Jamaica’s Reggae Boyz Out of Contention for World Cup

The gig is up. The Reggae Boyz are now officially out of contention for a place at the FIFA 2022 World Cup Finals in Qatar.

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That’s the reality following Wednesday night’s CONCACAF Final Round World Cup Qualifying 1-0 loss to Costa Rica inside Kingston’s National Stadium.

Joel Campbell, the forward with Jamaican ancestry, put all that aside to condemn the hosts to a third consecutive defeat under interim head coach Paul Hall, and more importantly, kept the Central Americans hopes of a place in Qatar alive.

Campbell got the all-important goal in the 62^nd minute, moments after Jamaican captain Andre Blake had saved a Celso Borges penalty. It was Blake’s second penalty save in as many games, having done likewise to Panama’s Eric Davis on Sunday.

In other games on Wednesday, leaders Canada inched closer to qualification with a 2-0 win over El Salvador; the US defeated Honduras 3-0 and Mexico edged nearest challengers Panama 1-0.

Canada maintain their lead atop the points standings with 25, four clear of the US and Mexico on 21, followed by Panama on 17, Costa Rica (16), El Salvador (9), Jamaica (7) and Honduras (3).

The top three teams will be rewarded with direct berths to Qatar, while the fourth-placed team enters an intercontinental play-off for another shot at Qatar.

Wednesday’s game in Kingston could be best described as a game of two halves as the Reggae Boyz completely dominated the first stanza, but wasted chances mainly through Andre Gray and Michail Antonio, though Costa Rica’s Keilor Navas, did brilliantly to keep his team in the game.

However, with the introduction of the wily Bryan Ruiz at the interval, the game switched and Costa Rica assumed dominance and earned the penalty on the hour mark when Kevin Stewart brought down Campbell.

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Shortly after Campbell put his team ahead when he beat two defenders cutting from the right side before slotting the ball past Blake.

And as they have done all campaign, Costa Rica then smartly managed their advantage to the end.

Concacaf Final Round World Cup Qualifying Points Standings

Teams        P       W      D       L        GF     GA GD        Pts

Canada       11     7       4       0       19     5       42     25

USA            11     6       3       2       16     7       9       21

Mexico       11     6       3       2       14     8       6       21

Panama     11     5       2       4       14     13     1       17

Costa Rica  11     4       4       3       8       7       1       16

El Salvador 11     2       3       6       6       13     -7      9

Jamaica      11     1       4       6       9       16     -7      7

Honduras   11     0       3       8       5       22     -17    3