Sophia Smith scored in the fifth and eighth minutes to give her eight goals in 18 international matches. A pair of early goals by Sophia Smith lifted the U.S. women’s national team to a 5-0 victory over Jamaica in the CONCACAF W Championship in Guadalupe, Mexico, on Thursday. The victory, coupled with Mexico’s 3-0 loss to Haiti later Thursday night, seals a berth in the 2023 Women’s World Cup in Australia and New Zealand for the two-time defending champion U.S. women.
The third-place team in each group heads to an intercontinental playoff for a World Cup bid. If Jamaica and Haiti play to a draw on Monday, Mexico would miss out on next year’s World Cup. The winner of the W Championship also qualifies for the 2024 Summer Olympics. The U.S. had never lost to the Jamaicans in four previous matches, outscoring them 26-0, and Smith made sure there would be no upset as was the case when Jamaica defeated Mexico 1-0 on Monday.
She scored in the fifth and eighth minutes to give her eight goals in 18 international matches. Rose Lavelle extended the lead to 3-0 in the 59th minute. Kristie Mewis added a penalty kick in the 83rd minute for her sixth international goal after Midge Purce drew the foul, and Trinity Rodman made it 5-0 in the 86th for her second goal in five U.S. games.
Smith opened the scoring by taking a pass from Naomi Girma on the right flank. Smith took a touch and moved the ball around a defender before deftly slipping a shot with the outside of her right foot past goalkeeper Rebecca Spencer. Soon after, Smith took an overhead pass from Sofia Huerta and chipped a shot over the charging Spencer.