Details of the qualifying campaign were revealed during a live official draw conducted by Fifa and Concacaf at Fifa’s Zurich base yesterday.

The new Concacaf qualifiers for the Qatar World Cup comprise three rounds and provide all participating member associations with an opportunity to compete for the confederation’s three-and-a-half spots to the showpiece.

By virtue of being fourth in Concacaf, the 48th-ranked Reggae Boyz are among the five teams safely tucked away in the third and final round, where they await three other teams to complete the final eight that will battle for the coveted spots. Top-ranked Mexico, United States, Costa Rica and Honduras are the others in the big five.

The eight teams will play each other home and away, with each team playing 14 matches.

The previous qualifying format – the hexagon, which comprised of the top six teams, playing 10 matches – was abandoned to pave way for the current format due to the crippling effects of the COVID-19 pandemic.

In all, 30 Concacaf nations, ranked 6-35 based on the Fifa Men’s Ranking as of July 16, 2020, will compete in the first round from which only the six group winners will advance to a second round of head-to-head knockout series, with the top three progressing to the final round.

The first-round games will be played in the Fifa match windows of October 2020 and November 2020, while the second round will be contested in the Fifa match window of March 2021.

Meanwhile, final round action will begin in the double Fifa match window in June 2021 and continue in the match windows of September, October and November 2021, as well as January and March 2022.

After Mexico, Theodore Whitmore’s Reggae Boyz, drawn as team number eight for the final round, will then be at home to one of the qualifying teams, before visiting Costa Rica and United States in that order in June.

They will then return home to host another qualifying team, before travelling to Honduras in the September window.

In October, the Reggae Boyz will be away to the third qualifying team, after which they will welcome United States to “The Office”. Their return fixtures against Mexico, Costa Rica and Honduras, will be in November, January and March, in that order.

At the end of the final round, the top three teams on points will qualify directly to the 2022 Fifa World Cup in Qatar.

The fourth-placed team will qualify for the Fifa Intercontinental Play-off, scheduled to be played in June 2022.