Steve McClaren has become the ‘joke of Jamaica’ after failing to lead the nation to a place at the 2026 World Cup
Steve McClaren’s managerial career on the international stage has been left in tatters. McClaren was left with no choice but to quit as Jamaica boss, after failing to secure World Cup qualification.
The former England boss sealed his own fate in the wake of his side’s goalless draw with Curacao in Jamaica’s National Stadium. And in the process, reviving horrible memories of 2007, when McClaren’s failure to secure England’s place at Euro 2008 saw him sacked.
Ironically, McClaren sought solace in the Caribbean after his dismissal, taking a break in Barbados. Back then McClaren became known as the ‘wally with a brolly’, in reference to him standing on the touchline in the pouring rain at Wembley, watching his Three Lions lose to Croatia. Fast forward almost two decades, and McClaren has now morphed into the ‘joke of Jamaica’.
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While Curacao produced the fairytale of becoming the smallest nation to reach the World Cup, McClaren found himself living out a nightmare which reduced him to tears. To make matters worse, McClaren had been expected to lead his ‘Reggae Boyz’ to the finals in North America next summer, because Concacaf rivals USA, Mexico and Canada all had automatic qualification for the tournament as co-hosts.
But the music fell flat for McClaren and his flops. He said: “Over the last 18 months I have given everything I have to this job. Leading this team has been one of the greatest honours of my career.
“But football is a results business and we have fallen short of our goal, which was to qualify from this group. It is the responsibility of the leader to step forward, take accountability and make decisions in the best interests of the team.
“After deep reflection, and an honest assessment of where we are and where we need to go, I have decided to step down as head coach of the Jamaican national team. Sometimes the best thing a leader can do is to recognise when a fresh voice, new energy, and a different perspective is required to move this team forward.”
How McClaren moves forward after this is difficult to see.
Curacao, meanwhile, can start looking forward to the experience of a lifetime next summer, when McClaren will be sat on a beach somewhere (not in Jamaica though), wondering how it all went wrong. Curacao went undefeated throughout their qualification campaign to top Group B with 12 points, joining Panama and Haiti in booking their World Cup ticket.
And earned a point in Jamaica despite missing head coach Dick Advocaat for the fixture. The 78-year-old former Rangers and Sunderland boss was absent due to personal reasons.
The nation carries a land mass of just 171 square miles, and boasts a population of less than 157,000. Iceland previously held the record as the smallest country to reach the World Cup, when they qualified for Russia in 2018.
Jamaica still have a chance of reaching the World Cup through the inter-confederation play-offs, but McClaren won’t be there to oversee it.
