MIAMI, Florida – The Jamaican Women’s National Team will continue to write 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup history on Tuesday at the Melbourne Rectangular Stadium in Melbourne, Australia when they face Colombia in their first ever knockout stage match.
Jamaica was the first Caribbean nation to qualify to the biggest tournament in women’s football back when they played in France 2019. Now, they add another chapter, this time as a Caribbean nation debuting in a knockout stage at the Women’s World Cup.
The Reggae Girlz showed why they finished third at the 2022 Concacaf W Championship, displaying a great game plan against all their opponents in Group F, defeating fellow Concacaf side Panama 1-0 and drawing 0-0 against France and Brazil to finish as the runner-ups of the group.
Prior to the start of the tournament, all of the fans knew about captain Khadija Shaw and how clinical she can be in the opposing goal área, and as the most creative striker on Jamaica’s front line. Now, the world also knows about Jamaica’s defensive talent, with DF Allyson Swaby, who also scored the goal against Panama, and GK Rebecca Spencer, those two being difference makers on the pitch and helping their team reach another milestone.
Jamaica will face Colombia, the runner-ups of the 2022 Copa America and who also have stormed the global scene at Australia/New Zealand 2023. Part of Group H, Colombia won against the two-time champions Germany, as well as South Korea, before losing to debutants Morocco to finish as the leaders of their group.
Their most talented player, FW Linda Caicedo is a generational talent, scoring astonishing goals that the Jamaica defense will plan to stop. Another key part of their squad is DF Manuela Venegas, who is very effective in the air with headers, a resource with which she used to score the winning goal against Germany.
This will be the first time these two teams have played each other in an official tournament, with both looking to keep building their legacy on the biggest stage.