While the national women’s team was eliminated from contention for a berth in the 2024 International Hockey Federation (FIH) Hockey 5s World Cup, the Jamaican men’s team is in a stronger position to qualify for the global showpiece.

The Jamaicans, who placed second in Pool A behind the United States, will face Guatemala in their Pan American Confederation Hockey 5s World Cup Qualifiers crossover match today at 2:30 pm at the Mona Hockey Field.

Following a 2-4 loss to the United States in their first game on Sunday, Jamaica won their next two games, beating Panama 3-1 on Monday before finishing the preliminary stage with a 3-2 win over Panama to set up the match against Guatemala, who finished third in Pool B.

If Jamaica win, they will advance to the semi-finals, which will be played later that day.

The national men’s team coach, Duvaugh Henlon, remarked that his team is in good spirits and should remain competitive at the games.

“The team is feeling very confident; they are giving their all to try and make it to the World Cup, and so we will be going out there against Guatemala for a win and trying to play some very good hockey to achieve that,” he said.

The FIH Hockey 5s World Cup is scheduled to take place from January 24-31 in Muscat, Oman. The tournament will involve 16 teams in both the men’s and women’s categories. The top three teams from the Pan American Confederation Hockey 5s World Cup Qualifiers will qualify for the World Cup.

Meanwhile, the women’s team was defeated 0-3 by the United States in their crossover game on Thursday, thereby ruining their World Cup hopes.

Linnea Gonzales led the way for the Americans with two field goals in the second and 11th minutes, while Carter Ayars scored the other goal in the 15th minute to seal the victory.

While the team’s hopes of qualifying for Hockey 5s World Cup were dashed, Coach Nicole Bradshaw feels her players improved significantly over the competition.

“Magnificent improvement from the players; it was a very good improvement, and they are playing better and better with every game. This was what we were really looking for, and we have achieved our objective, so the focus is now definitely on the CAC Games in El Salvador,” the soft-spoken Bradshaw told the Jamaica Observer.