KINGSTON, Jamaica (CMC):

Former French World Cup star Frank Leboeuf says Jamaica's chances of ever winning a FIFA World Cup are remote.

The 42-year-old defender said while Jamaica possessed an abundance of talent, it was unlikely the Reggae Boyz would ever lay their hands on the coveted trophy, largely because of the size of the country.

Jamaica is the highest ranked Caribbean side in the FIFA rankings and also lead the Caribbean Football Union rankings.

"Winning the World Cup will be very hard. It's already something special for France and England and now Spain because we are small countries," Leboeuf said recently.

"When you have Brazil [which is such a big country] how many people live in Brazil and play football? It's just a matter of probability."

Jamaica became the first English speaking Caribbean side to qualify for a World Cup Finals when they reached the 1998 edition in France.

World Cup

Since then, however, they have failed to make an impression and subsequently missed out on the next three World Cups, as Trinidad and Tobago reached the event in Germany in 2006.

To date, Brazil have won the title five times, with Italy having claimed it on four occasions.

Leboeuf, a member of the successful 1998 World Cup French squad, said countries with larger populations would naturally produce more world-class players.

"We have 65 million people in France and it's still very hard to find the right people because in comparison to Brazil and Argentina, the probability of having big players is higher," said the former Chelsea star.

"In Jamaica it is going to be even more difficult."

Brazil boast a population of 193.7 million, Argentina have 40 million, while Jamaica's population is 2.8 million.