Assistant coach Vassell Reynolds said Jamaica’s qualification for the FIFA Under-17 World Cup is a historic achievement that has brought pride not only to the team but to the entire nation.
The young Reggae Boyz secured the country’s third appearance at the global showpiece after defeating Canada 3-1 in their decisive Group G encounter at the Costa Rica Football Federation field on Wednesday. The result ended a 15-year wait for Jamaica to return to a junior World Cup. Reynolds, along with some members of the team, arrived on the island yesterday.
“This is history, and it really felt good,” said Reynolds. “As a member of the technical staff, to have actually achieved such a feat, having not qualified for a junior global tournament for 15 years, I felt good to be a part of this,” he said. “This one is certainly for the people of Jamaica, the federation, the family of the youngsters and the general country at large.”
Head coach Wendell Downswell, who guided the campaign, was also part of the coaching staff that led Jamaica to previous Under-17 World Cup qualifications in 1999 and 2011, adding further experience to the technical leadership.
Reynolds highlighted that the coaching staff always believed qualification would come down to the final match against Canada and prepared the team accordingly.
“We were always confident because we knew that the tournament overall was always going to come down to the last game against Canada, but we were well equipped to deal with whatever situation confronted us, and we were always confident after we scouted Canada that we had the capacity to do well,” he said.
“We asked the boys to get over the first two games, and they did that very well, and they put us in a very good position where we needed a draw against Canada.”
Despite entering the match knowing a draw would be enough, Jamaica played positively to secure a win, demonstrating both tactical discipline and mental strength.
“We were mentally prepared, and we expected a tough game, and it was a tough game, but the boys did what was asked of them, and we are proud of their performance right throughout the tournament,” Reynolds said.
Jamaica’s dominance at the tournament was reflected in the statistics as they scored 18 goals while conceding just once, a penalty.
“To have scored 18 goals conceded one, a penalty, speaks volumes about the kind of performance that the boys gave us throughout the tournament,” Reynolds noted.
He also credited the Jamaica Football Federation’s developmental structure for nurturing the group, stating that many of the players progressed through earlier national youth programmes.
“These are a very good crop of players because the federation invested in the under-14 and under-15, and most of them made the transition up to the under-17 and we just hope that the federation will do the best as they can with limited resources to provide the necessary exposure for them going forward,” Reynolds said.
