Jamaica’s national men’s team haven’t qualified for a FIFA Under-20 World Cup in 25 years but Jamaica Football Federation (JFF) president Michael Ricketts is confident that the current squad can end the drought after significant investment in the qualification campaign. The under-20 Reggae Boyz will leave the island on Friday for the 2026 Concacaf Under-20 Championship in Mexico, where they will look to secure one of four spots to next year’s World Cup in Azerbaijan and Uzbekistan. Rodolph Austin, who recently led Portmore United to their first Jamaica Premier League title since 2019, will lead the team along with Molynes United head coach Jermaine Thomas.
The pair oversaw Jamaica’s sweep through the qualifying tournament in Curaçao in February, with the team winning all five matches to reach the Under-20 Championship. They now face Honduras, Panama and Canada in Group C, with the top two advancing to the quarter-finals. A quarter-final victory would seal qualification for the FIFA Under-20 World Cup.
The team has been in a training camp at the Captain Horace Burrell Centre of Excellence at the UWI, Mona campus and have played friendlies against Jamaica Premier League clubs Cavalier, Mount Pleasant FC and Arnett Gardens in the past two weeks. Since their historic berth in 2001 tournament in Argentina, Jamaica have missed out on the last 11 World Cups and have only advanced to the knockout stages of the Concacaf final round twice in nine attempts. However, Ricketts told the Jamaica Observer that the JFF has made it a priority to give the team every opportunity to qualify, investing heavily ahead of the Concacaf Under-20 Championship in a bid to end the country’s drought.
RICKETTS...I think we have a good set of young players and we are also hoping that they will make a transition and give some strength and support to our senior men’s team (Photo: Observer file) “This year has been very busy for us and very expensive as well because of course the under-17s, under-20s on either side of the gender and of course the senior men’s and senior women’s have all been vying for a place in the World Cup tournaments,” he said. “A structure has been put in place and it’s just now for us to execute. I think we have a good set of young players and we are also hoping that they will make a transition and give some strength and support to our senior …
Summary from source