Rudolph Speid, the incoming interim head coach of the Reggae Boyz, is bracing for what he believes will be an even tougher pathway to the World Cup than the qualifying campaign that Jamaica just stumbled out of, but insists that the task is far from impossible.

With Jamaica now funnelled into a tricky Inter-confederation play-off in March for a final shot at World Cup 2026 qualification, Speid, who takes charge of the team on December 15, is not sugar-coating the situation, with New Caledonia and DR Congo — if they get that far — standing in the way of an appearance at the showpiece event set for North America and Mexico.

“I think it is more difficult to get through that one than the one that we just failed in; that’s my assessment,” Speid told the Jamaica Observer, warning particularly against complacency in their opening play-off clash against the 149th-ranked Oceania nation.

“New Caledonia is not coming to play dead; they are going to play very hard, and it’s easy for us to underestimate them. In addition, they have an advantage; they play at altitude and we are going to be playing them in altitude, so we have to take those factors into consideration.”

The Inter-confederation play-off, which also features Bolivia, Suriname, and Iraq, will be played in the Mexican cities of Monterrey and Guadalajara on March 26 and 31.

“You see when a team knows the challenge and what they have to do — like New Caledonia, they know they are playing opponents that are ranked higher; they play differently, so it will be a task to break them down,” Speid said.

“We have to really look and study them, but I think we have to be careful not to look past them before we actually get past them. We are not going to make that mistake.”

If the Jamaicans, ranked 70th, get past New Caledonia on March 26 they will face the 56th-ranked African nation DR Congo five days later, with the winner advancing to the World Cup.

While they present as the higher-profile opponent, Speid believes their strengths also present an opportunity.

“Congo come across with a lot of pedigree and they would have done very well,” he said. “There is the African Cup of Nations, which they will get some practice from more than us, because we will be dormant while they will be playing at least three games. I expect them to go through the rounds so they will be playing four or five games. So, they will have a more set team, but that’s an advantage and a disadvantage.

“They will probably stick to that team so I will be able to look at what they are doing. We have beaten teams that are ranked much higher than Congo in the past, so it is going to be interesting.

“I think it is going to be tough. We have to be on our ‘A’ game and get the people with the right mentality. We are not going into that game to say we can’t lose; but winning is not beyond us, we can definitely do it,” he said.

Still, he and his technical team will have to figure out the best way to prepare the team with there being no FIFA windows between now and March, meaning he will not see the bulk of his players until a few days before the start of the play-offs.

“One of the thing that we will be looking at is who is playing, who is playing a lot of minutes at their clubs, those are some of the players that we really have to look at,” Speid said.

“It doesn’t make any sense at this point to say we need more time, we won’t get any more time. We have to look back at the games and work out what we need to do to ensure we are best prepared. Our plan is to have a game in late January or February to lock in the players from the Americas. So once we look at those players — if they are available — we want to get a game before MLS [Major League Soccer] starts so we can have a look and lock them in, those who will be considered in the squad.

“We will do some training with those, so it should be a little easier when the rest of the squad joins up and they will also help the others to convey the mentality and approach,” he continued.

Speid replaces Steve McClaren after the latter stepped down following Jamaica’s 0-0 draw with Curacao earlier this month. The result ended the Reggae Boyz’s hopes of qualifying automatically for the World Cup.

SPEID…we have to be on our ‘A’ game and get the people with the right mentality (Photo: Garfield Robinson)