Jamaica has been drawn in Group H of the Concacaf Under-17 Men’s qualifiers alongside El Salvador, St Lucia and the Cayman Islands.  

Thirty-five Concacaf Member Associations will participate in the revamped competition divided into eight groups with the group winner automatically qualifying for the FIFA Under-17 World Cup in 2025, and Jamaica has avoided the big guns in Mexico, the United States of America, Canada and Costa Rica.

Vassell Reynolds, one of the coaches of the Under-17 team, said they will not be taking any team lightly.

“While I may take key note of the fact that our group matches will be played in Guatemala, I believe it’s a fair enough draw, very guarded against taking any of the teams lightly,” Reynolds told Our Today. “We must prepare to work hard as a team in order to get the desired results from all three games. This is a good opportunity for the nation to do well and to qualify for the country’s third stint at the Under-17 World Cup.”

The young Reggae Boyz will kick start their campaign on February 10 against St Lucia before facing the Cayman Islands on February 12 and end the group stage on February 15 against El Salvador.

The Jamaican games will be played in Guatemala, one of six countries that will be hosting the eight groups. Bermuda, Costa Rica, Honduras, Mexico and Panama are the other confirmed hosts. Bermuda will host Group A, Costa Rica Groups B and F, Mexico Group C, Honduras Group D, Guatemala Groups E and H and Panama Group G.

The new Concacaf U-17 Men’s Qualifiers consist of a single round, in which the participating member associations are split into eight groups. After round-robin play—where teams in a group will play each other once—the eight group winners will qualify for the 2025 FIFA U-17 World Cup.   

Jamaica last reached the Under-17 World Cup in 2011 and had previously participated in the 1999 edition.

The eight groups are as follows: 

• Group A: Canada, Bermuda, Curacao, Anguilla, and Turks and Caicos Islands 
• Group B: Costa Rica, Trinidad & Tobago, Guyana, British Virgin Islands, and Sint Maarten 
• Group C: Mexico, Nicaragua, Barbados, Belize, and Dominica 
• Group D: Honduras, Puerto Rico, Bonaire and Saint Martin 
• Group E: Haiti, Guatemala, Antigua & Barbados and Saint Vicent and the Grenadines 
• Group F: United States, Cuba, Saint Kitts and Nevis and US Virgin Islands 
• Group G: Panama, Dominican Republic, Aruba and Grenada 
• Group H: Jamaica, El Salvador, Cayman Islands and Saint Lucia.