Jamaica are eyeing a last-16 place after defeating Panama 1-0 in Perth for their first ever Women’s World Cup finals victory.
Allyson Swaby, captain in the absence of suspended star forward Khadija Shaw, scored the Reggae Girlz’s winner with a 56th-minute header.
Having opened their Group F campaign with an impressive 0-0 draw against France in which Shaw was sent off late on, their maiden point at this level, Jamaica now join Les Bleues on four.
Jamaica leapfrog Brazil – beaten 2-1 by France earlier in the day – into second spot, meaning a draw against the Selecao next Wednesday would see them make more history by advancing to the knockout rounds for the first time.
Panama’s chances of getting out of the group, in what is their debut World Cup campaign, are over with this result following a 4-0 loss to the Brazilians.
The first half proved frustrating for Jamaica, having the majority of the attempts on goal but to no avail.
That included Drew Spence cutting in from the right and firing into the side-netting, and Vyan Sampson’s curling shot from distance that was pushed away by the diving Yenith Bailey.
Bailey subsequently got a touch as Tottenham midfielder Spence’s free-kick hit the bar in stoppage time before the interval.
The breakthrough then came early in the second half as Swaby headed home from Trudi Carter’s corner, with the celebrations that followed including a Shaw shirt being held up by Jamaica’s players.
After Panama’s Marta Cox had one shot saved and sent another wide, Jamaica then thought they had a stoppage-time penalty for handball when Spence’s shot hit Wendy Natis.
The eventual verdict was no spot-kick after referee Kateryna Monzul watched the incident back pitchside, making for a tense closing few moments, but Jamaica were able to see things out for the ground-breaking win.
