The Reggae Girlz and Haiti will play each other Monday evening to decide who gets second place in Group A of the 2022 CONCACAF Women’s Championship (CWC) and a direct pass to the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup in Australia/New Zealand.
They will face off at the Estadio Universitario here, in what will be the first match of the final round.
While Jamaica requires a win to secure a second straight World Cup spot, Haiti, who currently sits in second place on goal difference, can advance to the World Cup with just a draw.
Jamaica started the CWC on a high, spoiling host nation Mexico’s debut by winning 1-0, the first time the Reggae Girlz managed this result.
Led by captain Khadija Shaw, who scored the winning goal against Mexico, and with the assistance of Jody Brown and goalkeeper Rebecca Spencer, Jamaica showed how much they had the semifinals of this CWC and a second straight World Cup qualification in mind.
However, after that impressive performance in their debut, they next had to face the current World Champions, the United States, and while they tried to show their game, it wasn’t enough in a 5-0 defeat. Now, they have it all to play for in their last test of this group stage.
Haiti has had an almost identical history. While Les Grenadieres lost their debut against the US, 3-0, they proved they came to Monterrey to compete, facing Mexico and their efforts showed the results, beating the hosts in their second match in this CWC, 3-0.
Jamaica and Haiti have met twice before in the CWC, with Haiti winning both matches, the last being a 2-1 win 10 years ago at Canada/US 2002.
Whatever the result on Monday, it would be just the second time in history a team from the Caribbean will qualify for a Women’s World Cup.
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