MR Dennis Chung, general secretary of the Jamaica Football Federation (JFF), was reported as saying earlier this month that he would be shocked if Jamaica’s national men’s team, the Reggae Boyz, fail to qualify for the 2026 FIFA World Cup.

Such confidence is largely grounded in the reality that the 2026 World Cup will be co-hosted by Concacaf nations Mexico, United States, and Canada. It means those three will automatically qualify.

The situation presents a grand opportunity for others in the Concacaf region — Jamaica, Costa Rica, Honduras, El Salvador, Panama, Guatemala, Haiti, Trinidad and Tobago, among others — to battle for three places, with the possibility of an additional play-off spot.

In other words, it’s not beyond the realm of possibility that seven Concacaf teams could be at the 2026 FIFA World Cup, which will have an unprecedented high of 48 teams — 16 more than the highly successful tournament held in Qatar late last year.

Of course, as Jamaicans know from hard experience throughout the 25 years since this country reached its only senior men’s FIFA World Cup tournament in 1998, there are no guarantees. The one thing we can all be certain of, however, is that our neighbours in Concacaf will be fighting tooth and nail to get themselves on that final list for 2026.

That recognition influenced the JFF to move early to contract acclaimed Icelander Mr Heimir Hallgrímsson as head coach late last year, to carry the national team through the qualification phase up ahead.

Most agree that Mr Hallgrímsson has had an encouraging start, the 2-2 draw with regional powerhouse Mexico in high-altitude Mexico City in late March being easily his most impressive result.

A crucial stage in the preparation for those Concacaf World Cup qualifiers takes place in June/July in the USA and Canada. We refer, of course, to the Concacaf Gold Cup, a tournament in which Jamaica has a fairly good record, having reached the final twice.

For this edition of the Gold Cup, Jamaica have been drawn alongside defending champions United States, as well as Nicaragua and either Curaçao, French Guiana, St Kitts and Nevis, or Sint Maarten in Group A.

Mexico are drawn in Group B to play Haiti, Honduras, and invited guest Qatar. Costa Rica meet El Salvador, Panama, and either Martinique, Puerto Rico, St Lucia or Suriname in Group C; while Canada face Cuba, Guatemala, and either Grenada, Guadeloupe, Guyana or Trinidad and Tobago in Group D.

Very importantly, with the world’s top professional club competitions by then into the summer break, the Reggae Boyz will be preparing for the Gold Cup with two friendly internationals against Qatar and Jordan on June 15 and 19, respectively, in Austria.

Influential Jamaican defender Mr Damion Lowe reminds us that friendlies such as these are crucial in preparation for major tournaments.

Said he: “Everyone wants to win — and a win will definitely give us some momentum going into the [Gold Cup] tournament — but I feel like our main focus should be creating an identity, understanding our system, and becoming familiar with our teammates…”

Jamaicans, yearning for a return to the glory days of 1998, will be watching the upcoming friendlies, and the Gold Cup to follow, with great interest.