New Caledonia no walkover – Speid
Published:Saturday | January 10, 2026 | 12:12 AMLivingston Scott/Gleaner Writer
Despite the general perception that Jamaica’s intercontinental World Cup play-off semifinal against New Caledonia in March will be a walkover for the Reggae Boyz, interim head coach Rudolph Speid is not taking that outlook.
Speid, in his first press conference as interim coach on Wednesday, revealed he had travelled to Morocco recently to watch the Democratic Republic of Congo, who have a bye to the play-offs final, play in the African Cup of Nations.
The interim coach, however, reminded Reggae Boyz fans that New Caledonia, with their French connection, are formidable opponents who must be taken seriously.
“Don’t forget New Caledonia. We have to pass them first. My understanding is that they are strengthening and they will be formidable.
“We have (watched) their last four games but those teams change and I think they have already added a new coach since they qualified for the play-offs.
“Also they are French. So I think we will see players from France coming to fill gaps in the teams. So it is going to be difficult. It is not going to be a walkover. We are focusing on them first, then we will have five days to prepare for the other game.”
He noted also that he found the Congo team “interesting”’.
“The Congo team is interesting in how they play. When we look at their squad, they have 22 people in the top 20 leagues in the world, just to give you an idea how strong their team is and what their quality is like.
“It was really good to watch them. Watching on TV is different from watching a team in person. There are things you wouldn’t have seen. So it’s good that I went in person,” he commented.
On Wednesday, Speid named a provisional 52-man squad from which the final play-offs squad will be selected, and that final squad he disclosed will be finalised by the end of February.
“We will have all the players available on March 22. The final squad we will have at least three weeks before, at the end of February or in the middle of February
Despite limited time and practice with the group going into the play-offs, Speid is confident he has the players to build a team competitive enough to take them to the World Cup.
“What we have done is sit down and work from the back. Work on from the day we hope to qualify, right back to now.
“We can’t cry about the time. We have to work with the time and give it our best effort.”
Although he and his staff have yet to decide on the tactical approach, he said with the quality they have at their disposal, they will go into the tournament tactically prepared.
“We haven’t decided yet what the best tactic is because it will take some time to formulate a plan and we are working on it.
“Everything we are doing now is in preparation for that. We might not get it right the first time but we will do our review. We have a camp next week and then a game against Grenada (January 18). So it’s just for us to improve as we go along.
“Every team is different depending on who you are playing. How you might play a Grenada might be different from how you play a Congo or a New Caledonia.
“So all of those things we are taking into consideration. We are looking at both teams to see what they have to offer.”
He added: “Better players make life easier and these are better players I will be working with. It is exciting to work with all of these top players. They are more technically sound and I think with the technical ability they have, they can carry out instructions easier,” he said.