Organised football in Jamaica traces its roots to 1910, when the Jamaica Football Federation (JFF) was established to govern the sport on the island. The game itself had been played informally since the late nineteenth century — the Kingston Cricket Club fielded the first recorded football team as early as 1893 — but it was the JFF's formation and its subsequent affiliation with CONCACAF and FIFA in 1962 that placed Jamaican football on the international map.
The men's national team, known affectionately as the Reggae Boyz, achieved their defining moment when they qualified for the 1998 FIFA World Cup in France — the first Caribbean nation to do so. Although they were eliminated in the group stage, they signed off with a memorable 2–1 victory over Japan, a result that captured imaginations across the island and the wider Caribbean. The team has also claimed the Caribbean Cup on five occasions, cementing their status as one of the region's stronger footballing nations.
On the women's side, the Reggae Girlz made their own piece of history by qualifying for the 2019 FIFA Women's World Cup in France, becoming the first Caribbean women's side to reach the tournament. Havana Solaun scored the team's first ever Women's World Cup goal, against Australia. The programme has shown further signs of growth, winning bronze at the CONCACAF W Championship in both 2018 and 2022.
Jamaican football is governed today by the JFF, which has administered women's football since 1991. The national identity of both teams is deeply tied to Caribbean pride and the island's broader cultural identity, with their World Cup appearances serving as the sport's two most celebrated chapters.