Reggae Girlz sharpen World Cup qualifying plans with Panama friendlies

After reaching the FIFA Women’s World Cup in both 2019 and 2023, Reggae Girlz head coach Hubert Busby Jr says Jamaica understand the demands of earning a third straight place at the tournament.

Jamaica are scheduled to meet Panama in two international friendlies in Panama City on June 5 and June 8. The matches are part of the team’s build-up to the Concacaf W Championship, which takes place in November and serves as the qualification route for the 2027 FIFA Women’s World Cup and the 2028 Los Angeles Olympic Games.

The Reggae Girlz have been paired with Costa Rica in the W Championship. A victory in that fixture would put Jamaica into the next Women’s World Cup.

Ahead of the Panama matches, Busby said the squad recognises how important this window is to their wider qualifying campaign. “We're just going through our processes. I mean, at the end of the day, we know what we need to do. We know who we need to play to qualify,” he explained. “But it's all the things in-between that we need to focus on, for us to improve to get the desired outcome that we want.”

Busby said the trip will also be used to strengthen chemistry within the group and keep competition for places high across the programme. His selection features a number of established players, while Canada-based Nikayla Small has received her first senior call-up from Jamaica.

Small previously played for Canada at youth level, including at the 2022 FIFA Women’s U20 World Cup, but has now accepted an invitation to join Jamaica’s senior women’s team.

Busby expects Panama to provide a useful examination of where his players are competitively. “[We’re] reintegrating some players in to make sure that our pool is still continuing to be strong, which is good, because that's some players coming back in who weren't involved in April for various reasons,” Busby explained. “So overall, just looking to make sure that we have two quality games against a very quality opposition.”

The Reggae Girlz have already opened camp for the friendlies, and Busby said he was encouraged by the standard and attitude shown in training.

“[We had] a very good training session this morning,” Busby said. “Enthusiastic group, obviously very pleased in the way they approached it, coming from all parts of the globe.”

He added, “I just worked on some things. Above everything else, it's just obviously a good day to sort of stretch out the legs and get them moving after sitting on long flights.”

Jamaica and Panama have met several times in recent years, with the Reggae Girlz holding the stronger record. Jamaica beat Panama on penalties at the 2018 Concacaf Women’s Championship, a result that sent the team to its first World Cup in 2019.

Since that breakthrough, the two nations have played four additional matches, with Jamaica recording two victories, one draw and one defeat against the Central American side.