Never in anyone’s wildest dreams was this seen coming – Jamaica numbered among the top 16 nations in any FIFA World Cup tournament.

Jamaica’s senior Reggae Girlz, like so many other tiny nations, have struggled against the big countries in women’s football over the years, but every so often, these “underdog” teams emerge to have their moment in the spotlight.

Such is the situation for Jamaica at the ongoing FIFA Women’s World Cup.

The Reggae Girlz are competing in their second FIFA Women’s World Cup, and at the edition that is being co-hosted by Australia and New Zealand, they have made history three times.

The Caribbean side held European heavyweights and world fifth-ranked France to a 0-0 result in Sydney on July 23, which was noteworthy for the Jamaicans because it was their first-ever point at a World Cup. Then, on July 29, they made even more history by defeating Panama 1-0 in Perth, their first World Cup win which at the time was the country’s most significant achievement in women’s football.

Then, on August 2, the Reggae Girlz shocked everyone by holding Brazil to a legendary 0-0 draw in Melbourne, earning them a historic place in the tournament’s knockout rounds. Women’s football in this nation has now achieved its greatest success, thanks to this fairy-tale run. All of this happened after the Reggae Girlz dropped all three of their group stage matches in France four years prior.

According to Lorne Donaldson, head coach of the Reggae Girlz, Jamaica weren’t expected to participate in the World Cup in 2019.

“We simply genuinely got a group together, the programme was fairly new, and we said, ‘yeah, we are in’,” he said.

“Back then, we were young. We didn’t have the professional players like Rebecca Spencer, Drew Spence, and those women. Allyson and Chantelle Swaby were quite young when they first appeared, but now that they are mature, it is clear what they are capable of. To mention a few, Deneisha Blackwood and Khadija “Bunny” Shaw were like 21 or 22 years old, and Jody Brown was 16.

“We were a very young crew, and I think we were happy to be there. However, this time we declared that we would not just turn up, since we had stated from the beginning that we must come out of the group and everybody said that was impossible. Again, we have the mentality that nothing is impossible; therefore, that’s why we remained a team,” the tactician continued.

According to Donaldson, smaller countries now have a greater understanding of and are are investing more in their women’s programmes, and as such, the gap between them and the top nations is fast closing.

“I think what is getting into the smaller countries now is not just the resources they have, but the understanding, like the coaching, the medical staff, and the diets, to name a few. It’s the little things. We still don’t have the big things because most of the time we can’t even find a place to train; we have to search hard.

“The big countries have this, and they go to facilities to train; we don’t unless we travel, and so that’s still going to be there unless our federation or Government puts it in. I mean, it is a good thing we have somebody like Cedella Marley, who I think will do something for Jamaica, but I would like to see the rest of the countries, like Haiti or some of these countries, get the same thing. I am hoping that Jamaica will do something and people will say, ‘oh, if Jamaica can do it, then we can do it’,” Donaldson said.

He added that money is crucial to the growth of both the players and the women’s programme; therefore, a collaborative effort is effort is required to drive the sport forward.

“The big countries will still have the stuff because they have the money. We are not going to get the money. From the big sponsorship whether it is Adidas or Nike, they are going to give them [big countries] more money than what they are going to give us.

“What we get from some of these sponsors it’s a pittance compared to what they would give a bigger country, and so we have to just keep plugging away,” Donaldson said.