Jamaica Football Federation (JFF) President Michael Ricketts and national senior women’s team Assistant Coach Xavier Gilbert are confident the Reggae Girlz will be ready to make a good run in the Concacaf W Championship as they seek progress to other major tournaments.

Both were speaking after Wednesday’s draw for the first round of qualifying for the regional women’s championship.

Jamaica, who were pre-seeded and placed in Group B prior to Wednesday’s official draw in Miami, are to face Guyana, Nicaragua, Dominica, and Antigua and Barbuda in the first round, which is scheduled to kick off in November and is to end in April 2026.

At stake from the very first round will be qualification to the 2026 Concacaf W Championship, a third-straight trip to the FIFA Women’s World Cup in Brazil in 2027 and possibly a spot to the 2028 Olympic Games in Los Angeles, United States.

The draw was the first step for teams aspiring to feature at these events, a fact that was not lost on the two men.

Ricketts described the group as “manageable”, while Gilbert told the Jamaica Observer on Thursday they already “had an idea of the level and quality” of the teams they would be facing.

Ricketts said he was “confident” the Jamaicans would win the first round but warned the road thereafter might be tricky.

“It will depend, as well, on how well we do afterwards. The real issue comes after that first hurdle,” he told the
Observer.

“We are in good stead and should be able to win the group, and we are really focused on getting to a third-straight Women’s World Cup,” the JFF boss said.

“We missed out on the Concacaf W Championship last time and we have to ensure we are there this time,” he added in reference to an under-strength Jamaica team failing to advance from the regional qualifiers last time around.

Gilbert emphasised that the Hubert Busby-led coaching staff is prepared for the teams they will face in the first-round qualifiers.

“… We just have to be smart,” he said. “I think Guyana might be our toughest test, so we got to prepare both physical and mentally.”

He added: “We have to make use of our home games and get good results at home, and once we put everything in place, we should advance.

“[The objective] is to top the group and get that spot, to get closer to our qualification for Brazil. That’s the mindset, and that’s what we’re focusing on. We have to take one game at a time. We understand the World Cup qualification, and it also puts us in a good position to get an Olympic spot once we qualify, so we will be focusing on that as well.”

Gilbert was in charge of the squad that narrowly missed qualification to the previous Concacaf Championship. That squad was without the core of the team which created history by getting past the first round of the 2023 FIFA World Cup in Australia and New Zealand.

“We narrowly missed the last time, so we are mindful of what is on offer. We want to go out and execute as best as possible to ensure that we do our best.”

In the first round of the upcoming qualifiers, each team in the six groups are slated to play four games — two at home and two away. The group winners will join the United States and Canada, who received byes to the Women’s Championship in November 2026, with the organisers yet to announce the host country.

The tournament serves as the confederation’s qualifier for the Women’s World Cup and the 2028 Summer Olympics.

The semi-finalists at the Concacaf W Championships will earn qualification to the World Cup, while the finalists will also qualify for the Olympics.

Jamaica’s players celebrate after defeating Costa Rica 1-0 in the Concacaf W Championship third-place football match at the BBVA Bancomer stadium in Monterrey, Mexico, on July 18, 2022. (Photo: AFP)

GILBERT… we have to make use of our home games and get good results at home, and once we put everything in place, we should advance