Jamaica defeated Haiti 4-0 on Monday night at the Concacaf Women’s Championship in Mexico to qualify for their second straight FIFA World Cup.
It was the second time in history that a Caribbean team has qualified for a Women’s World Cup.
With the victory, Jamaica finished second in Group A of the preliminary round, which handed the Reggae Girlz a direct pass to the 2023 World Cup in Australia and New Zealand.
The defending World Cup champion United States won the group, also qualifying for the 2023 World Cup.
Kristie Mewis scored in the 89th minute to break a stalemate and the United States beat Mexico 1-0 in the other Group A game.
The Americans had already qualified for the 2023 Women's World Cup ahead of the game.
Khadija Shaw had a pair of goals, and Trudi Carter and Drew Spence also scored for the Reggae Girlz.
The blistering pace at the start made for a back-and-forth affair and Haiti’s Melchie Dumornay almost scored the opener with a dazzling solo run from her own half that ended with her shot ringing off the post.
An opening goal was bound to come and Jamaica were the ones to break the deadlock as some nice work from Shaw set up Carter, whose right-footed shot beat Haiti goalkeeper Nahomie Ambroise to make it 1-0 to the Reggae Girlz in the 26th minute.
Haiti went right to work to try to find an equalizer and Roselord Borgella had it all there to get it in the 52nd minute off a Jamaica turnover, but instead swung her shot wide of the post.
Haiti continued to push forward in search of a goal, but it left space behind for the Jamaican attack and Shaw was happy to take advantage of it by firing in a right-footed shot to double the Jamaica lead to 2-0 in the 58th minute.
Nevertheless, Haiti kept pushing and almost pulled a goal back in the 63rd minute through a blazing effort from Dumorna, only to see Jamaica goalkeeper Rebecca Spencer parry the ball onto the post and eventually out of play.
However, the night belonged to Shaw and Jamaica and after a Haiti handball in the area, the Manchester City striker stepped up and fired in her third goal of the Concacaf Women's Championship from the penalty spot for a 3-0 lead in the 70th minute.
They then capped off their magical night in the 79th minute with a well-placed header from Spence off a free kick to complete the winning 4-0 scoreline, earning their first ever Concacaf Women's Championship win against Haiti in three attempts.
Jamaica’s second qualification to the Women’s World Cup came four years after they created history in the United States by becoming the first Caribbean team to reach the showpiece event.
On that occasion the Reggae Girlz achieved the feat by defeating Panama 4-2 on penalties in their third-place playoff match at the 2018 Concacaf Women’s Championship at the Toyota Stadium in Texas.
This time, however, the Reggae Girlz secured a direct pass.
Canada beat Costa Rica 2-0 earlier Monday to win Group B. Both teams had previously qualified for the World Cup as the top two finishers in their group.
Canada will face Jamaica in one of the tournament’s semifinals. The United States will take on Costa Rica in the other semifinal.
Haiti finished third in Group A but will have a chance to make the World Cup when they play in an intercontinental playoff in February in New Zealand.
Panama beat Trinidad and Tobago 1-0 to secure third place in Group B and a spot in the intercontinental playoff for another chance to make the World Cup field. Marta Cox scored for Panama just before halftime.
The winner of the eight-team Women’s Championship will earn one of the region's spots in the 2024 Paris Olympics.
The teams at the Women's Championship participated in a moment of silence for Jedine Carr, a player for Jamaica's youth national team who was fatally shot on Friday while on the way to training with her club team.