Speid’s Boyz expected to breeze past New Caledonia in play-off opener
Published:Monday | November 24, 2025 | 12:11 AMLivingston Scott/Gleaner Writer
Jamaica’s Reggae Boyz and interim head coach Rudolph Speid will enter next year’s intercontinental play-offs as strong favourites to get past semi-final opponents New Caledonia, a group of islands in the southwestern Pacific Ocean, east of Australia and northwest of New Zealand.
New Caledonia play in the Oceania Football Confederation (OFC) and are currently ranked 149th by FIFA. The French territory, with a population of just under 300,000, has jumped 11 places in the ranking since June 2024.
They topped their preliminary group consisting of Fiji (ranked 155th), Solomon Islands (ranked 152nd) and Papua New Guinea (ranked 170th), with seven points. They had wins over Papua New Guinea and Solomon Islands, and drew their match with Fiji.
They then entered the semi-finals against the 157th ranked Tahiti, who they defeated 3-0. However, in the final against New Zealand, for an automatic place in the World Cup, they suffered a 3-0 defeat.
The team is coached by Frenchman Johann Sidaner, who has already said they will face an uphill task.
‘Looks promising on paper’
Following the draw last Thursday, Sidaner said the matchup looks promising but that they must be aware of Jamaica’s superiority.
“The (intercontinental play-offs) draw has paired us with Jamaica. It looks promising on paper, but we will inevitably be underdogs against an opponent ranked 70th on the FIFA rankings,” he said. “They will have the advantage of the presence of their supporters, given the geographical proximity to Mexico.
“Unfortunately, we no longer have a FIFA window, and opportunities to get together are very limited. We will proceed as we did for the OFC qualifiers and approach these play-offs with the utmost seriousness.”
Sidaner started his coaching career with his former team and local club USSA Vertou, where a number of the current New Caledonia players play. He brought them to the National 3 Championship (fifth tier), before he was appointed pre-academy director of FC Nantes in 2011.
In 2019, he led the team to the national under-17 championship, before taking up the mantle with New Caledonia in 2022. The following year he guided the country to the Pacific Games Sol gold medal.
In the last three years Sidaner’s team has played only six matches, five of which were World Cup qualifying matches, the other game was a friendly against Tahiti in March 2023.
They have 11 overseas-based players in the French lower tiers, mainly the fifth tier. The current stars on the team include local-based goalkeeper Rocky Nyikeine, a mainstay for the national team for years, main forwards Georges Gope-Fenepe and Jean-Jacques Katrawa, and midfielder César Zeoula, all of whom play in France.
During the qualifiers, Georges Gopé-Fénépej was the team’s top scorer with three goals in five matches, followed by Joseph Athalé, whose two goals came from the penalty spot.