FRISCO, Texas — Tobin Heath and Alex Morgan each scored twice in the first half and United States earned a spot in the World Cup next summer in France with a 6-0 victory over Jamaica on Sunday in the CONCACAF qualifying tournament.
Heath’s first came in the first two minutes of the match and she added a second in the 29th. Megan Rapinoe, Julie Ertz and Morgan also had first-half goals as the United States built a 5-0 lead.
Morgan’s second goal was 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 final in 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 represent the region in France, 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 upset Costa Rica 1-0 in the group stage before routing Cuba 9-0 to finish second to Canada in Group B.
The island nation re-started its women’s national team program in 2014 after a six-year hiatus, boosted 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 its group stage, winning all three matches. They took 114 shots, far more than the second-best team in the field, Canada (77). In their final group-stage match, the U.S. women outshot injury-depleted Trinidad and Tobago 59-0.
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. She has 96 career goals.
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 serve from Portland Thorns’ teammate Lindsay Horan. 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.
Canada 7, France 0
Christine Sinclair isn’t concerned about chasing records. She’s set her sights on the World Cup.
Sinclair scored twice and Canada went on to secure a spot in next year’s World Cup in France with a 7-0 victory over Panama on Sunday in the semifinals of the CONCACAF qualifying tournament.
Sinclair has 177th international goals. She ranks second on the career list — among both men and women — behind former U.S. forward Abby Wambach’s record of 184 goals.
After her header in the 44th minute gave Canada its opening goal, Sinclair pumped her fist in celebration. She added another header in the 49th minute.
“It’s my teammates that keep reminding me of it,” she smiled. “Especially in this tournament, it’s just all about qualifying.”
Adriana Leon, who came in as a sub for Sinclair in the 68th minute, also scored a pair of goals.
Canada will face the United States in the final. The defending World Cuo champoion Americans beat Jamaica 6-0 in the second semifinal at Toyota Stadium.
The final and third-place match are set for Wednesday night. The top three finishers in the CONCACAF Women’s Championship will represent the region in France, so the winners of both semifinals earn a berth. The fourth-place finisher will face Argentina in a playoff for a spot.
Canada, ranked No. 5 in the world, will make its seventh World Cup appearance. The only time Canada has missed out on the game’s premier tournament was in 1991, the event’s first year.
“It’s massive for us,” Sinclair said. “It was obviously our goal coming into this tournament. It’s getting more and more difficult qualifying out of CONCACAF, you see different teams making it the semifinals, with Panama and Jamaica making it.”
Panama coach Victor Daniel Suarez gave half of his starters from earlier in the tournament the night off, including 17-year-old goalkeeper Yenith Bailey, who turned heads in a 5-0 loss to the United States in the group stage. Carli Lloyd shook the teenager’s hand following a gutsy performance. Panama started Farissa Cordoba instead.
The strategy was apparently to give the starters a break in anticipation that 66th-ranked Panama will play in the third-place game, perhaps against Jamaica, and a win there can still secure a World Cup berth.
Suarez said after the match that Bailey had a sore shoulder, so he wanted to keep her fresh for Wednesday’s match.
Panama has never been to a World Cup.
“There’s a lot of changes happening,” Suarez said through a translator about Panama’s recent rise. “They (he players) want to make history, as they are right now, but it will be step by step.”
Canada had the best chances in the first half, including Allysha Chapman’s shot in the 12th minute that was just off target and hit the side of the net, before Sinclair broke through.
Jesse Fleming added another goal for Canada in the 48th minute, a short time before Sinclair’s second. Janine Beckie and Rebecca Quinn also scored before Leon’s brace. Leon has six goals in the tournament.
Diana Matheson made her 200th appearance for Canada. The midfielder has played for the national team since 2003.
