THE road to Brazil 2027 goes through Mexico as Jamaica’s senior Reggae Girlz will get a taste of hostile, high-pressure football when they face 28thranked El Tri Femenil in two friendly internationals — the first today in Aguascalientes at 3:00 pm (Jamaica time).

The second game is on October 13 in Querétaro and for Head Coach Hubert Busby, it is the perfect dress rehearsal for next month’s do-or-die showdown against Costa Rica in the Concacaf Women’s Championship quarter-final in Dallas, which will determine whether Jamaica books its ticket to the 2027 World Cup in Brazil.

“We’ve got two really tough matches against the 28th-ranked team in the world, Mexico, in some hostile conditions on home soil, but we feel it’s going to serve us well heading into Dallas next month,” Busby said in a pre-game press conference yesterday.

The Girlz have almost a full camp in Mexico. The only late arrival is University of North Carolina goalkeeper Liya Brooks, who has just cleared concussion protocol and will join the squad today, just in time for the opener.

“Overall, everyone is in camp,” reported Busby. “We had a good couple of days of training. We had some late arrivals that we were able to have to deal with coming in. But overall, the last two sessions have been lively, very spirited, and the players are in a good frame of mind, which is good to see. So, yeah, just really excited about the match tomorrow (today). And as it takes us into the final match that will qualify us for Brazil in 2027.”

The focus is experience and Busby has leaned heavily on his World Cup veterans for these two games.

“The reality is there’s no substitute for experience,” he said.

“Coming into this hostile environment and the ones we’re going to go into next month, you need players who have seen it and done it before.

“With that said, we have some really good young players and some other professional players who weren’t able to get to this camp right now that are going to be asking questions as well. So we have a really strong group that we are confident in that will be able to get the job done.”

But Busby was clear — this camp is about more than mere results. It is about fine-tuning every detail before Costa Rica.

“We’re really focused on these two matches, but the reality is these two matches are what get us ready for Costa Rica. We play to get results; we play to ensure that we win games and have great momentum going forward.

“It’s really about us being able to execute and put the fine-tuning on the things that we want to do, both offensively, defensively, and also in transition,” he said.

Even the logistics have been carefully planned. Busby said that the distance between Aguascalientes and Querétaro almost mirrors Dallas to Houston — the exact travel the Girlz would face if they win in Dallas and have to move quickly.

“One of the other things that we’re able to replicate is the distances between the games,” Busby said. “Aguascalientes and Querétaro are almost the same distances from Dallas to Houston. So we’ll be able to replicate that travel immediately after the game in terms of what that would look like for our group the minute we win that match.

“All of that is done in preparation and trying to make sure that all details are covered heading into Dallas.”

SQUAD

Goalkeepers: Aliyah Morgan,

Rebecca Spence, Liya Brooks

Defenders: Allyson Swaby,

Chantelle Swaby, Deneisha

Blackwood, Konya Plummer,

Naya Cardoza, Tianna Harris,

Kameron Simmonds, Amelia

Van Zanten

Midfielders: Atlanta Primus,

Olufolasade Adamolekun, Drew

Spence, Jody Brown, Jade

Bailey, Solai Washington

Forwards: Natasha Thomas,

Trudi Carter, Kayla McKenna,

Paige Bailey-Gayle, Kalyssa Van

Zanten, Khadija Shaw