The Jamaica women's national football team, nicknamed the "Reggae Girlz", represents Jamaica in international women's football. They are 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.[2] 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. At the 2023 World Cup Jamaica made the Round of 16 for the first time, after holding both France and Brazil to 0–0 draws and winning their first ever match at a World Cup against Panama 1–0.[3]
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.[4]
On 17 April 1991 the team competed in its first international match against Haiti, which they lost 1–0.[5] In August 1994, the Reggae Girlz were defeated 10–0 by the United States.[5]
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.[5]
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.[6] In 2011, due to over three years of inactivity, Jamaica was not ranked in the FIFA Women's World Rankings.[7]
In April 2014, Cedella Marley was named the team’s official ambassador and helped the team with their fundraising efforts.[8] On 24 June 2014, the team launched the fundraising campaign "Strike Hard for the Reggae Girlz!"[9] to raise $50,000 to pay for practices, travel expenses, housing, nutrition, and equipment in preparation for the 2014 CONCACAF Women's Championship where they hoped to secure a spot at the 2015 FIFA Women's World Cup.[10]
In July 2014, it was announced that Jamaica was looking for players with Jamaican heritage in countries as far as the United Kingdom in order to improve their squad for the 2014 Women Caribbean Cup in Trinidad and Tobago.[11] The team again went unranked by FIFA in June 2017.[12]
In May 2018, Jamaica began the first round of Caribbean Zone qualifying, this was the first time the team had assembled in two years.[13] Jamaica won their group and advanced to the final round of Caribbean Zone qualifying. They hosted the final round tournament and won all four games securing their spot at the 2018 CONCACAF Women's Championship.[14] The same year, Jamaica competed in the 2018 Central American and Caribbean Games. In the group stage, they had a record of one win and two losses, but did not advance to the knockout round.[14] At the 2018 CONCACAF Women's Championship, Jamaica was drawn into Group B alongside Canada, Costa Rica and Cuba. In their first match against Canada, they played well but lost 2–0. Jamaica secured an upset 1–0 victory over Costa Rica in their second match, thanks in part to the great play of goalkeeper Sydney Schneider.[15] In their final group match against Cuba, Jamaica won 9–0. As a result of Costa Rica losing their final group match, Jamaica finished second in their group and advanced to the semi-finals where they would face the number one ranked United States.[16] The US defeated Jamaica 6–0, in the semi-final. Jamaica won the third place match against Panama on penalty kicks, securing a spot at the 2019 FIFA Women's World Cup. Jamaica is the first Caribbean nation to ever qualify for a Women's World Cup and became the first Caribbean country to have both men's and women's teams to participate in men's and women's World Cup.[17] Interestingly, its male counterparts also qualified to the only FIFA World Cup also in France.
Jamaica placed in Group C with Italy, Australia and Brazil, and was considered as a underdog, being rated the lowest in the group. Eventually, they finished last in the group after losing all matches but scored a historic lone goal by Havana Solaun.
After several coaching changes, Lorne Donaldson was named head coach in 2022.[18] In July 2022, Jamaica qualified for their 2nd World Cup, which is a historic feat, considering its men's counterparts have been unable to do the same.[19] On 29 July 2023, Jamaica had its first Women's World Cup win, which was against Panama.[20]
On 2 August 2023, Jamaica drew 0–0 against Brazil, successfully reaching the knockout rounds for the first time; this made Jamaica the first Caribbean country to reach the knockout rounds in any Women's World Cup.[3][21]
In October 2023, the players released a joint statement outlining that no players would take part in the planned World Cup qualifying fixtures. The reasons stated were lack of communication, missing payments and general mistreatment.[22]
The national team have used four clothing manufacturers to supply the official kit for Jamaica. The team's first supplier was Italian manufacturer Lanzera in 1995 before it merged with Kappa a year later. This deal was terminated after the 1998 World Cup. In 2000, the JFF signed a deal with German sporting brand Uhlsport, which lasted until 2006. After another three-year contract with Kappa between 2012 and 2014, the JFF signed a four-year deal with Emirati sportswear company Romai Sports for US$4.8 million.
In 2021, Umbro was the kit provider for Jamaica. In 2022, Adidas signed a deal to become the new kit provider for Jamaica starting in 2023.
^ abcJamaica Information Service. "Football – Women's League". Jamaica Information Service. Archived from the original on 20 December 2014. Retrieved 17 December 2014.
(16 August 2024)[1]
Haiti 1–0 Jamaica 
United States 10–0 Jamaica 
Canada 11–1 Jamaica 
Paraguay 10–0 Jamaica 
Guatemala 
Panama 
78'
South Africa 
Dinamo Sukhumi
Fenerbahçe
AaB
Slavia Prague
Mazatlán
Haladás-Viktória
Espanyol
Nottingham Forest
Hapoel Be'er Sheva
1991
1995
2011
2019
2023
Italy
Colombia
2004
2012
2020
2003
2019
2010
2023
2014
