HARDER THEY COME

Rudolph Speid, Jamaica Reggae Boyz interim head coach, believes their Concacaf Nations League encounter against Honduras will be one of the most difficult in recent times as both teams look to advance to the knockout stages of the competition.

The Jamaica team is to take on the visiting Hondurans at 7:00 pm at the National Stadium in the second match of the group stage. Last Friday, Jamaica started their Group B campaign on a winning note with a 3-2 win over Guatemala while Honduras suffered a shock 2-3 defeat to visitors Suriname. With three games remaining, a win for the Boyz would boost their quarter-final hopes while pushing top-ranked Honduras closer to elimination.

SPEID...they’re going to leave everything on the pitch, but we’ll be prepared for it

Speid is expecting a tough encouter but is confident his team can pull off another victory. “[Honduras] always play with intensity but I think they’ll be more hungry this time to get a good result because another bad result for them almost put them out of the competition,” he said. “I think this will be the hardest match yet. They’re going to leave everything on the pitch but we’ll be prepared for it.” The last time the teams met in Kingston was in the 2024 Nations League where it ended goalless. However, it continued Jamaica’s impressive eight game unbeaten run with Honduras last tasting victory 13 years ago.

Jamaica Reggae Boyz winger Kaheim Dixon (left) attempts to get by Guatemala’s Jose Morales during the Concacaf Nations League football game at the National Stadium on September 25, 2026. Photos: Garfield Robinson

The Hondurans will also be reeling from the recent defeat to Suriname at home but Speid is still wary of the threat they possess. “We’ve looked at it [loss to Suriname] over and over but every match is different. They would also have looked at where they made mistakes and tried to adjust, so I don’t expect to see exactly the same team but we are creatures of habits and I expect that there will be some semblance of what we would have scouted coming into the game.” The Reggae Boyz squad trained at the National Stadium on Sunday morning with Speid expecting all players to be available despite some minor injuries following last Friday’s match. It remains to be seen whether he names an unchanged team after playing an unfamiliar 3-5-2 formation which saw them struggle defensively against Guatemala. Speid, though, isn’t worried about the tactical set up this evening. “I don’t know if the back three itself was a problem,” he said. “I just think that we probably didn’t execute as well as we should but our coaching staff is up to it. We have seen where there’s issues and we will try and fix those.” He does, however, believes their recent attacking play has given them confidence going into the contest. “I thought the manner we scored the goals, they were really good goals. Rumarn [Burrell] scored a goal that we haven’t seen from Jamaica for a very long time,” he said.

Goalscorer Rumarn Burrell shoots during Jamaica Reggae Boyz’s 3-2 win over Guatemala in the Concacaf Nations League football game at the National Stadium on September 25, 2026.

“That was the positive for me, the quality of the goals. It was just good all around, on the offensive side, we were really good.” Jamaica need to finish in the top two of Group B to advance to the quarter-finals where they will meet either Mexico, USA, Canada, or Panama.

SQUAD

Goalkeepers — Andre Blake, Amal Knight, Shaquan Davis Defenders — Damion Lowe, Richard King, Ronaldo Webster, Joel Latibeaudiere, Christopher Ainsworth, Tayvon Gray, Miguel Freckleton Midfielders — Isaac Hayden, Kasey Palmer, Dwayne Atkinson, Karoy Anderson, Brandon Cover, Courtney Clarke Forwards —Renaldo Cephas, Kaheim Dixon, Bailey Cadamarteri, Rumarn Burrell, Tyreece Campbell, Javon East, Jahmarie Nolan, Jamone Lyle