Jamaica’s Reggae Boyz will tackle football giants Argentina in a real David versus Goliath friendly international on September 27.
The announcement was made earlier today by Jamaica Football Federation president, Michael Ricketts during the launch of the 2022 schoolboy football season at the National Stadium.
“The {Lionel}Messi fans will get the opportunity to see one of the finest footballers in the world,” Ricketts said.
The clash will take place at the Red Bull Arena in New Jersey.
The Argentine Football Association decided to play two teams from Concacaf after it was announced that the suspended World Cup qualifying game between Brazil and Argentina will not be played.
Both Brazil and Argentina agreed to pay a fine for not playing the qualifier, which was stopped shortly after kickoff last September when Brazilian health officials entered the field saying four Argentina players had broken COVID-19 protocols.
FIFA had wanted the match to be played in September, even though it had been rendered essentially meaningless after both Brazil and Argentina qualified for the World Cup in Qatar despite playing a game less than other South American countries.
That decision leaves both teams free to schedule September friendlies against different opponents instead.
Argentina decided to play two Concacaf teams during the September break. They were thinking about Mexico and Canada, which topped the Concacaf World Cup qualifying with 28 points each.
However, Argentina decided against the Mexico match because both teams are in the same group for the Qatar World Cup from November 20 to December 18. Canada, on the other hand, decided to play against Japan (September 23) and Uruguay (September 27).
With matches against Mexico and Canada not possible, Argentina then decided to play Honduras and Jamaica, teams they considered to be weak, as part of their final preparations for the Qatar World Cup.
Both Jamaica and Honduras failed to qualify for the Qatar World Cup. Jamaica finished the Concacaf World Cup qualifiers in sixth place with 11 points and Honduras, eighth and last with four points.