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The Jamaica women’s soccer team did the impossible. Despite financial hurdles that plagued their run for the World Cup, and some tough matches against Brazil and France, they made it out of the group stage, becoming the first Caribbean nation to reach this stage of the cup.
The team, known as the Reggae Girlz, drew 0 - 0 against Brazil, kicking them from the cup and advancing themselves. “Literal tears in our eyes as we post this! The Reggae Girlz will advance to the Round of 16! HISTORY IS BEING MADE RIGHT IN FRONT OUR EYES,” wrote the team in their Twitter. Earlier this year, the team was struggling to make it to Australia, with one of the team members’ moms launching a GoFundMe hoping to raise sufficient funds and get them to the World Cup in time.
The petition acquired the attention of the media. “If I can somehow make this journey smoother for them — and let them focus on what they’d love to do is play soccer — they shouldn’t be worried about the politics or getting a flight or getting accommodation,” said the mother of player Havana Solaun to AP News. “They should be able to go there and do what they qualified to do, just play soccer.” The team raised over $45,000, allowing them to pay for travel, food, a place to practice, and pay staff to accompany them the tournament.
Despite the lack of support from their government, following their win, Jamaica’s officials shared their excited reaction on social media. “I could not help shedding a few tears. Tears of joy,” wrote Olivia Grange, Jamaica’s sports minister on Instagram. “These have been magnificent performances by the Reggae Girlz for Jamaica in this World Cup. Words can hardly describe how well they have done.”
Andrew Holness, the country’s Prime Minister, wrote “HISTORIC!” on Facebook. “Jamaica! Best in the world.”
Jamaica’s next match is on August 8th, against Colombia.