Xavier Gilbert, assistant coach of Jamaica’s senior women’s football team, says with the Reggae Girlz rise in the world rankings he believes more doors will be open to international assignments against top-level opposition.

The Reggae Girlz entered the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup, which was hosted in Australia and New Zealand, ranked 43rd in the world.

Following their miraculous run to the round-of-16 stage at the global showpiece, they climbed to 37th in the latest FIFA rankings.

“It’s a good move. It’s good for us and, therefore, it means that we will definitely get invitations from bigger teams to play and earn a lot more respect right across the world,” Gilbert told the Jamaica Observer.

“So it’s extremely excellent for us, and we’re thrilled because this shift is a testament to the hard work we’ve put in over the years to not just increase our rankings, but also, more significantly, enhance our overall performance,” Gilbert added.

The Reggae Girlz held France and Brazil to scoreless results and won their first match at a World Cup when they edged Panama 1-0 to advance from the group stage. They went on to lose 0-1 to the now 22nd-ranked Colombia in the round of 16.

Making it to the round of 16 was an overachievement for the Jamaicans, who became the first Caribbean nation – male or female – to play in the World Cup knockout stages since Cuba in 1938.

Gilbert said the team’s fairytale run contributed to a number of players, including star defender Allyson Swaby and attacker Trudi Carter, landing contracts.

Swaby, 26, signed a contract with AC Milan until 2026, her second tenure in the women’s Serie A after previously representing AS Roma.

Carter, 28, inked a deal with Mexican club Atletico San Luis after a brief time with AS Roma was cut short due to injury.

“Our players who were out of contract will be looked at for new contracts. And we’ve already seen how that has impacted as we have some players who weren’t at clubs that are now at clubs like Trudi Carter, Konya Plummer, Tierney Wiltshire, and others who have made moves like Allyson returning to Italy.

“We’ve seen where the ladies’ performances and jumping and moving up the rankings have already paid dividends. I am so proud of them,” Gilbert remarked.

The Reggae Girlz will face a critical Olympic Games qualifying play-off match versus defending Olympic champions Canada during the next FIFA match window in September.

Victory at the end of the two-legged tie, featuring matches in Kingston on September 22 and Toronto on September 26, would make Jamaica the first Caribbean nation to qualify for the women’s football tournament at the Olympic Games. It would also give them the second automatic qualifying spot for the Concacaf Women’s Gold Cup with the United States.

“We’ve seen what we’re capable of against tougher opponents. We intend to approach the game in a similar manner — analyse our opponents and discover where we think we can exploit them.

“We certainly respect what they bring to the table, but we expect a lot from ourselves, and we are optimistic about our ability and what we can accomplish with the proper level of preparation.

“I believe that with the calibre of players we have and the depth we have we can be tougher and more competitive than in the past and hopefully get favourable results,” Gilbert said.