Ronaldo’s Portugal Potentially Lie in Wait for Jamaica
Reggae Boyz appear in FIFA World Cup draw for the first time since France ‘98
Cristiano Ronaldo, the Portugal legend, could tackle Jamaica at next year’s FIFA World Cup finals (11 June-19 July).
The Reggae Boyz, who recently parted ways by mutual consent with former England head coach Steve McClaren, failed to book an automatic place through the CONCACAF World Cup qualifiers.
Jamaica finished group runner-up during their round-robin qualifying, ahead of Dwight Yorke’s Trinidad & Tobago and minnows Bermuda.
Dick Advocaat’s Curacao, Haiti and Panama topped their respective CONCACAF qualifying groups to claim a World Cup berth.
Yet Jamaica and Suriname have a second shot to increase CONCACAF’s participation at next year’s prestigious competition from six to eight.
The 2026 World Cup, expanded to a record 48 nations, offered Jamaica a more simplistic route to qualifying as CONCACAF rivals Canada, Mexico and the US were already through as hosts.
Curacao’s inaugural World Cup appearance pitches the Dutch Antilles island in the same group as four-time champions Germany, Ecuador and Ivory Coast.
Haiti, who last competed at the 1974 World Cup finals, join the trio of Brazil, Morocco and Scotland for their round-robin matches.
Panama, back at the World Cup finals for the first time since 2018, face England, Croatia and Ghana in their group.
The top two teams in each of the 12 groups will advance to the knockout stage, joined by the eight best third-place teams.
Jamaica and Suriname both need to win two more matches to reach the World Cup finals. They will tackle March’s FIFA Inter-Continental Play-Offs, with the highly-lucrative prize of playing in the sport’s showpiece tournament if successful.
The Boyz, who appointed former Cavalier FC boss Rudolph Speid as interim manager last month, will face relative minnows New Caledonia. The winners of this clash take on DR Congo to determine a World Cup berth.
If Jamaica can navigate their way past these two tricky opponents, they will be in the same group as Colombia, Portugal and Uzbekistan at next year’s World Cup.
Suriname face Iraq in their Play-Off, and if victorious face Bolivia. Back-to-back triumphs would land them in the same group as France, Norway and Senegal at the World Cup finals.
2026 FIFA WORLD CUP GROUPS
Group A: Mexico, South Africa, Korea Republic, European Play-Off D winner (Czech Republic, Denmark, North Macedonia or Republic of Ireland).
Group B: Canada, European Play-Off A winner (Bosnia & Herzegovina, Italy, Northern Ireland or Wales), Qatar, Switzerland.
Group C: Brazil, Morocco, Haiti, Scotland.
Group D: United States, Paraguay, Australia, European Play-Off C winner (Kosovo, Romania, Slovakia or Turkey).
Group E: Germany, Curacao, Ivory Coast, Ecuador.
Group F: Netherlands, Japan, European Play-Off B winner (Albania, Poland, Sweden or Ukraine), Tunisia.
Group G: Belgium, Egypt, Iran, New Zealand.
Group H: Spain, Cape Verde, Saudi Arabia, Uruguay.
Group I: France, Senegal, FIFA Play-Off Tournament winner 2 (Bolivia, Iraq or Suriname), Norway.
Group J: Argentina, Algeria, Austria, Jordan.
Group K: Portugal, FIFA Play-Off Tournament winner 1 (DR Congo, Jamaica or New Caledonia), Uzbekistan, Colombia.
Group L: England, Croatia, Ghana, Panama.
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