Jamaica

Jamaica women's national football team, nicknamed the "Reggae Girlz", is one of the top women's national football teams in the Caribbean region along with Trinidad and Tobago and Haiti. In 2008, the team was disbanded after it failed to get out of the group stage of Olympic Qualifying, which notably featured the United States and Mexico. The program was restarted in 2014 after a nearly six-year hiatus, finishing second at the 2014 Women's Caribbean Cup after losing 1–0 against Trinidad and Tobago in the final. The team is backed by ambassador Cedella Marley, the daughter of Bob Marley; she helps raise awareness for the team, encourages development, and provides for it financially. Jamaica qualified for the FIFA Women's World Cup for the first time in 2019, but the team was eliminated after losing all its matches in the group stage.

History

Founding

Women's football in Jamaica started with the founding of the Jamaican Women's Football association (founded by Andrea Lewis its first president) in 1987.

1990s

On 17 April 1991 the team competed in its first international match against Haiti, which they lost 1–0. In August 1994, the Reggae Girlz were defeated 10–0 by the United States.

2000s

In 2002, the Reggae Girlz qualified for the 2002 CONCACAF Women's Gold Cup (the qualifying tournament for the 2003 FIFA Women's World Cup, but lost all of their preliminary round games. In 2006, the team qualified for the Women’s Gold Cup again and finished in fourth place.

2010s

In 2010, due to lack of funding, the Jamaica Football Federation (JFF) cut the senior women’s program as well as the women’s Olympic program. Subsequently, the team was unable to participate in the qualifiers for the 2011 FIFA Women’s World Cup. In 2011, due to over three years of inactivity, Jamaica was not ranked in the FIFA Women's World Rankings.

In April 2014, Cedella Marley was named the team’s official ambassador a