Jamaica Beats Brazil to Make Round of 16 After Needing a GoFundMe to Afford Trip to World Cup

“The Reggae Girlz" leaned on multiple fundraisers to make the trip to this year's World Cup

The Jamaican women’s soccer dream is alive and well, despite financial challenges that threatened keeping the team from traveling to this year’s World Cup.

The team pulled off one of the biggest upsets of the 2023 Women’s World Cup on Wednesday morning, drawing a 0-0 tie with Brazil, the No. 8 ranked team in the world. The result meant Jamaica, the No. 43-ranked team, is moving on to the knockout round while the powerhouse Brazilian team heads home.

Several members of the Jamaican team, who dubs itself “The Reggae Girlz,” were crying and hugging each other after tying Brazil to advance in the World Cup — "an achievement beyond belief," Fox Sports announcer Jacqui Oatley said.

Jamaica will now play the winner of Group H next Tuesday — either Colombia, Germany, or Morocco.

But the Jamaican squad wasn’t sure they’d even make it to the World Cup, leaning on a pair of last-minute fundraisers — including one GoFundMe launched by midfielder Havana Solaun’s mom — to help pay for their trip to Australia and New Zealand, where this year’s tournament is being held.

“If I can somehow make this journey smoother for them — and let them focus on what they’d love to do is play soccer — they shouldn’t be worried about the politics or getting a flight or getting accommodation,” Solaun’s mom, Sandra Phillips-Brower, told the Associated Press last month. “They should be able to go there and do what they qualified to do, just play soccer.”

That GoFundMe, as well as another set up by the Reggae Girlz Foundation, both raised more than $45,000 each before the tournament. The funds reportedly helped the team pay for travel and food expenses, a place to practice, as well as staff to bring along to the tournament.

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The fundraisers underscore the pay inequity between men’s and women’s sports around the globe.

Leading up to the World Cup, Jamaican forwards Khadija “Bunny” Shaw and Cheyna Matthews spoke out against the Jamaican soccer federation, which they said failed to address the pay gap and help fund the team’s trip to this year’s World Cup.

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“The Reggae Girls consist of professional and collegiate footballers who are spread out across the world,” Shaw wrote in a statement shared to social media before the tournament, as the team was left wondering whether they had enough funds to organize practices. “To be left questioning whether a camp will even take place two to three days before the expected start is unprofessional and often unfairly prohibitive for some of our players.”

Shaw said the Jamaican players are “constantly serving in multiple capacities, trying to overcome inadequate and often unacceptable circumstances, while doing our best to meet the physical and mental demands of the sport we love so much,” calling for an “immediate and systemic change” within the country’s soccer federation.

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The fight for pay equity in Jamaica comes as other teams, including the United States and Canada, have protested for the same issue in recent years.

President Joe Biden signed the Equal Pay for Team USA Act into law in January, an effort spearheaded by members of the U.S. Women’s National Team and ensures men’s and women’s national teams are paid equally.

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