AS the Concacaf Women’s Qualifiers draw near, Jamaica’s senior women’s football team head coach Hubert Busby has been unequivocal about his mission.

The Reggae Girlz are laser-focused on advancing to the second round of the Qualifiers next year, with the ultimate dream of securing a coveted spot at the 2027 FIFA Women’s World Cup in Brazil.

The Jamaicans, who have participated in the previous two editions of the FIFA Women’s World Cup, found themselves planted in Group B of the Concacaf Women’s Qualifiers — a crucible housing Guyana, Nicaragua, Dominica, and Antigua and Barbuda.

Beyond the group stage lies the Concacaf Women’s Championship — a high-stakes, eight-team knockout odyssey in November 2026, uniting the six group winners with automatic qualifiers United States and Canada.

The tournament unfurls in five electrifying rounds: quarter-finals, play-in, semi-finals, third-place match, and grand final. But there’s a twist, Concacaf will marshal teams 1-8 based on FIFA Women’s Rankings, pitting the highest-ranked against the lowest in quarter-final duels.

The prize for semi-finalists is a guarantee of tickets to the FIFA Women’s World Cup — the pinnacle of global women’s football.

Quarter-final losers won’t be shut out as they’ll be funnelled into a play-in during which two victors claim berths in the Intercontinental Play-Off, battling for one last World Cup lifeline.

With the squad veil yet to lift, Busby said selections hinge on crystalline criteria, current form, a proven track record in recent windows, team chemistry, and an almost alchemical growth mindset. Players who embody these traits — adaptability, resilience, cohesion — are poised to don the iconic black, green, and gold, carrying the hopes of a nation fervently backing their stride.

“Selection of players for the qualifiers will be based on current form as well as history of performing well in the last few windows. Team chemistry and players who consistently demonstrate a positive growth and mindset will also play a significant role in team selection,” Busby told the Jamaica Observer.

Busby said that the team selected will boast a bedrock of veterans who weathered the storms of previous World Cups, including stalwarts from the 2019 squad still dazzling at club level. Yet, intertwined with this seasoned core are fresh faces — 12 senior debutants over the past year, 10 of whom are under 23, birthed from Jamaica’s burgeoning youth systems.

“We have a substantial number of players returning from the last World Cup. In fact, we also have a few from our 2019 team who are still performing well at club level. Over the past year we have given senior debuts to 12 players, several of whom have come through our youth systems.

“Of those twelve debutants, 10 are under 23 years old. All of them have performed well against some of the best countries in the world. We are excited about our core group of players as we look to the future,” Busby noted.

Their sights are trained unwaveringly on the 2027 Fifa Women’s World Cup in Brazil — the immediate zenith — but beyond this lies a broader vision to embed Jamaica among Concacaf’s top three women’s teams, a regional powerhouse. Nor is this all; Busby said the programme harbours loftier dreams of qualifying for the 2028 Olympic Games, a maiden appearance on the Games’ grandest stage, alongside nurturing youth contingents destined for future tournaments as history beckons.

“As mentioned, the goal is to qualify for the 2027 World Cup in Brazil. That is our primary focus, full stop. As it pertains to the programme, we want to be one of the top three women’s teams in our region (Concacaf). As a programme, we also need to look at making history by qualifying for our first Olympic Games in 2028 while also ensuring that our youth teams qualify for major tournaments in the future,” explained the head coach.

For Jamaica, Busby said advancement isn’t mere aspiration — it’s imperative. He said women’s football rides a crest of growth; qualification unlocks cascading benefits, inspiring investments, galvanising stakeholders islandwide. He also stated that the revamped Women’s Premier League kindles hope as clubs elevating standards nurture not just players, but a swelling army of supporters, heralding a new golden generation.

“We must continue to qualify for major tournaments, with the World Cup being the pinnacle of those achievements. Women’s football is on the ascendency, and to achieve this we must continue to make the necessary investments to ensure qualification is secured. From a local perspective, all stakeholders must continue to work together. With the revamping of the Women’s Premier League and clubs raising their standards, it will also inspire another great generation of players and supporters of the game,” Busby said.

BUSBY… we must continue to qualify for major tournaments, with the World Cup being the pinnacle of those achievements

Jamaica’s Trudi Carter (left) vies for the ball in the second half of an international friendly against Mexico, as part of the Mex Tour W 2025 in Houston, Texas, on April 8, 2025. (Photo: AFP)

Jamaica’s Reggae Girlz defender Malikae Dayes (left) tackles Guatemala’s Andrea Alvarez during the Concacaf W Gold Cup Qualifier in Guatemala City on December 3, 2023.

Khadija Shaw (left) of Jamaica and Alana Cook of the United States vie for the ball during the Concacaf Women’s Championship football match at BBVA Bancomer stadium in Monterrey, Mexico, on July 7, 2022. (Photo: AFP)