WORLD CUP ETC - PREVIEW: Intercontinental Playoffs - New Caledonia vs. Jamaica - Guadalajara

Paul Schmidt-Troschke & Jon Bonfiglio look ahead to the Guadalajara semi-final in the Intercontinental Playoffs, between New Caledonia and Jamaica. 

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:27

Hello and welcome to World Cup Etc. with me, Paul Schmitroschke, and today I am very excited to give you all a match preview for the semifinal between New Caledonia and Jamaica, one of the total of four games making up the Intercontinental Playoffs taking place in Guadalajara and Monterey. This game will be played parallel to the other semifinal in Monterey between Bolivia and Suriname, which I will preview tomorrow. There are many exciting facts surrounding this matchup between New Caledonia and Jamaica, the first one being that the two countries never met before on a football field ever. New Caledonia, still being a French territory, was only accepted by FIFA in 2004, although their men's national team already exists since 1928 and only in 2025, after a historical agreement between the island group and the French government, among other added freedoms, the locals can call themselves New Caledonians now, having their distinct New Caledonian nationality officially recognized. Of course, I am not saying that this is a great achievement, but more so that unfortunately it is still like that, that European powers are still massively impacting the lives of millions of people thousands of kilometers away from their own capitals. Their national team known as Le Kagu, named after an indigenous bird, qualified for this semi-final by placing as the best runner-up in the Oceania Football Confederation qualifiers and has won three, lost one, and ended one match in a draw out of their last five games. They currently occupy place 150 in the Global FIFA ranking and have a strong track record of good runs in the OFC tournaments. But they never qualified for a World Cup before, now having the historic opportunity to become another extremely small nation by population, with only 297,000 inhabitants qualifying for the tournament for the first time. Taking a look at their squad, none of the names are immediately recognizable, only if you're a geek of French 3rd to 5th division football. However, their most successful player and midfielder with the name of Angelo Fulgini currently plays at Altaoun in the Saudi Pro League. Now over to the Reggae Boys, Jamaica's men's national football team, which was founded in 1910 and was officially accepted as an affiliate member of FIFA in 1962 and of CONCACAF one year later in 1963. Jamaica currently places 17th in the global FIFA ranking and has compiled two wins, two draws and one loss over their last five games. In contrast to New Caledonia, Jamaica has collected some notable achievements over the past decades, with winning the Caribbean Cup six times between 1991 and 2014, and after placing third in the 2024 CONCAC Nations League, one could have guessed that they end up in such a historically good position to secure their second ever World Cup participation, the last one dating back to 1998 in France. Jamaica's squad is also living through its golden era right now, with Aston Via's Leon Bailey being the undisputed star of the team. But Brantford's center back Ethan Pinnock and midfielder Demaray Gray, who won the Premier League with Leicester City in the 2015-16 season, are notable as well. So in comparison, it is hard to imagine seeing New Caledonia achieving the impossible. And again, I am delighted to have one of my co-hosts and journalists John Bonfili with me. John, the whole of Mexico still remembers the violent scenes from a couple of weeks ago, and Guadalajara was the epicenter of said violence. And secondly, both countries, meaning New Caledonia and Jamaica, share a lot of colonial history. What comes to your mind in regards to this? Thanks, Paul.

SPEAKER_01 4:22

Well, it's impossible to see the intercontinental playoffs, I think, in Guadalajara without remembering the events of just a few weeks ago with the killing of Cartel Kingpin El Mencho and the unrest that broke out across the city, which is the capital of Jalisco, and both are central to the power of the Jalisco New Generation Cartel, of which, of course, El Mencho was the leader. So the eyes are on the football, little doubt, specifically New Caledonia and Jamaica on the evening of Thursday, 26th of March. But they're also, um, the eyes are also on the event, as far, I think, as it is uh an echo of what took place a few weeks before. And I would add it's also a dry run for Guadalajara and Mexico ahead of the World Cup, only 80 or so days away. The other thing I think is worth drawing out is that this semi-final brings together two nations that are at different points in their journey towards autonomy and self-determination. New Caledonia, the first, is what's known as a special status French collectivity in the Southwest Pacific. In other words, it is still under the broad control of France and has been in the news a lot in the last few years as its independence movement, led primarily by the indigenous Kanak population, seeks uh drives forward towards a break from France. The movement escalated into violent unrest in May 2024 following proposed changes to voting laws. Uh the changes were proposed by France, and these were designed to weaken the voice of the indigenous Kanak people who are almost all entirely searching for full sovereignty. So the proposed voting amendment was designed to allow newer residents to vote. But those newer residents are almost all of European descent and they support ongoing relationships with France. So the voting proposal was designed to drown out the voice of the indigenous Kanaks. So for them, for the Kannax and for New Caledonia, this semi-final is a key moment, framed in an international context which shapes their identity. For New Caledonia, reaching the World Cup Finals would be a massive moment in their search for independent autonomous recognition. And facing them is Jamaica, of course, the Caribbean Island, the large Caribbean island. Uh now Jamaica is uh already independent, having established its break from the British Crown in 1962, but the king is still officially head of state, and republicanism has been building on the island to the extent that both major political parties are now in favor of uh a full breakaway from um from British royalty, from empire, from its colonial master. And the current Prime Minister, Andrew Holness, has made transitioning a key priority for his government. So for both New Caledonia and Jamaica, these playoffs are much more than just a sporting occasion, especially as the international spotlight will be on them in a way that does not normally happen. Here, once again, sport uh is an entry point into a much broader social, political, and historical reality. It's a real shame that both can't make it through.

SPEAKER_00 7:34

Yes, it is, but um being an optimist on my part, I am very happy that at least one of them has a solid chance of qualifying, which would be in any case remarkable. So thanks, John, for your comment. I will now pack my suitcase for my early flight tomorrow morning to Guadalajara. So that's it from us for today. Don't forget to follow us and rate the show on our platforms to stay updated. That goes a long way for us as well. Thank you so much for listening and goodbye.