Jamaica national football team

Jamaica

Nickname(s)	None
Association	Jamaica Football Federation
Confederation	CONCACAF (North America)
Sub-confederation	CFU (Caribbean)
Head coach	Theodore Whitmore (Interim)
Captain	Rodolph Austin
Most caps	Ian Goodison (128)
Top scorer	Luton Shelton (35)
Home stadium	Independence Park
FIFA code	JAM
First colours Second colours
FIFA ranking
Current	75 5 (20 October 2016)
Highest	27 (August 1998)
Lowest	116 (October 2008)
Elo ranking
Current	71 (29 June 2016)
Highest	36 (February 1998)
Lowest	146 (May 1984)
First international
Haiti 1–2 Jamaica  (Haiti; 22 March 1925)[1][2]
Biggest win
Jamaica 12–0 British Virgin Islands  (Grand Cayman, Cayman Isls.; 4 March 1994)  Jamaica 12–0 Saint-Martin  (Kingston, Jamaica; 24 November 2004)
Biggest defeat
Costa Rica 9–0 Jamaica  (San José; 24 February 1999)
World Cup
Appearances	1 (first in 1998)
Best result	Group stage, 1998
CONCACAF Championship & Gold Cup
Appearances	11 (first in 1963)
Best result	Runners-up, 2015
Copa América
Appearances	2 (first in 2015)
Best result	Group Stage, 2015, 2016

The Jamaica national football team is controlled by the Jamaica Football Federation (JFF), the governing body for football in Jamaica. A member of CFU and CONCACAF, Jamaica has won the Caribbean Cup six times, with their latest win being the 2014 Caribbean Cup when they beat Trinidad and Tobago in the finals.^[3] Jamaica finished as the runner-up in the 2015 CONCACAF Gold Cup, which was its best performance in the competition; losing to Mexico.

Jamaica qualified once for the FIFA World Cup, in 1998. It is, along with United States, Honduras and Costa Rica, one of the rare teams from the CONCACAF region to draw against Mexico in the Estadio Azteca in a World Cup qualifier match.^[4]

History

Early 20th century

Jamaica's first international appearance was against their Caribbean neighbours Haiti in 1925. They were invited to the French-speaking Caribbean island by Andre Chevalon, president of the United Sporting Society and it was for a three-match series between the 2 countries. Jamaica won all three games by 1–0, 2–1 and 3–0. The following year Jamaica hosted Haiti at Sabina Park and won by 6–0. Haiti remained frequent opponents and it was not until 1932 that their run of defeats was broken with a 4–1 home win in Port-au-Prince.^[5]

Between 1925 and when Jamaica gained its independence in 1962, Jamaica had regular games with Trinidad and Tobago, Haiti, Cuba and clubs like Racing and Violette from Haiti, Corinthians of Britain, Tigres from Argentina, and even a series of matches with a Caribbean All Stars team in 1952. The Caribbean All Star team included such notables as Michael (The Ruin) Kruin from Suriname and also representing Jamaica were Lindy Delapenha and Gillie Heron. The four games were shared equally with Jamaica winning the second 2–1 and the fourth 1–0 and the All Stars winning the first 5–1 and the third 1–0.

Those friendly international games were the start of Jamaica's football journey with most of the home matches being played at Sabina Park. Many clubs were established during this time including Kensington, Melbourne, Kingston, Lucas and St. George's Old Boys, thus providing the talent Jamaica needed at the times.

Post independence (1962)

In 1965, under the leadership of Brazilian coach Jorge Penna, Jamaica made its first attempt at World Cup qualifying. This was for the 1966 World Cup finals in England. The preliminary group included Cuba and the Netherlands Antilles. Jamaica's first game was against Cuba which they won 2–0 at Jamaica's National Stadium. In the qualifying match against the Netherlands Antilles, Jamaica also had a 2–0 victory with both goals coming.

In the away games Jamaica was held to a goalless draw with the Netherlands Antilles and suffered an unexpected 2–1 defeat to Cuba. Jamaica then advanced to the final group of 3 which included Costa Rica and Mexico. The winner in this group would represent the CONCACAF region. Jamaica lost at home to Mexico 3–2 and in the return leg in Mexico City the high altitude proved too much for the Jamaicans and they were defeated 8–0.

1970s

In 1968, coach George Hamilton took leadership as Jamaica made an attempt to qualify for the 1970 World Cup Finals in Mexico. Jamaica had only a couple remaining players from the previous World Cup team and had to rebuild because most of the players had retired or migrated to North America and England.

Jamaica lost all of their qualifying games in that year. Jamaica's participation in the 1973 CONCACAF Championship qualification elimination saw the suspension of 17 players on the team because of poor behaviour on a tour to Bermuda. Jamaica withdrew from the elimination to restructure their team. For the 1978 FIFA World Cup qualifying, Jamaica was eliminated by Cuba after two losses (3–1 at the National Stadium and then 2–0 in Havana).

1980s

Jamaica did not participate in the qualifyings for the 1982 and 1986 World Cups, in the former due to insufficient funds and a poorly prepared team, and the later because the team was suspended for affiliation fees that were due to FIFA.

1990s

For the 1989 CONCACAF Championship qualification qualifying with coach Geoffery Maxwell, Jamaica won both preliminary games against Puerto Rico 1–0 in Jamaica and 2–0 at Puerto Rico. In the next round, the United States were their next opponents and the first leg was a goalless draw. Jamaica lost the return leg in the US 5–1, ending their qualifying attempt.

In qualification for the 1994 World Cup, Jamaica first beat Puerto Rico 2–1 and was then was put in a group with Bermuda, Canada, and El Salvador, from which two teams would advance to the final round. Jamaica tied 1–1 with Canada and Bermuda and then lost 2–0 to El Salvador, 1–0 to Canada, 2–1 to El Salvador. Jamaica then beat Bermuda 3–2 but did not qualify.

In 1994, Brazilian manager René Simões was hired, along with National coach Carl Brown, with the goal of qualifying for the 1998 FIFA World Cup. Simões searched for players – discovering some working at hotels, British players of Jamaican descent, and Jamaicans who played in English clubs – and funding. The Jamaican team became a "Powerhouse" in the Caribbean region and received "Best Mover" award by FIFA in 1996. Jamaica made history in 1997 becoming the first English-speaking Caribbean country to qualify for a World Cup.^[6]

In the 1998 World Cup, Jamaica ended up in Group H, along with Argentina, Croatia, and Japan. Their first game was a 3–1 defeat to Croatia in Lens, with Robbie Earle scoring Jamaica's goal. It was followed by a 5–0 defeat to Argentina at Paris' Parc des Princes. Jamaica ended its participation with a 2–1 victory over Japan in Lyon, with Theodore Whitmore scoring both goals. The team finished 22nd out of the 32 teams.

2000s

In the 2002 World Cup Qualification, Jamaica finished 5th overall at the CONCACAF's final round.

The squad struggled in 2006 and 2007, leading some Jamaicans to dub them The Reggae Toyz. The team did not make it past the first stage of 2007 Caribbean Cup qualifying despite hosting the round, eliminating Jamaica from the 2007 CONCACAF Gold Cup. The team also fell during the second round of the 2006 World Cup qualification.

In July 2006, ESPN FC reported that Sven-Göran Eriksson, who had just left England, had turned down the chance to manage Jamaica, as well as an unknown Champions League club.^[7]

Theodore Whitmore lead the team to impressive victories over El Salvador and Guatemala in the latter part of 2007. However, with the return of former coach Renê Simões (who led Jamaica to the 1998 World Cup), there was heavy optimism in the Reggae Boyz camps. Jamaica started their Road To South Africa 2010 campaign in fine form beating Bahamas 7–0 at home, 6–0 away. They then fought to a hard 1–1 draw with Canada but lost to Mexico and Honduras due to what was considered poor team selection from Renê Simões, which then in turn led to his firing.

Jamaica announced that Jamaica-born John Barnes would take over as manager in November 2008, with former Reggae Boy Theodore Whitmore leading the team in the interim. Jamaica were at the bottom of Group 2 in the 3rd round, but high performances saw them move up in the table. The team battled hard to 1–0 victories over Mexico and Honduras. However, the Boyz fell just short of advancing to the final round.

They managed an impressive 3–0 victory over Canada in their final third round match but failed to move on as Mexico advanced on goal difference after a 1–0 loss to Honduras. After this Theodore Whitmore decided to begin early preparation for the 2014 FIFA World Cup. They vowed to play at least one friendly a month. The squad held South Africa to a goalless draw before 15,000 spectators at Vodacom Park, South Africa.

2010s

Jamaica played three friendly matches to start of 2010, a 1–0 win over Canada at the National Stadium in Jamaica during January, 21 scored by Ricardo Fuller; a 2–1 defeat to Argentina at Mar del Plata on February, with Ryan Johnson scoring a goal; and a 2–0 defeat to South Africa in Germany on April. In August, Jamaica started their preparations for defending their Digicel Cup title with a comprehensive 3–1 win over Trinidad and Tobago in Port of Spain. On 5 December 2010, Jamaica defended their Digicel Cup title with a 5–4 PK win in the 2010 Caribbean Championship.

Jamaica started off strong in their opening 2011 Gold Cup match against Grenada winning 4–0. Jamaica again showed a strong performance after beating Guatemala 2–0 (a brace from Demar Phillips), therefore qualifying to the quarterfinals where they faced the US. Jamaica's Gold Cup campaign ended as they lost 2–0 .

2014 World Cup qualification attempt

In 2012 Jamaica successfully advanced to the CONCACAF Hexagonal under the guidance of Theodore Whitmore.

After six matches under Theodore Whitmore, the coach resigned after a series of poor results which included two draws and four losses. In July 2013, the J.F.F. announced Winfried Schäfer as Head Coach for the remain of the 2014 World Cup qualification campaign.^[8] The JFF continued changing their technical staff following the resignation of Alfredo Montesso as Technical Director.^[9]

2014

Jamaica won the Caribbean Cup in November and qualified for the Copa América Centenario.

2015

Jamaica appeared at the 2015 Copa América in Chile as an invited team. The team was eliminated after losing all three of its Group B matches 1–0 – to Uruguay, Paraguay and Argentina.

A few weeks later, in Gold Cup 2015, Jamaica reach their first final of this tournament finals after beating USA 1–2 in the semi-final. Previously, the Jamaican team qualified first of their group, and beating Haiti 1–0 in the quarter-finals.

Stadium

The team plays their games at Independence Park, known locally as The Office, which is located in Kingston. The stadium opened in 1962 and holds 35,000 people. It got its name The Office from their 50 match unbeaten run from 1995–2001.

Kits

The kits used from 2008 to 2015 were from Italian kit provider Kappa, they debuted in their current set at the beginning of the World Cup qualifying campaign against The Bahamas. Previously there were outfitted by Uhlsport, a German apparel company. The JFF has received significant support from the United Arab Emirates-based sporting company, through a kit contract which will see all 11 national teams, both male and female, being outfitted by Romai Sportswear.

The home kit is a yellow shirt, black shorts, and yellow socks. The away is a green, yellow, and green set. There is also a black away kit.

Honours

• Caribbean Cup: 6

1991, 1998, 2005, 2008, 2010, 2014

Competitive record

World Cup record

FIFA World Cup record
Year	Round	Position	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA
1930 to 1962	Did Not Enter
1966 to 1970	Did Not Qualify
1974	Withdrew
1978	Did Not Qualify
1982	Did Not Enter
1986	Withdrew
1990 to 1994	Did Not Qualify
1998	Group Stage	22nd	3	1	0	2	3	9
2002 to 2018	Did Not Qualify
2022	To be determined
Total	Group Stage	1/21	3	1	0	2	3	9

CONCACAF Championship record

• 1963 – 1st round
• 1965 – Did not enter
• 1967 – Did not qualify
• 1969 – 6th place
• 1971 – Did not qualify
• 1973 – Did not enter
• 1977 – Withdrew
• 1981 – Did not enter
• 1985 – Withdrew
• 1989 – Did not qualify

Gold Cup record

CONCACAF Gold Cup record
Year	Result	Position	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA
1991	Group Stage	8th	3	0	0	3	3	12
1993	Third Place	3rd	5	1	2	2	6	10
1996	Did Not Qualify
1998	Fourth Place	4th	5	2	1	2	5	4
2000	Group Stage	12th	2	0	0	2	0	3
2002	Did Not Qualify
2003	Quarter-Finals	7th	3	1	0	2	2	6
2005	Quarter-Finals	8th	4	1	1	2	8	10
2007	Did Not Qualify
2009	Group Stage	10th	3	1	0	2	1	2
2011	Quarter-Finals	5th	4	3	0	1	7	2
2013	Did Not Qualify
2015	Runners-up	2nd	6	4	1	1	8	6
Total	4/9	0 titles	35	13	5	18	40	55

Caribbean Cup record

• 1989 – Did not qualify
• 1990 – Tournament abandoned before third place match, which Jamaica was due to play
• 1991 – Winners
• 1992 – Second place
• 1993 – Second place
• 1994 – Did not qualify
• 1995 – Group stage
• 1996 – Group stage
• 1997 – Third place
• 1998 – Winners
• 1999 – Third place shared
• 2001 – Group stage
• 2005 – Winners
• 2007 – Did not qualify
• 2008 – Winners
• 2010 – Winners
• 2012 – Group stage
• 2014 – Winners

Copa América record

The Copa América includes two invited teams, with Jamaica first appearing as an invitee for the 2015 tournament. In addition, they have qualified as winners of the 2014 Caribbean Cup for the special Centernario tournament in 2016.

• 2015 – Group Stage (as invitees)
• Centenario, 2016 – Group Stage

Schedule and recent results

2016

2017

Key

  Win   Draw   Loss

Players

Current squad

The following 20 players were called up for a 2017 Caribbean Cup qualification match vs Suriname on November 13, 2016.
Caps and goals as of October 11, 2016 after the game against Guyana.

0#0	Pos.	Player	Date of birth (age)	Caps	Goals	Club
	1GK	Andre Blake	(1990-11-21) 21 November 1990	20	0	Philadelphia Union
	1GK	Ryan Thompson	(1985-01-07) 7 January 1985	8	0	Unattached
	2DF	Dwayne Ambusley	(1980-08-10) 10 August 1980	1	0	Montego Bay United
	2DF	Shaun Francis	(1986-10-02) 2 October 1986	6	1	San Jose Earthquakes
	2DF	Rosario Harriott	(1989-09-26) 26 September 1989	2	0	Harbour View
	2DF	Damion Lowe	(1993-05-05) 5 May 1993	1	0	Seattle Sounders
	2DF	Ladale Ritchie	(1988-05-31) 31 May 1988	0	0	Montego Bay United
	2DF	Dicoy Williams	(1986-10-07) 7 October 1986	14	0	Arnett Gardens F.C.
	2DF	Oniel Fisher	(1991-11-22) 22 November 1991	1	0	Seattle Sounders
	3MF	Michael Binns	(1988-08-12) 12 August 1988	4	0	Unattached
	3MF	Omar Holness	(1994-03-13) 13 March 1994	2	0	Real Salt Lake
	3MF	Andrew Vanzie	(1990-11-26) 26 November 1990	3	0	Portmore United
	3MF	Ewan Grandison	(1991-01-28) 28 January 1991	3	0	Portmore United
	3MF	Omar Gordon	(1991-10-08) 8 October 1991	1	0	Indy Eleven
	4FW	Cory Burke	(1991-12-28) 28 December 1991	1	0	Bethlehem Steel
	4FW	Allan Ottey	(1992-12-18) 18 December 1992	1	0	Montego Bay United
	4FW	Dino Williams	(1990-03-31) 31 March 1990	4	0	Montego Bay United
	4FW	Romario Williams	(1994-08-15) 15 August 1994	0	0	Montreal Impact

Recent call-ups

The following players have also been called up to the Jamaica squad in the past 12 months.

Pos.	Player	Date of birth (age)	Caps	Goals	Club	Latest call-up
GK	Duwayne Kerr	(1987-02-16) 16 February 1987	15	0	Chennaiyin	Copa América Centenario
GK	Shaven Sean-Paul	(1991-03-11) 11 March 1991	0	0	Portmore United	Copa América Centenario preliminary squad
GK	Akeem Chambers		0	0	Waterhouse	Copa América Centenario preliminary squad
DF	Kemar Lawrence	(1992-09-17) 17 September 1992	34	2	New York Red Bulls	v.  Guyana, 11 October 2016
DF	Adrian Mariappa	(1986-10-03) 3 October 1986	38	1	Watford F.C.	v.  Haiti, 6 September 2016
DF	Wes Morgan	(1984-01-21) 21 January 1984	29	0	Leicester City F.C.	v.  Haiti, 6 September 2016
DF	Alvas Powell	(1994-07-18) 18 July 1994	26	0	Portland Timbers	v.  Haiti, 6 September 2016
DF	Michael Hector	(1992-07-19) 19 July 1992	11	0	Eintracht Frankfurt	v.  Haiti, 6 September 2016
DF	Damano Solomon	(1994-10-13) 13 October 1994	0	0	Portmore United	Copa América Centenario
DF	Demar Phillips	(1983-09-23) 23 September 1983	72	12	Real Salt Lake	Copa América Centenario preliminary squad
DF	Upston Edwards	(1989-10-12) 12 October 1989	4	0	Portmore United	Copa América Centenario preliminary squad
DF	Sergio Campbell	(1992-01-16) 16 January 1992	2	0	Pittsburgh Riverhounds	Copa América Centenario preliminary squad
MF	Je-Vaughn Watson	(1983-10-22) 22 October 1983	60	2	New England Revolution	v.  Guyana, 11 October 2016
MF	Jobi McAnuff	(1981-11-09) 9 November 1981	31	1	Stevenage F.C.	v.  Haiti, 6 September 2016
MF	Joel Grant	(1987-08-26) 26 August 1987	13	2	Exeter City	Copa América Centenario
MF	Chevone Marsh	(1994-02-25) 25 February 1994	0	0	Cavalier	Copa América Centenario
MF	Ricardo Morris	(1992-02-11) 11 February 1992	1	0	Portmore United	v.  Chile, 27 May 2016
MF	Vishinuel Harris	(1993-07-28) 28 July 1993	0	0	Arnett Gardens	Copa América Centenario preliminary squad
FW	Clayton Donaldson	(1984-02-07) 7 February 1984	10	2	Birmingham City F.C.	v.  Haiti, 6 September 2016
FW	Darren Mattocks	(1990-09-02) 2 September 1990	31	12	Portland Timbers	v.  Guyana, 11 October 2016
FW	Dever Orgill	(1990-03-08) 8 March 1990	8	0	IFK Mariehamn	v.  Haiti, 6 September 2016
FW	Romeo Parkes	(1990-11-20) 20 November 1990	4	1	Unattached	Copa América Centenario preliminary squad
FW	Andre Clennon	(1989-08-15) 15 August 1989	4	0	VPS	Copa América Centenario preliminary squad
FW	Jamar Loza	(1994-05-10) 10 May 1994	4	0	Maidstone United	Copa América Centenario preliminary squad
FW	Junior Flemmings	(1996-01-16) 16 January 1996	0	0	New York Red Bulls II	Copa América Centenario preliminary squad

Records

As of 6 September 2016

Players in bold text are still active with Jamaica.

UB40s

The term UB40 is used in Jamaica to describe players born in the United Kingdom who have gone on to represent Jamaica at international football. The term is a nod to the reggae band UB40 whose members were born in the United Kingdom.^[11][12]

Managers

Current coaching staff

^[13][14][15]

Name	Nat	Position
Theodore Whitmore [16]		Head coach
Jerome Waite		Assistant coach
Warren Barrett		Goalkeeping coach
Patrick Walters		National Coordinator
Roy Simpson		Team Manager
Linnel McLean		Head of delegation

^[17]

Manager history

Name	From	To
Geoffrey Maxwell	1989	1990
Carl Brown	1990	July 1994
René Simões	August 1994	February 2000
Sebastião Lazaroni	March 2000	May 2000
Clóvis de Olivera	June 2000	September 2001
Carl Brown	December 2001	August 2004
Sebastião Lazaroni	August 2004	November 2004
Wendell Downswell	November 2004	August 2006
Carl Brown	September 2006	October 2006
Bora Milutinović	November 2006	November 2007
Theodore Whitmore	November 2007	December 2007
René Simões	January 2008	September 2008
Theodore Whitmore	September 2008	November 2008
John Barnes	September 2008	May 2009
Theodore Whitmore	June 2009	June 2013
Winfried Schäfer	July 2013	September 2016
Theodore Whitmore	September 2016	Present

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Jamaica national football team.

• Jamaican Football Federation
• Reggae Boyz 2010 World Cup campaign theme song