Jamaica became the first ever English speaking Caribbean team to qualify FIFA's World Cup finals in 1998 held in France. The following is a record of the journey to and at the World Cup.
Preliminary round
On March 3, 1996 Jamaica defeated Suriname 1-0 in Paramaribo, Suriname.
On April 4, 1996 Jamaica defeated Suriname 1-0 in Kingston, Jamaica.
On June 23, 1996 Jamaica defeated Barbados 1-0 in Bridgetown, Barbados.
On June 30,1996 Jamaica defeated Barbados 2-0 in Kingston, Jamaica.
Jamaica advanced to the intermediate round where they played in a group along with Honduras, Mexico and Saint Vincent.
Intermediate round
On September 15,1996 Jamaica defeated Honduras 3-0 in Kingston, Jamaica.
On September 23,1996 Jamaica defeated Saint Vincent 2-1 in Kingstown,Saint Vincent
On October 16,1996 Jamaica were defeated by Mexico 2-1 in Mexico City,Mexico.
On October 26,1996 Jamaica and Honduras played to a nil-all draw in Tegucigalpa,Honduras.
On November 10,1996 Jamaica defeated Saint Vincent 5-0 in Kingston,Jamaica.
On November 17,1996 Jamaica defeated Mexico 1-0 in Kingston,Jamaica.
Jamaica topped their group and along with second place finisher Mexico advanced to the final round of 6. The rest of the final group were Canada,Costa Rica,El Salvador and the U.S.A.
Final round
On March 2, 1997 Jamaica and the U.S.A. played to a nil-all draw in Kingston, Jamaica.
On April 13,1997 Jamaica were defeated by Mexico 6-0 in Mexico City, Mexico.
On April 27,1997 Jamaica and Canada played to a nil-all draw in Vancouver,Canada.
On May 5, 1997 Jamaica were defeated by Costa Rica 3-1 in San José,Costa Rica.
On May 18,1997 Jamaica defeated El Salvador 1-0 in Kingston,Jamaica.
On September 7,1997 Jamaica defeated Canada 1-0 in Kingston, Jamaica.
On September 14,1997 Jamaica defeated Costa Rica 1-0 in Kingston, Jamaica.
On October 3,1997 Jamaica and the U.S.A. played to a 1-all draw in Washington, D.C., U.S.A.
On November 9, 1997 Jamaica and El Salvador played to a 2-all draw against El Salvador in San Salvador, El Salvador.
On November 16, 1997 Jamaica played to a nil all draw with Mexico.
Interesting qualifying facts
Jamaica placed 3rd behind Mexico and the U.S.A. as qualifiers from the CONCACAF group needing only a draw in the final match against Mexico to ensure qualification.
The National Stadium where Jamaica's home matches were played became affectionately know as "The Office." Jamaica never didn't lose any of their qualifying matches there.
Deon Burton scored a goal in 4 out of the last 5 qualifying matches.
In the final qualification round, only once did Jamaica score more than one goal in a match, scoring 2 goals against El Salvador.
World Cup 1998
June 14 - Jamaica were defeated by Croatia 3-1.
June 21 - Jamaica were defeated by Argentina 5-0.
June 26 - Jamaica defeated Japan 2-1.
Highlights of Jamaica vs. Japan
Interesting facts
Jamaica's first ever World Cup goal was scored by Robbie Earle.
Theodore Whitmore scored both goals for Jamaica against Japan.
Jamaica along with Croatia, Japan, and South Africaqualified for the World Cup for the first time.
This was the first time that 32 teams were playing in the World Cup finals. It had been previously 24.
The golden goal rule was first introduced to decide knockout matches which went into extra time.
This was the first time that the final match was played between the host nation (France) and the defending champions (Brazil).
