By Adeleye Kunle
On Monday, Jamaica was awarded a place in the 2023 Women’s World Cup, while the reigning world champion United States and Olympic champion Canada remained unbeaten in the CONCACAF W tournament.
Jamaica’s Trudi Carter scored in the 26th minute, captain Khadija Shaw scored in the 59th and 70th minutes, and Drew Spence scored in the 79th minute as the “Reggae Girlz” defeated Haiti 4-0 to claim the tournament’s final semi-final berth and a place in next year’s global football showdown in Australia and New Zealand.
US reserve Kristie Mewis scored in the 90th minute to give the Americans a 1-0 win over 10-woman Mexico, who lost Jacqueline Ovalle to a red card in the 73rd minute for fouling Rose Lavelle. The victory gave the United States the Group A title.
Jessie Fleming scored in the fifth minute and Sophie Schmidt scored in the 70th to give Canada a 2-0 win over Costa Rica and the Group B title.
The United States, Canada, and Costa Rica had already qualified for next year’s World Cup by securing spots in Thursday’s semi-finals, where the Americans will face Costa Rica and Canada will face Jamaica.
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Panama and Haiti finished third in their respective groups to earn spots in a February global qualifying event for three final Women’s World Cup berths.
Marta Cox’s 43rd-minute goal gave Panama a 1-0 win over Trinidad and Tobago.
The North American regional tournament also serves as a qualifier for the 2024 Olympics in Paris.
The winner of next Monday’s CONCACAF final will be guaranteed a spot in the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris. Next year, the runners-up and third-place teams will meet in a playoff to determine another Summer Games qualifier.
