Boyz World Cup hopes in tatters

The bell may have just tolled on the Reggae Boyz's World Cup qualifying chances.

Despite head coach Paul Hall's belief in their slim chances after Thursday's results, Jamaica's campaign was dealt a possible knock out blow, losing 3-2 to Panama at the Estadio Rommel Fernandez yesterday.

While Michail Antonio gave the visitors the lead in the fifth minute, Panama completed the comeback thanks to a Javain Brown own goal in the 43rd minute, Eric Davis in the 51st minute, and Anibal Mello in the 68th minute to keep Jamaica winless under Hall since he took over as head coach after the departure of Theodore Whitmore.

In the build-up to the game, Hall emphasised that he wanted to see Jamaica make better use of their moments with the ball, contrary to their 2-1 loss to Mexico. While they did have their moments, they fell victim to turnovers which saw them being put under pressure.

The Video Assistant Referee (VAR) system played its part for the second straight game, this time for both teams. In the fifth minute upon review, the referee awarded Jamaica a penalty for a foul on Ravel Morrison, which Antonio converted, giving the Jamaicans the perfect start. However, a VAR review in the 18th minute awarded a penalty against the Boyz when Morrison's challenge in the box on a Panamanian player was ruled a foul, and not a shoulder change, and a penalty was given. Goalkeeper Andre Blake made the resulting save from Davis's shot, preserving the Reggae Boyz's lead. They would hold on to that lead for more than 20 minutes before a cross into the Jamaican box went beyond Blake and Brown's attempt to clear was instead turned into his own net.

Davis would make amends for his penalty miss six minutes into the second half as from a Panamanian counter-attack, his shot was initially saved by Blake, but he followed up the rebound to give the home side the lead. Amallo's close-range effort 17 minutes later would complete the turnaround.

Andre Gray's header three minutes from time proved to be nothing more than a consolation goal as Jamaica are now winless in their last four qualifying games.

After the Mexico game, Hall said Panama's 1-0 loss to Costa Rica on Thursday still gave them a chance to get back up the table. However, with yesterday's defeat, Jamaica are now 10 points behind fourth-place Panama (17 points) with four games left. Jamaica finish the window against Costa Rica on Wednesday.