Girlz can qualify for World Cup - Ricketts

President of the Jamaica Football Federation (JFF) Michael Ricketts is confident that the senior women's team will qualify for next year's FIFA Women's World Cup in France.

Ricketts told STAR Sports that they have assembled a very strong unit for the CONCACAF final-round World Cup Qualifiers, and his federation is very hopeful that the team will advance to next year's tournament.

"The truth is that we are very optimistic and hopeful because I think this is a very decent squad," said Ricketts. "I think this is the best that we have produced, and I want to commend the coaches and technical staff of the programme because I think they have done an excellent job and I would love for them to be rewarded by having this team qualify."

"I think it is a strong team and they are going to give a good account of themselves. We are very optimistic and we are very hopeful," Ricketts added.

Jamaica's Reggae Girlz have been drawn in Group B alongside Canada, Costa Rica, and Cuba. Group A features the USA, Panama, Mexico, and Trinidad and Tobago.

Knockout round

The championships will be played over two rounds. After round-robin play in Cary, North Carolina and Edinburg, Texas, the two group winners, plus the two second-place finishers will advance to the knockout round.

The semi-finals, third-place match, and final will take place at the Toyota Stadium, in Frisco, Texas. The tournament will qualify the top-three finishers to the FIFA Women's World Cup and a fourth team to an intercontinental play-off versus Argentina. The tournament is set to kick off on Thursday and ends on October 17.

Ricketts added that the Reggae Girlz have done well in their preparations for the tournament and so he believes that they can emerge as one of the top two teams from the group.

"I think Canada will obviously be our main challenge, but I think that we ought to be able to take care of the others and if we can get into the top four then we have real chance," Ricketts said.

"The fourth team will go into the play-offs against Argentina and so if we finish fourth, we are still in with a live shot because I think we were drawn in the better of the two groups," he said.