New Caledonia vs Jamaica Prediction: Back the Reggae Boyz to ruin a fairytale ending

Whilst the attention is on Europe ahead of the World Cup play-offs, we go to Mexico in the early hours of Friday morning (03:00) for the Inter-Confederation Playoff clash between New Caledonia and Jamaica.

The two teams are still a couple of games away from making the finals this summer. The winner of this tie will play Iraq on Wednesday, 1st April, where a place at the World Cup finals awaits.We preview the match with the latest odds and New Caledonia vs Jamaica predictions.

Team News

New Caledonia can lean on two proven goalscorers in the shape of Georges Gope-Fenepej and Joseph Athale, whilst there’s also a call-up for former French youth international Angelo Fulgini, who can slot into midfield.

Jamaica will be reliant on Aston Villa’s Leon Bailey to bring the flair, whilst there are also call-ups for the Barnsley Maldini Ethan Pinnock, Bobby De Cordova-Reid of Leicester City and Birmingham City's Demarai Gray.

Football Odds

New Caledonia vs Jamaica Odds

This looks like a tall ask for Les Cagous, Betfred pricing them at 28/1 to win this one-off tie. The team has already reached new heights by making it to the play-offs.

Their story reads a bit like the movie Next Goal Wins, starring Michael Fassbender, who took on American Samoa after they were defeated 31-0 by Australia at the Pacific Games in 2001. New Caledonia coach Johann Sidaner took on a mountainous task in 2022, leaving his job as a youth coach at Nantes to manage this tiny island nation, but he has worked wonders just to get to this stage.

Finishing top of their Oceania qualifying group ahead of Fiji, Solomon Islands and Papua New Guinea, the Pacific Islanders beat Tahiti 3-0 in their semi-final before coming up short in the final against New Zealand 3-0.

The consolation is this match-up against a Jamaica side that finished runner-up behind Curacao in their CONCACAF qualifying group, who are as short as 1/20 to win here.

Given the teams involved, the betting markets are fairly limited for this match-up, but I’ve tried to weed out a bit of value if you’re having an interest.

Today's Football Fixtures

Jamaica to win both halves @ 8/15

Whilst Jamaica to win the tie is very short, you can back them to win both halves at a more sporting 8/15.

Form lines are a little tricky to assess, but taking the Fifa world rankings into account, Jamaica are ranked 80 places ahead of their opponents at 70th in the world, which places them alongside the likes of Northern Ireland and Bosnia-Herzegovina, who both have their own World Cup play-offs this week in Europe.

New Caledonia are ranked 150, and even some of Jamaica’s CONCACAF opponents are ranked in the top 100, so you have to be they’ll be far too strong here.

Jamaica to be leading after 20 minutes @ 19/20

Continuing the theme, we’ve got a special price of even money for the Reggae Boyz to be leading after 20 minutes.

They might not have Steve McClaren at the helm anymore, but they’ve only lost three of their last 14 matches.

Bailey is the star man for the Caribbeans, but UK followers will also know that the likes of Gray, Jamal Lowe of Sheffield Wednesday, Coventry’s Ephron Mason-Clark and Tyreece Campbell of Charlton bring enough firepower here to blast Jamaica into a play-off final versus Iraq next week.

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