Mason Greenwood could end England hopes for World Cup opportunity with Jamaica, claims former Reggae Boyz star - who did the same in '98

Former Manchester United winger Greenwood appeared poised to commit his international future to Jamaica at one stage, with clearance being sought from FIFA. The 24-year-old earned his solitary senior cap for England in a Nations League clash with Iceland in 2020.

Having tumbled out of contention for selection with the Three Lions, opportunities to represent a different country were reported to have been explored. No switch has been officially ratified, with impressive form at club level said to have Greenwood clinging to the belief that he may yet earn further recognition with the land of his birth.

That door remains closed for now, while Jamaica have a World Cup qualification semi-final play-off meeting with New Caledonia to come on March 27 - as they seek to reach a first global showpiece since 1998.

Quizzed on whether Greenwood should be allowed to come on board after tickets are booked to FIFA’s flagship event, Sinclair - speaking in association with betting zonder cruks - told GOAL: “It depends how it's gone about. Obviously Mason Greenwood's always going to have the baggage of what's happened previously and that's outside of football. Wherever he goes, that's going to follow him, which I don't really want to comment on because I don't know the ins and outs of it, to be honest. I've never followed the stories either way from whichever side. So it's not something that I can comment on.

“But I've been in a situation where I decided to play for Jamaica when they qualified for the World Cup in 1998. But that's when I was asked to play. I wasn't asked to play in the qualifiers. So it's a little bit of a difference in that sort of situation.

“But, end of the day, Jamaica will make a decision that makes them, if they do get to the World Cup, able to compete to the best of their capabilities and bring in the players that would probably think I won't play for Jamaica unless it's in the World Cup. They may have the opportunity to recruit once they get there, but they've got a hard task of getting there still and there's a lot of work still to do.”

Ex-Chelsea defender Sinclair, who went on to earn 28 caps for Jamaica, has previously told GOAL of Greenwood’s potential switch and the hurdles that need to be cleared in order to make that possible: “It’s a really difficult one. An obvious football answer would be, absolutely. Because of what he brings as a footballer, he makes this Jamaica squad a lot stronger. But, it’s deeper than that. There are a lot of people that don’t feel the same way about him as a person.

“It depends on what Jamaica want to do in creating a culture in the international squad. It’s a hard one to answer. From a football sense, yeah, of course you want Mason Greenwood in your squad because he gives you a greater opportunity of qualifying for the World Cup.

“At the same time, there are things in the world that are bigger than football and it’s a difficult question to answer. It would have to be acceptance from the nation, from the players, from the staff, 100 per cent backing him because there are going to be a lot of people that are going to be trying to dig holes and put him in them. It’s not a case of here’s your dual passport, you can play for Jamaica now. There is a lot more that comes with representing Jamaica.

“I was in the second batch of English-based players that joined the national squad and it wasn’t just about football for me. My decision behind playing for Jamaica was twofold. One was, I felt like there wasn’t going to be an opportunity to play for England, because of where I was at the time and the football I was playing, winning trophies etc, I thought that if I was ever going to play for England it would have been now.

“The second was to support the nation in trying to help players get out of the nation and play all over Europe. That was a big thing for me because we had to get that exposure to the national team to help the Jamaica-based players start to achieve. That was the expectation of the squad, as well as improving the squad going to the 1998 World Cup.”

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