Reggae Boyz Head Coach Heimir Hallgrimsson and assistant John Wahl are expected to hit the ground running when they arrive on the island next month in their initial preparation for Jamaica’s 2026 FIFA World Cup qualifying campaign.

The 55-year-old Hallgrimsson, who signed a four-year contract with the Jamaica Football Federation (JFF) in September of this year, has been tasked with aiding the development of Jamaica’s football and qualifying the national side for the 2026 World Cup that will be co-hosted by the United States, Mexico and Canada.

The vastly experienced Hallgrimsson, who is a dentist by profession, is no stranger to the Fifa World Cup having guided Iceland to qualification in the 2018 showpiece, which was held in Russia.

In his two friendly international matches since taking the reins of the Reggae Boyz team, the team went down 3-1 to Argentina before drawing 1-1 with Cameroon.

Dennis Chung, general secretary of the JFF, told the Jamaica Observer that Hallgrimsson, along with his coaching staff, will also have oversight of all other national teams. “He will be coming in about the middle of January and as the head coach, he will be responsible for the development of the Jamaican team and that of course includes looking at all the talents that are out there.

“Our World Cup campaign starts from now really, if you think about it, so this is definitely part of the plans to have him here early next year because we are not just talking about the men alone, we are at the 2023 World Cup for women and our talent development is going to focus on girls and boys,” he stated.

“John Wahl, who is the assistant coach, is coming with him, and he is the person that is responsible for the talent development in Jamaica. This means that we are going to be looking at putting programmes in place to ensure that the talents are developed from as early as the primary school level,” Chung said.

The JFF top administrator said Wahl, in part, will act as chief scout for the programmes.

“We already have a good high school system in place, but what happens is that before that and after that, we tend to have a problem in terms of their transition, and so that is one of the things that John Wahl will be seriously looking at,” Chung said.

He underscored that there are a lot of talented Jamaican football players who are oftentimes overlooked by the coaching staff due to the fact that they are not playing in the top leagues in the country, but with the new focus, it is expected that more young players will be caught in the net sooner.

“There are people who are out there playing and are not necessarily on the best teams, and so some of them get [overlooked] that way, so we will be able to see them and we will be able to recognise and help them to develop,” said Chung, who took over as general secretary of the JFF from Dalton Wint last month.

Hallgrimsson, Chung hinted, will be on the raod himself to get a first-hand look at the talent across the island.

“He [Hallgrimsson] is going to be living here because it is a four-year contract and I am sure that he will be going to all of the [Jamaica] Premier League games because he wants to see the talents that are out there,” he said.

“When I spoke to him before I became the general secretary of the JFF, one of the things that he said was that he was just really getting his feet wet because he wants to see what is available out there… he will be trying different players and getting a feel of what sort of talent is out there and so I am sure he will be at all of the premier league matches,” Chung said.