FRISCO, Tex. — Tobin Heath and Alex Morgan each scored twice in the first half, and the United States earned a spot in the Women’s World Cup next summer in France with a 6-0 victory over Jamaica on Sunday in the Concacaf qualifying tournament.
Heath’s first came within the first two minutes of the match, and she added a second in the 29th minute. Megan Rapinoe, Julie Ertz and Morgan also had first-half goals as the United States built a 5-0 lead.
Morgan’s second goal came on a penalty kick in the 84th minute.
The top-ranked United States is the defending champion of the sport’s premier event, having won the 2015 World Cup against Japan. It was the team’s third World Cup title.
Canada, ranked No. 5 in the world, also clinched a spot in France with a 7-0 victory over Panama in the earlier game Sunday at Toyota Stadium.
The top three finishers in the Concacaf Women’s Championship advance to the World Cup, so the winners of both semifinals earned a berth before the final. The title match and the third-place game are set for Wednesday in Frisco. The fourth-place finisher will face Argentina in a playoff for a spot in France.
Jamaica, ranked No. 64th in the world, was vying to become the first Caribbean nation to go to a World Cup. The Reggae Girlz, as the team is known, upset Costa Rica 1-0 in the group stage before routing Cuba 9-0 to finish second to Canada in Group B.
Jamaica restarted its women’s national team program in 2014 after a six-year hiatus, helped by the support of Bob Marley’s oldest daughter, Cedella Marley.
The United States has dominated the competition in the tournament. The team averaged six goals a game in the group stage, winning all three matches. They took 114 shots, far more than the second-highest total in the field, Canada’s 77. In their final group-stage match, the U.S. women outshot injury-depleted Trinidad and Tobago 59-0. And on Sunday, the United States outshot Jamaica 26-1.
Morgan’s goals tied her with Canada’s Adriana Leon for the tournament lead with six.
Morgan has 16 goals for the United States this year, and she has 23 goals in her last 23 matches.
Heath, who spent much of 2017 and the beginning of this year sidelined by injury, has seven goals in seven starts this year. Her second goal of the night came on a spectacular cross from Lindsay Horan, Heath’s teammate on the Portland Thorns. On the run, Heath smashed it past Jamaica goalkeeper Sydney Schneider.
The match slowed down in the second half, played in a steady rain. But the thunderstorms that had been forecast never materialized.
Seventeen teams have earned trips to the World Cup. There are seven teams yet to be determined.
Source : NYtimes
