Jamaica and Canada keep France 2019 dreams alive
2015 participants Costa Rica eliminated as final-four determined
Three automatic tickets to France available in CONCACAF region
Jamaica and Canada are just 90 minutes away from a spot at the FIFA Women’s World Cup France 2019™ after shoring up a spot in the CONCACAF Women’s Championship semi-finals with wins over Cuba and Costa Rica respectively on Thursday.
A Jody Brown hat-trick helped Jamaica ease to a 9-0 victory against Cuba in the early match in Edinburg to heap pressure on Costa Rica.
The Reggae Girlz defeated 2015 Women’s World Cup participants Costa Rica earlier in the week to gain the ascendency over Los Ticos.
That left Costa Rica needing a win over Canada to stay alive, but their dreams were all but over by half-time as Canada raced to a two-goal lead thanks to strikes from Janine Beckie and Nichelle Prince.
Christine Sinclair added another after the break, before Gloriana Villalobos netted an impressive consolation.
Jamaica and Panama have never qualified for a Women’s World Cup.
The winner of Sunday’s two semi-finals will qualify for France, as will the winner of the third-place match. The fourth-placed team will tackle Argentina next month in a two-legged intercontinental play-off.
CONCACAF Women’s Championship semi-finals Sunday 14 October Frisco, Texas Canada v Panama - 4pm local (11pm CET) USA v Jamaica - 7pm local (2am Mon CET)