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The Jamaican Women's Football team has sailed their way through to reach the Round of 16 at the ongoing FIFA Women's World Cup. Usain Bolt and Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce took to social media to praise the team.
The Jamaican Women's team has made it to the Round of 16 after their match against Brazil ended in a 0-0 draw. This is the first time ever that a Jamaican football team — men or women — has reached the World Cup knockout stage.
Usain Bolt posted a picture of the team from the FIFA Women's World Cup, congratulating the athletes.
"History", he wrote.
Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce also took to Instagram to post a story of a Jamaican footballer celebrating after making it to the Round of 16. In the video, Fraser-Pryce could be heard cheering for the team in excitement.
The Reggae Girlz have made it to the Round of 16 without conceding a single goal in the Group stage. They managed to draw with Brazil and France while beating the Panama team 1-0 on July 29.
The team will play their Round-of-16 match on August 8.
Jamaican Women's Football team's difficult journey to FIFA World Cup
The Reggae Girlz' journey to the FIFA World Cup hasn't been an easy one. The Jamaican Women's Football team was disbanded in 2010 by the Jamaican Football Federation on account of low funding.
The team didn't play a single match from 2008 to 2014. In the year 2014, Cedella Marley, daughter of Bob Marley, stood up to support the team. Cedella was named the official ambassador of the team and her efforts helped them raise €50,000, which saw the team return after six years to play in the 2014 CONCACAF Women's Championship.
Again the period from 2015 to 2018 remained dormant for the team as it did not play a single match. In spite of this, they qualified for the 2019 Women's World Cup, making them the first Caribbean nation to attain this remarkable deed.
Even after qualifying for the 2023 FIFA Women's World Cup, the Reggae Girlz struggled for strong financial backing, which forced them to resort to the crowdfunding platform — GoFundMe. Undeterred by the hardships, the Jamaican Women's Football team is headed to its first-ever knockout stage in history.
