Sophia Smith scored twice in the opening minutes and the US women’s team booked a place in the 2023 World Cup with a 5-0 victory over Jamaica on Thursday at the CONCACAF W Championship in Monterrey, Mexico.
With two wins in the W Championship, the United States leads its group and will head to the World Cup next summer, hosted by Australia and New Zealand. The Americans sealed a place after Haiti’s 3-0 win over Mexico later on Thursday. The United States has played in every World Cup, winning the last two and four overall tournaments.
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Smith scored her first in the fifth minute and then added another goal in the eighth minute. She has eight international goals in her career. Rose Laville scored in the 59th minute and Christy Moyes added a goal in the 83rd minute. After about three minutes, Trinity Rodman scored her second international goal.
“Obviously, being a young player on this team it can be a little intimidating, but I think I found my confidence and I felt like I could be myself on the court,” Smith said. What I’ve been doing and my team has been very supportive of that. ”
Megan Rapinoe was not available for the match because she was at the White House on Thursday to receive the Medal of Freedom, the nation’s highest civilian honor. The United States beat Haiti 3-0 in the opening match of the tournament, while Jamaica beat Mexico 1-0. The Americans will face Mexico while the Reggie Girls face Haiti in the final group game on Monday.
“We didn’t play well,” Jamaica coach Lauren Donaldson said. “You’re not going to play with the world champions and you play that bad and expect anything to come out of the game. We weren’t good.”
Eight teams were playing in the W Championship, divided into two groups. The two best teams in each group qualify for the World Cup. The two third-placed teams will advance to a 10-team Intercontinental Playoff in New Zealand in February.
The W Championship winner will also qualify for the 2024 Olympics.
Canada, Costa Rica, Panama and Trinidad and Tobago fall into the other group.
