Bermuda 0 Jamaica 4

Bermuda’s chances of qualifying for the 2026 Fifa World Cup were dented last night when they lost their opening match in the final stage of qualification to Jamaica in front of a packed Flora Duffy Stadium.

The atmosphere was bouncing early but the Jamaicans quietened the horns and the crowd, albeit temporarily, when taking an early lead through captain Damian Lowe in the sixth minute. Renaldo Cephas doubled the advantage 20 minutes later. Kasey Palmer made it 3-0 in the 58th minute and substitute Shamar Nicholson headed in a fourth in the 90th.

From a country renowned for its sprinting, Jamaica’s wide men in particular would not have looked out of place in a track and field final as Bermuda struggled to handle the pace possessed by their opponents in transition.

Despite Bermuda having the lion’s share of possession with 54 per cent of the ball, Jamaica were purposeful in attack and could have scored more goals, with Bermuda coach Michael Findlay feeling the loss of an early was difficult to recover from.

“We did have a slow start,” the coach said. “The first goal was a sloppy goal to concede, it was early and kind of put us on the back foot a little bit. It took us a bit of time to recover, but even though we went down 2-0 we had a very nice period and passage of play for a while.

“It’s never an enjoyable time when you lose a football match, especially in a World Cup qualifying campaign, but as we've told the players over the last couple of days, this is an initial step of six steps.

“We have to be conscious of that. We have to be very careful that we don’t eliminate all of the good things that have been happening in terms of getting us to this point because of a match like this.

“I’m disappointed but we also know that we have work to be done. We knew that it wasn't going to be easy and that we were not going to roll in here and take points off everybody.”

Heading into the game Findlay had warned of Jamaica’s threat from set pieces and Bermuda captain Nahki Wells told the media at his post-match press conference that the side were disappointed to have conceded the opening goal after failing to clear a corner.

“They scored early from a set piece, something we tried our very best not to do after five minutes,” Wells said.

“It was a slow set-piece that gave them a lift, knocked us down a bit and changed the momentum of the fixture.

“We knew that they had the quality and if they were going to get anything, we needed them to work for it. The initial goal was sloppy from us and they grew from that.

“We’re at home and we’re kicking off our Fifa World Cup campaign on the wrong foot. We expected a tough game, we knew that a really good side was coming here tonight, and we were just not good enough.

“We know that losing the first game doesn't define what the outcome is going to be, but it’s an uphill task for us.”

Wells had Bermuda’s best chance of the first half in the seventeenth minute when he received a pass from Reggie Lambe, took a shot and his effort was pushed out for a corner by Jahmali Waite.

Jamaica went 2-0 nil up in the 26th minute when a fast break saw Greg Leigh’s headed pass release Cephas on the left side. The winger showed frightening pace from inside his own half, racing past Reece Jones Jr and the otherwise impressive Harry Twite before beating goalkeeper Dale Eve with a smart low finish.

Bailey Cadamarteri could have extended Jamaica’s lead in the 37th minute with a right-footed shot that went wide to the left after he rounded Eve and the Bermuda goalkeeper produced a brilliant save to deny the Sheffield Wednesday striker two minutes after.

In the 43rd minute, Cadamarteri went close again with his shot coming off the upright as Jamaica came close to a third goal.

Findlay, who usually looks to make his first substitute around the 60-minute mark, opted at half time to withdraw midfielder Willie Clemons and replace him with Keziah Martin. That change brought about Bermuda’s best period of the match with glorious chances falling to Reggie Lambe and Kane Crichlow in the opening period of the second half, but neither could convert.

“We felt at the time we needed a little bit more forward pressing in that central midfield area,” Findlay said.

“Keziah seemed to have a little bit more of the ball. Willie didn’t do anything wrong but we look at where we’re going, when we’re going and how we balance the team out.

“Keziah has been starting for us almost every game, so not being in the starting line-up for him was probably disappointing.

“We felt we wanted to have some experience in the middle to begin the process, then at half-time we felt it was time to get fresh legs.”

But just as Bermuda appeared to be getting a foothold in the game, Palmer tripled Jamaica’s advantage with the Hull City midfielder sprinting past the home side’s midfield and burying the ball into the bottom left corner from outside the box.

Nicholson, who replaced the brilliant Cadamarteri in the 71st minute, was left unmarked from a Palmer corner to head in the fourth for Steve McClaren’s side on the stroke of full-time.

SCORERS

Jamaica: Lowe 6, Cephas 26, Palmer 58, Nicholson 90

TEAMS

Bermuda (4-1-4-1): D Eve—R Jones, D Hill (sub: L Simmons, 72min), H Twite, J Carpenter (sub: D Leverock, 81) — W Clemons (sub: K Martin, 46) — K Crichlow, R Lambe (sub: J Donawa, 66), N Tucker (sub: A Todd, 81), D Parfitt—N Wells. Unused substitutes: J Butterfield-Steede, E Russell, D Bell, K Richardson, R Smith-Jones, C Fubler

Jamaica (4-1-4-1): J Waite—D Lembikisa, R King, D Lowe (sub: M Holgate, 61), G Leigh—Hayden—R Cephas, K Palmer, J Russell, T Campbell (sub: R Webster, 87) — B Cadamarteri (sub: S Nicholson, 71). Unused substitutes: T Chambers, K Lambert, J Topey, M Antonio, K Foster, W Brown, J Anglin

Booked: Hayden, Nicholson

Referee: K Herrera (Costa Rica).