Jamaica has condemned Brazil to their earliest exit from a World Cup since 1995 after they advanced to the last 16 at their expense in the ongoing 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup.
The legendary Marta was affected the most as she had previously announced this World Cup will be her final tournament at the age of 37. On the other hand, it was a happy moment for a Jamaican team that has never participated in the tournament and is entering the knockout stages for the first time in its existence.
The knockout match will probably be between Colombia and Lorne Donaldson’s unbeaten team. Brazil needed to win in order to be certain of moving on, whereas Jamaica merely needed to draw.
Therefore, it came as little surprise that the South Americans enjoyed a much better first half. Brazil enjoyed more possession of the ball and attempted more goals in front of a crowd of close to 28 000 spectators than Jamaica, who had zero shots on goal in the whole game.
Jamaica were defending deeply and aggressively as they held France to a scoreless draw before defeating Panama 1-0 to earn their first-ever World Cup triumph. Brazil, who have never won the World Cup, appeared uninspired as they headed into halftime without scoring.
More of the same occurred in the second half, but Brazil had more difficulty producing a truly excellent opportunity. The prolific Manchester City striker and undeniable star of Jamaica, Khadija Shaw, was scarcely viewed as a threat on offense.
As the game entered its last 20 minutes, Jamaica showed little indications of faltering while Brazil just ran out of motivation and ideas. The accomplishment of Jamaica, who lost all three of their World Cup matches in 2019, is all the more impressive in light of the tensions that existed behind the scenes.
