Tifa wants to see more World Cup hype

Recently, dancehall artiste Tifa was all over Instagram showing off some exceptional football juggling skills. 

But, don’t get carried away, it was all AI, even though the Spell It Out artiste insists there is nothing artificial about her passion for the game.

With the  FIFA World Cup around the corner, Tifa is a bit concerned by what she considers to be the slow pace at which the major sporting event appears to be gaining momentum on the streets.

“It is weird because I have no predictions, and normally I would, but I don’t feel the spirit this year,” she told THE WEEKEND STAR.

 The 2026 FIFA World Cup will be cohosted by Canada, Mexico, and the United States of America. The tournament will take place from June 11 to July 19. Jamaica missed qualification for the tournament in which they have played only once.

With kick-off days away, Tifa said it feels like “Nothing nah happen”. She wishes it were different.

“Normally, you would go into the stores and be bombarded with jerseys, and you would be talking with people who would tell you who dem a bring. [But] Nothing! So me a carry Brazil just because. Just like how, if it was track and field and it came down to the 100 metres, you would say Jamaica, a so me a say Brazil,” she said.

And Tifa’s decision to cheer for Brazil goes beyond mere tradition. She said the closeness of the South Americans’ national colours to Jamaica is a deciding factor. Tifa insisted that she is not only a big football fan, but a big sports fan in general. 

“Though I’m known for my wine walk, a long time me love sports … From me eena high school, when I was known for both my knock knees and bow legs. I played field hockey at Wolmer’s and was Jamaica’s leading goalscorer for hockey in my age category,” she said.

In the meantime, Tifa has lauded Reggae Girlz captain Kahdijah ‘Bunny’ Shaw for her achievements on the pitch. Shaw has been the Women's Super League top goalscorer for three consecutive seasons. She finished as the league’s golden boot winner this year. 

“I so love it for ‘Bunny’ and I hope we get to the point where we develop, not just female football but football as a whole now the females are doing better than the men in football, with Reggae Girlz scoring goals and breaking records,” Tifa said.

The Reggae Girlz have played in two World Cup finals and are on the cusp of qualifying for a third. The artiste has opined that Jamaica can do more for its football by harnessing the local talent.

“We have a lot of players who play on the international club circuit, so why can’t we create the necessary machinery just like we do for track and field? We do have training for the developmental stage, because we have Walker Cup and Manning Cup, but we still need more,” she said.

“The other day, I was in a discussion about which song other than the national anthem is one of the best Jamaican songs, and I said the 1998 World Cup song Rise Up. When I reminded them of the lyrics and the popularity, they said it is true. So it’s not like we haven’t done it before.  We just need to get it together and leave politics out of the game,” Tifa said.