With an historic third-place finish at the Concacaf Nations League now out the way, Jamaica’s senior Reggae Boyz Head coach Heimir Hallgrimsson is hoping they can ride the momentum to an even bigger accomplishment, which is to qualify for the 2026 FIFA World Cup.

Though Hallgrimsson would have preferred the 2023/24 CNL title, as opposed to the bronze they secured with a 1-0 win over Panama, he believes the achievement represents a step in the right direction on their quest to add to the country’s 1998 World Cup feat.

“This is just a part of our journey. We were trying to build something for this tournament as there is a saying that ‘success is not a destination, success is not a date, it’s a continuous journey to the right direction’. So, we’re just working on improving this team, as our biggest goal at the moment is to try to reach the World Cup finals,” Hallgrimsson declared. 

Jamaica’s third-place battle followed a heartbreaking 3-1 extra-time loss to United States in an entertaining semi-final contest that they led from the very first minute, but lost after Corey Burke’s last-gasped own-goal brought the opponents back into the game.

Still, Hallgrimsson took the positives from the tournament, as he pointed to the psychologically importance and confidence gained heading into the prestigious CONMEBOL Copa America, which also serves as part of the Reggae Boyz preparation for the World Cup qualifiers.

“This is a good step to play important matches, to play big tournaments, and to play strong opponents like the United States and Panama. They are two of the three highest-ranked Concacaf teams and we showed that we are closing in on this gap, even with the number of players not with us. So, I have to give a lot of credit to the players for the way they presented themselves for Jamaica,” Hallgrimsson said.

“I think it’s psychological just to know that we can face these teams of this calibre. Again, talking about missing players, I normally don’t talk about missing players, but it gives belief in what we are doing, and I think that is the biggest benefit for us,” he added.

Those benefits which Hallgrimsson alluded to, includes the fact that player such as Leon Bailey, Ethan Pinnock, Amari’i Bell, Demarai Gray, Michail Antonio and Shamar Nicholson all missed the nail-biting United States encounter. However, Gray and Nicholson played their part in the Panama win after returning from red card suspensions.

For the Icelandic tactician, the absence of key players provided the opportunity for other to not only show their worth, but also to stake a claim on spots for the Copa America and World Cup qualifying squads. Interestingly enough, it was full-backs Greg Leigh and Dexter Lembikisa that got Jamaica's goals across the two games.

“This camp has given us more depth in the squad, players really punched in and showed that they want to belong into this starting lineup. Jamaica is richer after this camp,” Hallgrimsson noted.

“Tactics, it was both because we were missing players and playing good teams so we thought it would be better to play with three at the back. Given that we played 120 minutes (against United States) it was a really good performance, a solid performance from the team so I’m happy,” he ended.

Jamaica is scheduled to face Ecuador, Mexico and Venezuela in Group B of the June 20 to July 14 Copa America, while Dominican Republic, Dominica, Guatemala and British Virgin Islands are their Group E opponents for the World Cup qualifiers, also scheduled to begin in June.

Jamaica and Panama will each try to finish their respective 2023/24 Concacaf Nations League campaigns on a high note when they meet in the third-place contest at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas on Sunday.

The Heimir Hallgrimsson-coached Jamaicans delivered an excellent performance in their semi-final clash with United States, leading from the very first minute until the final seconds of second half stoppage time when an own-goal resulted in an equalizer. United States then completed a 3-1 victory with two goals in extra-time.

Nevertheless, the Reggae Boyz defence stood tall in keeping a dangerous United States attack at bay, after Gregory Leigh’s goal just 31 seconds into the match.

Captain and goalkeeper Andre Blake was at his usual best between the sticks, making four saves, while as a collective the Jamaican defence had 12 steals, with Damion Lowe one of the standout performers.

Attacker Bobby Reid was a tireless worker as well, as he supplied the assist on the Leigh goal in addition to being a threat on the counterattack.

Panama suffered a 0-3 defeat to Mexico in their semi-final encounter, in which they had control of things for a large part of the first half, but they conceded two goals shortly before the interval.

The Canaleros will be eager to claim a victory in this one and achieve their best finish ever in a Nations League Finals outing after finishing fourth in 2022-23.

Midfielder Adalberto Carrasquilla was a central figure in midfield against Mexico, with 40 passes completed and two steals. Anibal Godoy also offered plenty of punch with three steals and 77 percent of passes completed.

Still, the matter of scoring remains the key component to deciding an outcome and both Jamaica and Panama will be very much aware of that. These two sides last met in Concacaf Qualifying for FIFA World Cup 2022, during which Panama won both meetings, 3-0 and 3-2. Prior to that, they were opponents in the 2019 Concacaf Gold Cup quarterfinals, which saw Jamaica register a 1-0 victory.

Regardless of the outcome, Jamaica has already rewritten the history books, as this represents their first time contesting the business end of the Concacaf Nations League. However, a win would certainly boost their morale ahead of the prestigious CONMEBOL Copa America tournament in June, as well as the Concacaf Gold Cup qualifiers.

Birthday boy Josh Dacres-Cogley scored as Bolton revved up their automatic promotion push in Sky Bet League One with a 5-0 demolition of Oxford.

Dacres-Cogley, who turned 28 on Tuesday, was gifted his 27th-minute goal as goalkeeper Jamie Cummings and Greg Leigh collided attempting to deal with skipper Ricardo Santos’s long ball.

Wanderers, back to winning ways after two successive away draws – were already 1-0 ahead.

Nathaniel Ogbeta produced a superb finish in the 19th minute from George Thomason’s assist to register his first goal since a debut strike at Carlisle.

Cameron Brannagan’s free-kick into the side-netting was Oxford’s only response in the opening half.

In front of the Sky TV cameras, things went from bad to worse for Des Buckingham’s side in a 10-minute spell after the break.

Both Thomason and Aaron Collins claimed Bolton’s third goal after 59 minutes, though, the former was credited with the goal after his shot took a deflection in off luckless Leigh.

Wanderers’ fourth scorer was definitely Collins, who finished off a sweeping move six minutes later.

Josh Sheehan then wrapped up a statement victory with a superb left-foot finish as Bolton cemented third spot.

Oxford boss Des Buckingham hailed his side’s late 2-1 victory over struggling Cheltenham as a “much-needed win” for his play-off-chasing side.

Greg Leigh headed the winner in the 87th minute from a fine cross by Owen Dale.

Josh Murphy had fired the hosts in front in first-half stoppage time, but the Robins equalised in the 80th minute through Will Ferry.

Buckingham said: “We’ve come away with a much-needed win, points on the board at an important time of the year.

“It took us until the 87th minute to get there, but we got there in the end.

“Cheltenham are a very difficult team to play against. They play with five at the back and have got four in midfield – sometimes you have to be patient and do things a lot quicker.

“I thought the last 10 or 15 minutes of the first half we came good, got the goal and lost a bit of control of the game but regained it and got what I thought was a deserved winner.

“I wouldn’t like to play against Owen (Dale). He works tirelessly the whole game. He’s one of the few players I have seen in this league who is able to dribble at pace. He’ll invariably get past you and today he put two or three decent balls into the box.

“And Greg arrived on the back of another cross and scored the second time. He should probably have scored with the first one just before, though that was a very good save.

“Owen was very good, but when you’ve got Josh Murphy on the other side too it just mixes things up.

“We’ve been trying to get Greg Leigh into more advanced areas. He did it a little bit more second half, which was good to see.”

Cheltenham manager Darrell Clarke was unhappy with the mentality of his players as they conceded goals at the end of each half to slip even deeper into relegation trouble.

Clarke said: “I’m not happy. We should never concede a goal like that just before half-time.

“Then we score an equaliser, are on the front foot and then it’s a mentality thing for me. It wasn’t just the goal, for five or six minutes before that people were slashing at things, no composure, not making right decisions.

“I’m not happy on crucial moments in games and I’m expecting more from our players.

“For me it was a mindset and mentality issue that we sat back after scoring and then you get punished. It was inexcusable.

“Our game plan was working quite well first half, we’d limited them to very few chances, only a couple of long-range shots and then we concede a poor goal.

“We made a few changes, stayed in the game, got the ball down and played in the right areas and got the equaliser.

“Then, for whatever reason, the mentality of the team that was out there to finish the game was nowhere near good enough.

“Players that come into the team need to take those opportunities or else they’ll never play at those levels again.

“Players have to learn quickly because otherwise they just fall by the wayside.”

Left-back Greg Leigh headed Oxford’s winner three minutes from time as they sealed a 2-1 victory over Cheltenham to maintain their play-off push.

Cameron Brannagan threatened twice in the first half for Oxford, with Luke Southwood beating out a fierce free-kick and then a drive from the midfielder.

Ruben Rodrigues and Mark Harris also went close before Josh Murphy fired the hosts in front in first-half stoppage time, drilling an angled shot into the far corner from Brannagan’s pass.

Cheltenham created few scoring opportunities, but Oxford goalkeeper Jamie Cuming kept out a low shot from substitute Jordan Thomas midway through the second half.

And Will Ferry equalised with a 20-yard snapshot past Cumming in the 80th minute.

But, just as the Robins must have been thinking they had secured a precious point in their bid to avoid the drop, Owen Dale sent over a deep cross and Leigh powered home a header at the far post.

It earned Oxford only their second win in 11 games.

Coach Heimir Halgrimsson has named a strong 24-man squad for the Reggae Boyz CONCACAFDi Nations League quarter-final match-up against Canada, the first leg of which is to be played on Friday, November 17 at the National Stadium in Kingston.

The squad features a potent attacking line-up that includes the in-form Leon Bailey and Demarai Gray, Michail Antonio, Shamar Nicholson, Romario Williams and Trivante Stewart.

The midfield contingent is comprised of Demario Phillips, Bobby De Cordova Reid, Daniel Johnson, Joel Latibeaudiere, Jon Russell and Karoy Anderson.

In-form defender Ethan Pinnock makes a return to the side joining Damien Lowe, Di Shon Bernard, Michael Hector, Dexter Lembikisa, Tayvon Gray, Greg Leigh, Amari’i Bell and Javain Brown.

The outstanding Andre Blake is the first-choice custodian with the capable Amal Knight and Jahmai Waite as his backups.

The second leg of the tie has been scheduled for the BMO Stadium on November 21.

Waterhouse defender Ricardo Thomas has been drafted in to replace injured Ipswich Town defender Greg Leigh ahead of Jamaica’s friendly international against Argentina.

Leigh was expected to join up with the rest of the team in the United States on Friday but suffered an injury in the team’s 2-2 draw against Sheffield Wednesday earlier this week.  Initially, the defender was thought to have just suffered a bruise to the area but subsequent scans revealed a compression fracture.

The injury is now expected to keep the player out of action for an extended spell.

“He, unfortunately, picked something up at the back end of the Sheffield Wednesday game, which was initially thought to be bone bruising,” the team’s manager Kieran McKenna said.

“At that point, it was touch-and-go whether he was going to go away for international duty.

 “He’s had some scans this week, just to make sure, and unfortunately he has a compression fracture of his leg and will be out for a longer period of time. That’s a disappointing one for Greg and for us as well," he added.

The 29-year-old has made 8 appearances for the Jamaica national team and last played against Honduras in March.  Thomas has played 10 matches for the national team and was last on the bench in the team’s Nation’s League match against Mexico in June.