JAMAICA STUNS BRAZIL FOR HISTORIC TRIP TO WOMEN’S WORLD CUP KNOCKOUT ROUND

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With their 0-0 tie against Brazil in the final match of Group F at the FIFA Women’s World Cup, Jamaica advances to the elimination round of the world championship for the first time in history. 

The island nation of Jamaica is celebrating today following their national women’s football team’s qualification to the Round of 16 at the FIFA Women’s World Cup currently underway in Australia and New Zealand. 

Jamaica qualified to the elimination stage by finishing second in its group behind France, finishing with a victory over Panama and two ties against the powerhouses of France and Brazil. 

The final group match for the island nation came against the Brazilian team featuring the legendary Marta who was competing in her sixth World Cup in history. Despite dominating the possession battle, Brazil couldn’t get a shot to go through the net and Jamaica’s defense held on to force the tie after 94 minutes of play. Brazil needed a victory to advance to the next stage of the tournament but fell short in Marta’s final World Cup appearance. 

Now, Jamaica awaits the final group play matches of the tournament to know which team they will be facing first in the elimination round. Another surprise of the tournament, Colombia, controls its own fate with their final match against Morocco tomorrow. Colombia currently sits in first place in Group H ahead of Germany thanks to the South American country’s 2-1 victory of the European team earlier in group play. 

The top team of Group H will go on to face Jamaica, while the second place awaits a matchup with France. Colombia is likely to advance to the elimination stage needing only a draw to seal their spot at the top of Group H and having already upset both Germany and South Korea to give them six points. A victory against Morocco would make Colombia just the fourth team in the tournament to go undefeated through the group stage. 

The United States Women’s National Team has also already qualified to the Round of 16 despite some shakey performances by the team in the group stage. The USWNT secured their only victory against Vietnam followed by draws with the Netherlands and Portugal, narrowly escaping elimination thanks to Portugal’s loss to the Netherlands. 

Team USA will keep their hopes of a third consecutive World Cup title alive with their first matchup of the elimination stage against 2019 bronze medalists Sweden. The winner will then face the victor between Japan and Norway in the quarterfinals. 

The Americas have also been represented at the World Cup by the countries of Canada, Argentina, Panama, Costa Rica and Haiti but each of the teams have been eliminated in the group stage. Canada and Brazil were the only two teams to earn a victory in the group stage yet not qualify to the next round, both finishing third in their respective groups. 

Panam Sports congratulates both Jamaica and the United States for qualifying to the next round of the World Cup and wishes nothing but success for Colombia in their final match of group play on Thursday.