The United Nations headquartered in New York City has a total membership of 193 independent nations, which gather annually to discuss and try to resolve matters pertinent to sustainability, productivity and peace on the planet.

FIFA, on the other hand, with a total membership of 211 nations, meets quadrennially after various qualifying rounds to determine which nation will be crowned world champion.

During the summer months of 2026 the world will witness the staging of another World Cup.

On Thursday, June 11, 2026, at 4:00 pm the first match of the 2026 campaign will begin in Mexico City, Mexico. Thirty-eight days later, on Sunday, July 19, the final match of the tournament will be played in New Jersey, USA also at 4:00 pm.

Unlike Qatar in 2022 when 32 teams participated in the final round, the Americas in 2026 will host 48 teams.

As of Saturday, November 15, with the qualification of France from the UEFA confederation, 30 nations have qualified to compete in the final round. Between now and March 2026 the battle is on to fill the remaining 18 slots.

Since 1930 when the inaugural tournament was played, 22 tournaments have been completed. Only eight nations have had the honour of hoisting the championship trophy.

In approximately 248 days from now, a new nation may raise the trophy, but if history is to be believed, it will be one of the previous eight.

One nation stands alone with five trophies, and is closely followed by another with four. The remaining 13 are the property of six nations. Winning the World Cup is no easy achievement, as evidenced by the dearth of champions over 92 years of global football.

The statistical analysis of the World Cup dynamic clearly postulates that the disparities between the past champions and the other members of FIFA will persist. The remaining 203 members must be content with just qualifying for the final rounds. Some members are perennial qualifiers while others have done it intermittently, and then there are those who have done it once and seemed to have forgotten the blueprint that got them to the big dance initially.

The nation from the land that gave the planet reggae music and Bob Marley is one that belongs in that latter category.

As Jamaica prepared to become the first English-speaking country to attend the 1998 World Cup in France they were dubbed with the moniker Reggae Boyz by their Zambian brothers and sisters while on a tour of West Africa. No matter what the age group or the sex of the ballers, international football is inexorably linked to the Reggae genre.

On Sunday, November 16, 1997 the tiny island of Jamaica, under the strategic, experienced tutelage of Brazilian coach Rene Simoes, along with the administrative guidance of Captain Horace Burrell, made the impossible possible — the trip to France.

The final score of 1-1 against the all-conquering Mexicans was all that was needed to play with the football elite of planet Earth in 1998.

Words fail to do justice to the unmitigated euphoria, pride, and unparalleled unity that permeated Jamaicans at home and throughout the diaspora. Crime went on vacation, uptown and downtown became one town.

The only other time in our third decade of political independence when such unity was displayed was August 6, 1962, when the colonial shackles of Britain were removed.

On Tuesday, November 18, 2025, there is the possibility that the euphoria and unity of November 1997 and August 1962 can be replicated.

Prior to Thursday, November 13, the Reggae Boyz were sole leaders of the ultra weak CONCACAF Zone B, but because points (1-1) were shared at Hasley Crawford stadium in Trinidad, and Bermuda was dismantled 0-7 by second place Curacao, the standings have now flipped.

The Boyz are now in second place with a game in hand against new leaders Curacao who have never qualified for the final rounds. Can Jamaica do what is required of them and qualify for their second tournament in 28 years?

I honestly hope so, but I would be a liar if I said I was confident. In 1997 it was different, because Peter Cargill, Ricardo Gardner, Deon Burton, Paul Hall and all other members of the team played like their lives depended on qualifying for France.

If that determination, do or die attitude, along with a huge dose of patriotism, can be repeated, the Boyz will qualify again.

If not, there is a consolation prize for runners up with play-off games against another confederation.

One also has to wonder if the absence of Dutch coach Dick Advocatt on Curacao’s bench in Tuesday’s engagement favours the home team or the visitors.

Can a country with a population of 185,000 citizens defeat a country with more than 3,000,0000 again?

We don’t have long to stress. Tuesday is almost here, not even 24 hours away.