MERRON Gordon, assistant coach of Jamaica’s Reggae Boyz, has cautioned against complacency after Thursday’s draw for Concacaf qualifying for the Fifa World Cup 2026 to be hosted by Mexico, United States and Canada.

At the draw that was held in Geneva, Switzerland, at Fifa headquarters the Jamaicans, in Pot 1 which is reserved for the top teams in the confederation, were pitted alongside Guatemala, Dominican Republic, Dominica and the winner of a play-off between the British Virgin Islands and the US Virgin Islands.

The other seeded countries are Costa Rica, Haiti, Panama, and El Salvador. They, along with Jamaica, will enter the competition at the second round in June, after two two-way, home-and-away play-offs to decide the two qualifiers.

While British Virgin Islands and US Virgin Islands will clash in one play-off, Turks and Caicos Islands and Anguilla will face off in the other. The play-off contests are scheduled for March.

Gordon said with the growth of the game the traditionally stronger teams cannot afford to take any chances.

“We are going to have to fight for our spot,” Gordon said after the draw.

“Where world football is at today, there are no walkovers; we cannot take any thing for granted,” he told the
Jamaica Observer.

“The opportunity to go to the World Cup will get the best out of everyone, and our first game in June will be critical. We need to win our first game, start positively, and build on that.

“Countries are digging into their heritage and Diaspora to find players,” he said, insisting that teams which some consider to be “minnows” must be shown respect.

The Dominican Republic qualified for the Fifa Under-20 World Cup last year, and despite losing all three games at the tournament Gordon said they were “constantly building” on what they did “in the last U-20 World Cup and can be dangerous”.

He added: “[They] have players who are playing for clubs in the lower divisions in England.”

Ricardo Gardner, who was a member of the Reggae Boyz team which featured at the 1998 World Cup and was a guest at the draw alongside former Costa Rican player Paulo Wanchope, said while it is a competitive group he thinks Jamaica has the players to get through.

“It is a tough group,” he said, “but I am sure the coaches are already doing their homework to get ready for the games.

“With the talent and team of players we have to choose from, we should win the group,” Gardner opined.

The second round will be played in a “Swiss format”, with teams playing against each other once — two home and two away — between June 2024 and 2025. The top two teams will advance to the third round, which will be contested between September and November 2025 to decide the qualifiers for the World Cup.

Group A – Honduras, Antigua & Barbuda, Cuba, Bermuda, Cayman Islands

Group B – Costa Rica, Trinidad and Tobago, St Kitts & Nevis, Grenada, The Bahamas

Group C – Haiti, Curacao, St Lucia, Barbados, Aruba

Group D – Panama, Nicaragua, Guyana, Montserrat, Belize

Group E- Jamaica, Guatemala, Dominican Republic, Dominica, British Virgin Islands or US Virgin Islands

Group F- El Salvador, Suriname, Puerto Rico, St Vincent and the Grenadines, Turks & Caicos or Anguilla